The Sharks resumed their 8-game road trip
after a week long break, hitting the south eastern part of the country. Picking
up from their impressive 6-4 win over Pittsburgh before the break, San Jose
battled back from a 3-1 1st period deficit against the host Tampa Bay Lightning
on Tuesday night at Amelie Arena, and stunned the Lightning with goals in each
period, including the game winner in overtime.
Timo Meier continued
his audition prior to the trade deadline by scoring 2 goals and adding an
assist in the Sharks 4-3 victory. His 2nd tally of the night came 2:19 into the
extra period, extending the Sharks win streak to 2 games. Defenseman Erik
Karlsson setup Meier with a seeing-eye pass from the right wing, allowing Meier
to tap home the game winner from outside the left post.
The win was
more impressive given the pressure that goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen faced in the
3rd period after the Sharks had tied the game at 3-3. The Finnish goaltender
made 34 saves to earn his 7th win of the season.
The Lightning made
the Sharks pay early for a couple of small errors that burned San Jose. San
Jose tried to wind the puck out of their own, but Oskar Lindblom allowed Zach
Bogosian to win the puck at the blueline. Bogosian swept the puck to the front
of the net where Ross Colton collected it and put it past Kahkonen after he
beat Mario Ferraro.
Ian Cole took an interference penalty at 6:23 and
the Sharks capitalized. Karlsson took a Meier drop pass above the circles, then
fired a shot past Lightning goaltender Brian Elliott. The power play goal gave
Karlsson 17 tallies for the season.
Mikey Eyssimont committed a costly
penalty 2 minutes after Karlsson's goal. The Lightning countered the Sharks
power play goal with one of their own when Brayden Point snapped a shot from
the inside of the left circle at 9:21 to put Tampa Bay back on top.
Point added his 31st goal of the season with 3:16 left in the opening period.
The Lightning worked the puck around the Sharks net before Mikhail Sergachev
found Point cutting in the slot for the quick release goal.
Nico Sturm
was called for tripping minors 5 minutes apart to open the 2nd period. The
Sharks killed both penalties, along with a suspect slashing penalty on Evgeny
Svechnikov at 13:12.
Ian Cole was sent off for cross checking at 16:18
and San Jose quickly responded. Timo Meier scored his 20th goal of the season 5
seconds into the power play, lifting an Alexander Barabanov pass past Elliott
from the right side.
The Lightning appeared to respond on the very next
shift, when Steven Stamkos scored a would-be goal, but Sharks head coach David
Quinn challenged that the Point was offside. Replays confirmed Quinn's
assertion and the game remained a 1-goal contest.
The Sharks tied the
game 3:08 into the 3rd period when Scott Harrington ripped a shot from the left
point. The puck found a seam through traffic out in front of Elliott, clipping
Jonah Gadjovich before finding the back of the net. It was Gadjovich's 3rd goal
of the season, but more importantly, it allowed San Jose to draw even with the
Lightning.
Svechnikov was called for a suspect hooking penalty midway
through the period, extending a 6th power play chance to the lethal Lightning.
The Sharks played with fire with all the penalties incurred, but Kahkonen
bailed them out.
The Sharks netminder stood on his head in the 3rd
period, stopping all 15 shots he saw in that final frame. Tampa Bay turned up
the heat over the final 10 minutes, but the netminder turned aside everything
they threw at him.
Game Notes: * Kevin Labanc was the
only scratch for San Jose, which came in part due to Jaycob Megna being traded
on Sunday and no replacement was available. The Sharks did elevate defenseman
Nikolai Knyzhov, but was not in Tampa Bay.
* Mikey Eyssimont had a
spirited game. The forward played well on the Sharks 2nd line, and added a
spirited scrap with Brayden Point right before the 2nd intermission.
*
Alexander Barabanov is just 4 assists from matching his career high mark of 29,
set last season. He has 30 games to get it done.
* Timo Meier and Noah
Gregor combined for 9 of San Jose's 22 shots on goal.
* Nico Sturm was
11 of 16 (69%) on draws. He also led San Jose with 6 hits in the game.
