SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) Vladislav Namestnikov had two goals, Nikita Kucherov scored his 15th of the season and the Tampa Bay Lightning ended San Jose’s four-game winning streak by beating the Sharks 5-1 on Wednesday night.
Jake Dotchin got his first career goal and Slater Koekkoek also scored for the Lightning (12-2-2), who lead the NHL standings with 26 points.
Steven Stamkos had three assists for Tampa Bay. Kucherov added two and Namestnikov had one as all three players finished with three points. Stamkos (28 points) and Kucherov (26) rank 1-2 in the league in scoring.
Joonas Donskoi scored for the Sharks, who allowed five goals for the third time this season. They gave up a total of six during their winning streak.
Donskoi scored 25 seconds into the game as the Sharks peppered Andrei Vasilevskiy with a myriad of shots before Donskoi found a hole.
Vasilevskiy was a wall the rest of the way, stopping 32 shots on the night. Sharks starter Martin Jones allowed four goals on 21 shots and was pulled after two periods.
Aaron Dell stopped eight of nine shots in the final period.
Dotchin joined Tampa Bay’s scoring frenzy midway through the first after taking a pass from Brayden Point. One of the NHL’s top offensive teams, the Lightning added three goals in the second period against one of the best defensive teams in the league.
NOTES: Sharks C Joe Pavelski’s next goal will be his 300th. … Sharks D Marc-Edouard Vlasic returned to the ice after missing a game due to a blow to the head. … Sharks forward Jannik Hansen was in the lineup after sitting out the previous six games. … Kucherov has at least one goal and one assist in five of his past eight games. … Point has nine points in his last eight games. … Stamkos had his ninth multi-point game of the season.
UP NEXT
Lightning: Continue their road trip at Los Angeles on Thursday.
Sharks: Host the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday.
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