Lightning's dynamic duo too much for Sharks
SAN JOSE -- Tampa Bay's offensive prowess was on full display Wednesday night during the Lightning's 5-1 win over the San Jose Sharks.
Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov -- the league's Nos. 1 and 2 leading scorers -- enjoyed three-point nights each and Vladislav Namestnikov scored two goals to snap San Jose's four-game winning streak and hand the hosts their most lopsided loss of the season.
Stamkos contributed three assists to boost his league-leading point total to 28. Kucherov scored his NHL-leading 15th goal and added two assists as Lightning coach John Cooper earned his 200th win.
Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy made 32 saves.
Namestnikov, who also enjoyed a three-point game, scored his second of the game and seventh of the season at 6:14 of the third period against Aaron Dell, who relieved San Jose starting goalie Martin Jones after two periods.
The Lightning tilted the ice in the second period, scoring three goals and outshooting the Sharks 14-9 in the process.
Kucherov broke a 1-1 tie just 44 seconds into the period, and just following the conclusion of Tampa Bay's second power play.
The teams traded failed power plays before defenseman Slater Koekkoek slipped a puck between the pads of Jones, who was hugging the post and should have stopped Koekkoek's third goal of the season at 9:21.
The visitors struck again at 12:00 when Namestnikov tapped a great cross-ice pass from Stamkos past Jones on the weakside post for a 4-1 lead.
The Sharks and Lightning traded goals and were tied 1-1 after 20 minutes.
Joonas Donskoi scored his fifth of the season after only 25 seconds with Joe Thornton earning his 1,015th career assist (one behind No. 12 all-time Joe Sakic) for an early 1-0 Sharks' lead.
The Lightning struck at 7:17 when rookie defenseman Jake Dotchin stepped into a shot from the top of the right circle that clipped the skate of San Jose forward Melker Karlsson and changed direction slightly on Jones for his first career goal.
NOTES: Tampa Bay RW Chris Kunitz appeared in his 900th career game. ... San Jose D Marc-Edouard Vlasic rejoined the blue line after missing one game due to a head injury. ... F Jannik Hansen was re-inserted into the Sharks lineup after being a healthy scratch for six straight. ... Tampa Bay's three-game road trip continues Thursday in Los Angeles. ... San Jose next hosts Vancouver on Saturday. ... C Ryan Carpenter and D Dylan DeMelo were San Jose's healthy scratches. ... C Cedric Paquette, C Gabriel Dumont and D Andrej Sustr did not dress for the Lightning, who opted to go with 11 forwards and seven defensemen.