The Tampa Bay Lightning returned to Benchmark International Arena for a quick one-game homestand on Tuesday night, as they hosted the San Jose Sharks in a battle of two surging teams.
Like the last time these teams met in San Jose, it was a battle of two countrymen as Andrei Vasilevskiy and Yaroslav Askarov were between the pipes for their respective teams. The Lightning were certainly hoping for a similar performance, as they defeated the Sharks 7-3 in their prior meeting this season.
The Sharks came out with some energy early, but they were on the second half of a back-to-back, which could certainly come into play as the game progressed.
A bad bounce near the halfway point of the first period nearly gifted San Jose the opening goal, but Vasilevskiy remained calm and kept it out of the goal.
Ryan Reaves crashed the net with just under seven minutes remaining in the first, causing the Lightning to have to stand up for Vasilevskiy in the game’s first major scrum.
With just over five minutes remaining in the first period, Tyler Toffoli scored to break the deadlock following a pass from William Eklund. As a result, the visitors had an early 1-0 lead. Just 33 seconds later, Anthony Cirelli got the puck to Brandon Hagel with a wide-open goal in front of him and the Lightning tied it up 1-1 as Hagel scored his 24th goal of the season.
Dmitry Orlov slashed at Yanni Gourde following an offside call, causing a bit of shoving between the two, but nothing else came of it.
The Lightning came out of the gate with some offensive pressure to start the second period, forcing Askarov to make some early saves.
Gourde nearly gave the Lightning their first lead of the evening roughly a minute and a half into the second, but his shot went just wide of the goal. The Lightning wouldn’t be denied a few seconds later though, as Hagel got the puck to Cirelli on a wraparound attempt.
The Lightning’s high pressure right out of the gate paid off, as they now had a 2-1 lead less than two minutes into the second frame. After Askarov tried to pass to his defenseman, the puck bounced right to the Lightning. Jake Guentzel scored his 22nd of the campaign off of a one-timer, after Dominic James fired a cross-crease pass from the corner. Just four minutes into the second period, the game had gone from a tie, to a 3-1 lead for Tampa Bay.
Reaves was given the game’s first penalty when he took down Declan Carlile, who was in some difficulty after the play. Carlile got up slowly and required assistance to get off the ice before he immediately went down the tunnel. The Lightning were unsuccessful on the power play, as the Sharks killed it off.
Anthony Cirelli accidentally blocked his teammate’s shot around the midway point of the period, and he also went down the tunnel in clear discomfort.
Carlile returned to the game with seven and a half minutes remaining in the period, making it clear that the Lightning avoided the worst-case scenario, as they cannot afford another injury on the blue line.
The Lightning were given a bench penalty with seven minutes remaining in the second frame, as Dan Hinote interfered with a puck that was heading out of play in a very unique set of circumstances. The Sharks got their first power play opportunity of the night as a result, however the Lightning killed it off with little difficulty.
Luckily for the Lightning, Cirelli returned before the end of the second period. They also carried their 3-1 lead into the second intermission.
Reaves had a breakaway chance late in the third period, and he nearly beat Vasilevskiy but the Lightning netminder was able to make the stop, maintaining the two-goal lead.
Askarov made two quick saves, both of which came on Nick Paul, with just over four minutes remaining in regulation. With 3:45 remaining, Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky decided to pull his netminder. Gourde had a couple of shot attempts toward the empty net, neither of which were on goal.
Eventually Hagel would be the one who scored on the empty net by scoring his 25th of the season, making it 4-1. Hats flew on the ice, but there was no hat trick. Cirelli’s goal was initially awarded to Hagel, but a scoring change eventually awarded it to Cirelli.
When the final horn blew, the Lightning walked away with another victory, with a final score of 4-1. The Lightning will be back in action on Friday night, as they’ll visit the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center to kick off their next road trip. Against another Western Conference opponent, the Lightning will be looking to build on their lead in the Atlantic Division.