Bolts head into bye week with win over Sharks

Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman all registered multi-point nights as the Lightning defeated the Sharks 6-3 at Amalie Arena on Saturday night.
The win gives the Bolts something positive to focus on during a lengthy break for the bye week and All-Star Game.

Tampa Bay got off to a fast start with goals from Mathieu Joseph and Alex Killorn in the first period. Joseph scored less than four minutes into the game and Killorn registered an unassisted goal late in the period to give the Lightning a 2-0 lead.

Evander Kane answered back with goals scored late in the first and early in the second. His first came on a power play with less than a minute to play in the opening period and then he scored again after a lively bounce off the end boards fell right to him 58 seconds into the second frame.
With the game now tied, Tampa Bay scored the game's next four goals to build a comfortable cushion.
Yanni Gourde broke out of a nine-game scoreless drought with a goal midway through the period and Hedman followed that up with a power play tally five minutes later to give the Bolts a 4-2 lead. Stamkos then scored a pair of goals in the third period to put the game away for the Lightning.

Marcus Sorensen rounded out the scoring with a goal late in the third for the Sharks.
For the Bolts heading into the break, it was encouraging to close out the unofficial first half with a victory. Pregame, the Lightning preached the importance of Saturday's game after dropping two of their last three contests coming in.
The challenge now for the Lightning will be to remain sharp as they face a 10-day layoff between games. When the schedule does pick up again, Tampa Bay faces a road trip that features three games in four nights beginning on January 30. The Bolts don't play at home again until they host the Golden Knights on February 5.
Scoring Summary
1st Period
TBL | 3:32 Mathieu Joseph (12) - Anthony Cirelli, J.T. Miller
TBL | 17:51 Alex Killorn (11) - Unassisted
SJS | 19:39 Evander Kane (18) - Timo Meier, Joe Thornton - PPG
2nd Period
SJS | 0:58 Evander Kane (19) - Joonas Donskoi, Radim Simek
TBL | 7:29 Yanni Gourde (12) - Steven Stamkos, Ondrej Palat
TBL | 12:01 Victor Hedman (7) - Nikita Kucherov - PPG
3rd Period
TBL | 5:08 Steven Stamkos (25) - Nikita Kucherov, Ryan McDonagh
TBL | 14:15 Steven Stamkos (26) - Victor Hedman, Brayden Point - PPG
SJS | 19:23 Marcus Sorensen (10 - Tim Heed, Kevin Labanc