On a chilly Tuesday night in downtown Tampa Bay, the San Jose Sharks swam their way into town to face off against the Tampa Bay Lightning. After a huge comeback win from the Panthers in Sunrise, the Sharks looked to bounce back in Tampa. However, that was not the case. The Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the San Jose Sharks in overtime three-to-two. The Lightning advance to a record of 30-10-6 while the Sharks fall to a record of 22-20-4.
Recap
At the start of the game, both teams struggled to get things going. After 20 minutes of play, the teams remained knotted at zero. Both goaltenders looked sharp through one period of action. Sharks goaltender James Reimer stopped nine shots faced his way and Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped all seven shots he saw in the first.
In the second, the Lightning got the scoring going. Anthony Cirelli and Brayden Point passed the puck back and forth with Cirelli putting the puck by Reimer. Shortly after, Sharks Left Winger Rudolfs Balcers scored on Vasilevskiy tying the game at one. With less than two minutes left in the second period, Lightning Left Winger Alex Killorn scored on Reimer on the power play to put Tampa ahead two-to-one going into the third.
Early in the third, Logan Couture of San Jose put the second Sharks goal past Vasilevskiy and that goal forced overtime.
In overtime, Defenseman Victor Hedman scored the game-winning goal, giving Tampa Bay two points. Vasilevskiy stopped 19 of 21 shots faced. Meanwhile, Reimer stopped 29 of 32 shots faced.
Up Next
The Tampa Bay Lightning take a much-needed break and do not return to action until February 10th when they travel to Denver, Colorado to face off against the red-hot Avalanche. The Avalanche sit at a record of 32-8-4 over 44 games, totaling 68 points.
(Featured image by Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports)