Tampa, FL (SportsNetwork.com) – Antti Niemi held down the NHL’s top scoring
team with 32 saves as the San Jose Sharks topped the Tampa Bay Lightning, 2-1,
on Thursday.
Tyler Kennedy and Joe Thornton provided goals for the Sharks, who improved to
2-2-0 on their seven-game road trip.
Ben Bishop made 37 saves and Steven Stamkos scored the lone goal for the
Lightning, who were edged by the Blackhawks in a shootout on Tuesday but had
not lost in regulation since Oct. 25 in Minnesota.
Tampa Bay squandered a two-man advantage that lasted 1:10 early in the third
period, and the only offense the hosts mustered came with 10:26 remaining when
Stamkos redirected a Andrej Sustr shot past Niemi.
The Sharks peppered Bishop with 17 shots in the first period but did not find
any success until their first shot of the second.
Brian Boyle turned the puck over in front of Bishop, and Thornton flicked a
wrister into the back of the net at the 5:23 mark.
Kennedy made it 2-0 by sneaking one through Bishop’s pads with 9:23 remaining
in the middle stanza. Brent Burns set up the goal, which came at the end of a
power play, with a perfectly-placed stretch pass into the offensive zone.
Game Notes
The Lightning debuted their alternate black jersey with ‘Bolts’ stitched on
the front … Tampa Bay forward Alex Killorn returned to the ice after missing
the previous four games with an upper-body injury … The Sharks had scored at
least five goals in the previous five meetings.
