Two days after they “didn’t put two passes together” in a loss to the Panthers, the San Jose Sharks got “a complete team effort” and beat one of the NHL’s top clubs, the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“You talk about everyone pulling their weight in a game, and you saw that today,” forward Tommy Wingels said of last night’s 2-1 victory, per the Mercury News.
Wingels had good reason to praise his teammates, as he was the one who took a tripping penalty that put the Sharks two men down in the third. San Jose killed it, thanks to Antti Niemi in net and the shot-blocking of penalty killers like Scott Hannan and Justin Braun.
“Credit to them,” Sharks coach Todd McLellan said, “they sacrificed themselves for the team, and we all get rewarded for it with a win.”
But this was no stolen game. The Sharks outshot the Lightning, 39-33, and particularly controlled the play early on, resulting in a 2-0 lead halfway through the game.
San Jose has a good opportunity to finish its six-game road trip with some more wins, as it plays in Columbus Saturday, Carolina Sunday, and Buffalo Tuesday.
Here’s shirtless Joe Thornton with more: