Tampa Bay @ San Jose preview
SAP Center at San Jose
Last Meeting ( Dec 2, 2017 ) San Jose 2, Tampa Bay 5
Right wing Nikita Kucherov and the NHL-best Tampa Bay Lightning look to continue historic streaks when they go for a sweep of their California road trip Saturday night against the San Jose Sharks. Kucherov has recorded eight goals and 19 assists during his career-high 12-game point streak to climb to the top of the league scoring list as the Lightning have earned at least a point in 16 straight contests (15-0-1) - two shy of the franchise record in 2003-04.
“We want to win every night,” Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos told reporters after Thursday’s 6-2 win at Los Angeles. “We just have that belief no matter what happens. It’s not easy to win in this league, but when you have the skill that we have and then you have the work and the will to get better you can go on stretches like this.” The Lightning own 12 more points than anyone in the league after hitting the midpoint of the season, but three of their seven regulation losses have come against Pacific Division foes. San Jose sits three points out of first place in the Pacific after winning 5-4 at Colorado on Wednesday, earning a point for the 12th time in 15 games (10-3-2), but gave up 18 goals in the past four contests despite winning three of them. “We’re still giving up a little too much,” Sharks coach Peter DeBoer told reporters. “The offense is a result of us being a little bit loose and we’re cheating a little bit and giving up an extra half goal a night. … We can score goals, but we’ve got to find that balance.”
TV: 11 p.m. ET, FS Sun (Tampa Bay), NBCS California (San Jose)
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (32-7-2): Kucherov registered multiple points in seven straight contests and owns 69 overall while linemate Brayden Point tops the team in goals (24) and posted at least a point in eight consecutive games. Stamkos snapped a two-game point drought with a goal to go along with two assists Thursday and rookie Mathieu Joseph became the seventh Tampa Bay player with double-digit tallies. Defenseman Victor Hedman has at least an assist in five straight games, including four on an NHL-best power play that is 7-of-15 in that span.
ABOUT THE SHARKS (22-13-7): San Jose may go into a battle against the league’s best offense undermanned after Justin Braun (knee) left Wednesday’s game and fellow defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic suffered an undisclosed injury. Brent Burns boasts three goals and six assists in the last four contests to push his team-leading total to 44 points while the team’s other All-Star blue liner - Erik Karlsson - owns an 11-game point streak in which he scored once and set up 16 others. Captain Joe Pavelski tops the team with 24 goals and recorded one score and six assists in his past four contests.
OVERTIME
1. San Jose LW Evander Kane scored his 12th goal of the season Wednesday to draw within two of 200 in his career.
2. Tampa Bay RW Ryan Callahan notched his second multi-point game of the season Thursday with a goal and an assist.
3. The Lightning won both matchups last season while scoring five goals in each, including a 5-1 triumph in San Jose.
PREDICTION: Lightning 4, Sharks 3