Winning streak is curtailed at 3
Fla. — Tyler Johnson broke out of a scoring slump just in time to help the struggling Tampa Bay Lightning.
Johnson scored twice in Tampa Bay’s four-goal third period, snapping a 15-game drought in the process, and the Lightning beat the Sharks 5-2 on Saturday. San Jose had won three in a row.
“That’s how hockey goes,” said Johnson, who entered with four goals. “Sometimes you get the chances and bounces and they don’t go your way. Other times, you get those garbage goals that just find a way to go in. Luckily for me, I was able to break through.”
Barclay Goodrow and Justin Braun had goals for San Jose, and Martin Jones stopped 38 shots in his return after missing two games with a lowerbody injury.
“Our goalie was outstanding,” Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. “He was by far our best player. We didn’t have enough contributions. We would have needed 20 guys, plus Jones’ effort.”
Goodrow, activated from injured reserve after sitting out seven games, put the Sharks up 1-0 at 16:58 of the first period. His first NHL goal since Feb. 13, 2015, ended a 44-game drought. It was his fifth career goal, coming in his 84th NHL game.
Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov tied it at 1 just 27 seconds into the second with the first of his two goals.
“We had a chance with 20 minutes to go to get some points and we didn’t,” DeBoer said. “That’s a disappointTAMPA, ment.”
Cory Conacher also scored for the Lightning, who had lost four of six. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 25 saves.
Kucherov had one of Tampa Bay’s four goals, his 19th, in the third. He entered without a goal over his previous six games.
After Johnson had an in-close backhand powerplay goal 1:39 into the third, the center made it 3-1 at 5:49 on a rebound after Jones stopped Victor Hedman on a breakaway.
“He’s earned it.” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said of Johnson. “When you’re doing the right things and you’re working, it’s just a matter of time.”
Conacher and Braun also had third-period goals.
Jones turned aside Ryan Callahan’s in-close shot that went off a San Jose defender in the first, a period in which the Sharks were outshot 15-8. Tampa Bay also dominated the second-period shots, 16-8.
Sidelined: The Sharks placed right wing Joonas Donskoi (upper-body injury) and defenseman Tim Heed (upper-body injury) on injured reserve retroactive to Nov. 25 and Tuesday, respectively.