Mario Ferraro scored the game-winning goal and had a fight, while Marc-Edouard Vlasic marked his return with a point as the San Jose Sharks ended an eight-game losing streak, beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 on Thursday.
This victory ended the Sharks’ 0-7-1 stretch, and they managed to beat the Lightning for only the third time in the past 14 matchups (3-10-1).
Ferraro gave San Jose a 2-0 lead in the second period after a fight with Mitchell Chaffee earlier in the frame. Tyler Toffoli scored his team-leading 15th goal for the Sharks.
Vlasic made his season debut after recovering from an upper-back injury that kept him out of training camp and the first 40 games. In his 1,297th career game, the 19-year veteran assisted on Toffoli’s goal.
Collin Graf made his season debut, playing left wing with Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith on the second line. Luke Kunin played in his 400th game.
In goal, San Jose’s Yaroslav Askarov made 24 saves, outplaying Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy, who had 23 saves. Anthony Cirelli scored the only goal for the Lightning, and Jake Guentzel returned from a one-game injury absence.
The Sharks’ young players brought a lot of energy in the first period, showing a better effort than their 8-1 loss in Tampa on Dec. 5, where the Lightning led 5-0 after the first period.
Askarov made seven early saves, including a crucial stop on Conor Geekie, before Toffoli scored at 13:52, dragging around defenseman Ryan McDonagh.
Both teams failed to capitalize on power plays in the second, but Ferraro extended the Sharks’ lead to 2-0 at 12:55 with a rush and a pass from Granlund. Cirelli scored for the Lightning in the second, tipping in a shot from Erik Cernak at 17:44.
In the third, Askarov made a crucial glove save on Nick Paul to keep the Sharks ahead by one goal. Tampa Bay’s captain, Victor Hedman, was cut by a puck near his ear and left the game with 10:57 remaining, not returning.
