The Tampa Bay Lightning exploded out of the starting blocks at AMALIE Arena on Thursday, and the scoring never stopped for the home team.
Tampa Bay scored four goals in the opening 8 minutes, 55 seconds of the game against the San Jose Sharks—the second-fastest four goals to open a game in franchise history—and added a fifth before the first period was over to cruise to an 8-1 victory.
Cam Atkinson, Conor Geekie, Ryan McDonagh, Brandon Hagel, Jake Guentzel and Victor Hedman each had two points, while Brayden Point’s four assists paced the team on offense in a game the Lightning were without leading scorer Nikita Kucherov.
Tampa Bay now heads on a four-game road trip, beginning with a visit to Vancouver on Sunday.
Scoring Summary
1st Period
TBL 1, SJS 0
1:26 Cam Atkinson (3) - Conor Geekie
Forward Cam Atkinson scored his second goal in as many games less than two minutes into play. Atkinson positioned himself in front of the San Jose net before redirecting a Conor Geekie shot past San Jose goalie Vitek Vanecek.
TBL 2, SJS 0
7:29 Geekie (4) - Atkinson, Hedman
Geekie took a touch pass from Atkinson at the left side of the offensive zone, toe-dragged the puck and ripped it inside the right post for a 2-0 lead.
TBL 3, SJS 0
8:32 Brandon Hagel (11) - Ryan McDonagh, Jake Guentzel
Brandon Hagel needed 63 seconds after the Geekie goal to make it 3-0 for the home team. Hagel slated to the front of the net, where a deflected Ryan McDonagh shot found him. Hagel waited out Vanecek on the backhand for the goal.
TBL 4, SJS 0
8:55 Hagel (12) - Erik Cernak
Hagel scored his second goal in a 26-second span by winning a puck race inside the offensive zone and fighting through a trip by a San Jose player to bury his second backhand goal of the first period.
TBL 5, SJS 0
17:45 Jake Guentzel (11) - Hedman, Brayden Point - PP
Defenseman Victor Hedman sent a shot-pass to Guentzel backdoor at the left post, and the forward tipped the puck into the net on the power play to give Tampa Bay a handful of first-period goals.
Shots on goal: TBL 12, SJS 8
2nd Period
TBL 6, SJS 0
4:16 Anthony Cirelli (11) - McDonagh, Point
Anthony Cirelli tipped home a McDonagh shot to extend the Lightning lead in the second period. The goal was challenged for offsides, but the goal stood after a review.
TBL 7, SJS 0
18:32 Nick Perbix (3) - Point, Emil Lilleberg
Defenseman Nick Perbix added the extra point for Tampa Bay with his shot from the top of the offensive zone.
Shots on goal: TBL 15, SJS 6
3rd Period
TBL 7, SJS 1
00:14 Alexander Wennberg (7) - Fabian Zetterlund, Jan Rutta
San Jose entered the scoring race just 14 seconds into the third period when Alexander Wennberg found some space behind the Tampa Bay defense and scored on a shot under Vasilevskiy’s blocker.
TBL 8, SJS 1
6:01 Nick Paul (6) - Point, JJ Moser
A pass by Brayden Point from the right corner found a waiting Nick Paul in the crease, who scored in his first game back after a six-game absence.
Total shots: TBL 35, SJS 21
