Colton scores twice for Lightning in victory against Sharks

SAN JOSE --The Tampa Bay Lightning scored four first-period goals in a 7-1 win against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Saturday.

"I knew that was how we were going to respond," Lightning forward Steven Stamkos said about their 5-1 loss at the Anaheim Ducks on Friday. "Obviously, we executed very well. But to come out like that, on a back-to-back. ... To come out and have that effort, have that jump at the beginning was impressive. Just a nice, well-rounded game for us today."
Ross Colton scored twice, and Stamkos and Alex Killorn each had a goal and an assist for the Lightning (28-10-5), who have won five of six. Brian Elliott made 27 saves for his first win since Dec. 5.
"There was a renewed focus, they knew what they had to do and they delivered," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "We addressed some things in the pregame and there's the result."

Jaycob Megna scored his first goal for the Sharks (21-19-2), who have lost two straight and four of five (1-3-1). James Reimer allowed four goals on 13 shots and was pulled 12:32 into the first period. Adin Hill made 15 saves in relief.
"It should be a wake-up call," Sharks forward Andrew Cogliano said. "If that game doesn't alarm you in terms of how fast you can be out of position and how fast you can go the other way coming up on the [road} trip we're coming up on, at the end of the day you shouldn't be in the lineup, to be honest with you.
"That's an alarming game in terms of just everything."
Colton put Tampa Bay ahead 1-0 at 3:17 of the first period when his centering pass bounced off the stick of San Jose defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic and passed Reimer's glove side.
"I thought we turned it on a little bit toward the end of the game, but from the puck drop we needed to be ready to go, and that was the kind of attitude that we wanted to have tonight," Colton said.
Stamkos scored his 20th goal of the season to make it 2-0 at 7:45 when he completed a tic-tac-toe play set up by Cal Foote.
Mathieu Joseph increased the lead to 3-0 at 11:04 when he scored on the rebound of Stamkos' shot.
"Our first 10, 15 minutes were a disaster," Sharks coach Bob Boughner said. "I think this is the benchmark if you want to play with the big guys. You have to compete, you have to bring your A-game. It starts with showing up."
Corey Perry pushed the lead to 4-0 at 12:32 and chase Reimer.
"I think we gave them a little too much respect. They're a powerhouse of a team," Reimer said. "We were just caught off guard a little bit."
Megna's first goal in 15 games with the Sharks cut it to 4-1 at 16:40.
Brayden Point made it 5-1 at 6:24 of the second period when he was set up by Nikita Kucherov on a 2-on-1.

Timo Meier appeared to score at 11:23, but the call on the ice was overturned because it was determined he made a distinct kicking motion to get the puck over the line.
Killorn scored on a power play at 4:20 of the third period to make it 6-1 before Colton scored his second of the game at 4:53 for the 7-1 final. It was Colton's first multigoal game in the NHL.
"We've been good all year, I'm not challenging this team's will or their passion or their urgency," Boughner said. "But it was one of those nights where we were outcompeted and it was men amongst boys. It was as simple as that."
NOTES: Stamkos tied Vincent Lecavalier for the most 20-goal seasons in Lightning history with 12. Since Stamkos entered the NHL in 2008-09, only Alex Ovechkin (14) has more. … Kucherov, Ryan McDonagh and Mikhail Sergachev each had two assists for Tampa Bay. … Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson (upper body) did not play and is day to day, Boughner said. … Megna signed a one-year contract with San Jose on July 28. … Sharks defenseman Ryan Merkley, playing his 14th NHL game, had his first NHL assist.