"The Sharks know full well what it's like to fall behind against the Lightning early. The last time these two teams played, on Jan. 3 in San Jose, the Lightning jumped out to a quick 3-1 lead in the first period and then added four more goals in the second period. It was an easy beatdown that lead to a 7-3 victory for the Lightning. The Sharks would like to atone for that loss today."
"Tampa Bay is also the fourth-best team in the NHL, close behind the Minnesota Wild and the Carolina Hurricanes. The Lightning's top scorer is Nikita Kucherov, who has 70 points in 43 games. He also leads the team with 24 goals. The Lightning have two other 20-plus goal scorers in Brandon Hagel and Jake Guentzel. Andrei Vasilevskiy is expected to start in the goal tonight for the Lightning. He's 20-7-3 this season with a .916 save percentage."
"Look for Alex Nedeljkovic to get a rest after his monster game last night. That means Yaroslav Askarov gets the start. San Jose Hockey Now's Sheng Peng reports that Adam Gaudette will slot in on the third line for Igor Chernyshov. He reports it has nothing to do with Chernyshov's game, just managing the young forward's minutes. Here are the lines versus the Lightning. ForwardsCollin Graf - Macklin Celebrini - Will SmithWilliam Eklund - Alexander Wennberg - Tyler ToffoliPavol Regenda - Michael Mis"
San Jose must move on quickly from the loss in Sunrise and face a streaking Tampa Bay team that is 9-0-1 and atop the Atlantic Division. The teams last met on Jan. 3 when Tampa Bay built a 3-1 first-period lead and added four second-period goals in a 7-3 win. San Jose needs to capitalize on power play chances, but the power play has cooled and Tampa Bay uses an efficient penalty kill. Nikita Kucherov leads Tampa with 70 points and 24 goals, and Andrei Vasilevskiy is expected to start with a .916 save percentage. San Jose will start Yaroslav Askarov, and Adam Gaudette will slot into the third line to manage Igor Chernyshov's minutes.
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