Lightning defeated the Sharks with five goals in the first third

Brandon Hagel scored two goals in a 23-second span during Tampa Bay’s five-goal first-period effort as the Lightning beat the visiting San Jose Sharks 8-1 on Thursday.

Cam Atkinson and Conor Geekie each had a goal and an assist before Hagel found the back of the net twice. Jake Guentzel, who finished with two points, capped the explosive frame and helped the Lightning improve to 8-0-1 in their last nine meetings with San Jose.

Anthony Cirelli, Nick Perbix and Nick Paul also scored goals for the Lightning, while Brayden Point had four assists in his 600th NHL game, the most of his career. Victor Hedman and Ryan McDonagh each had two helpers.

Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 20 shots to improve to 8-2-0 all-time against San Jose and win for the second time in his last five appearances. The Lightning have alternated losses and wins in their last six games.

Alexander Wennberg scored for the Sharks, who slipped to 4-8-4 away from home. San Jose had a three-game winning streak come to an end.

Sharks goalkeeper Vitek Vanecek conceded five goals on twelve shots and was substituted after the first half. Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 21 of 24 shots in relief.

Playing without right winger Nikita Kucherov, the Lightning were unfazed, scoring two goals on their first six shots from the third line.

Atkinson found Vanecek just 86 seconds into Tampa Bay’s third shot, scoring his third goal on Geekie’s long-range shot. Geekie achieved his fourth place finish at 7:29.

Hagel scored twice, clearly beating Vanecek at 8:32 before scoring his 12th goal at 8:55 – giving the home team three goals in 1:26. Guentzel’s 11th goal on a power play rounded out the quarter’s score at 17:45.

At 4:16 of the second period, McDonagh’s shot was deflected in by Cirelli for his 11th goal overall and his ninth in the last 10 games. Perbix scored his third goal to make the final score 7-0.

Wennberg’s seventh goal broke the shutout 14 seconds into the third period.

Paul, returning to the lineup after missing six games, responded with his sixth 6:01 of the game, giving Tampa Bay its season high in goals.

–Field level media