The Tampa Bay Lightning have built another hot streak and brought it with them to the West Coast.
Sporting a six-game winning streak, the Lightning will travel to Northern California to face the San Jose Sharks on Saturday following a successful stint down south.
Coach Jon Cooper’s team won both sides of a back-to-back set against the host Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings this week after sweeping one last weekend in Florida.
The Atlantic Division’s second-place team, Tampa Bay sits one point behind the Detroit Red Wings with two games in hand.
The trip to San Jose marks the Lightning’s fifth game in eight days, a brutal grind that has yet to fatigue their tenacious attack.
“We have a great core … but I just don’t want us to sit here and rest,” Cooper said after his squad rallied with three unanswered goals in the third period to down the Kings 5-3. “We were fortunate to take an overtime win (at Anaheim) and had to kind of come back late (at Los Angeles). It could’ve gone the other way.
“I think we’ve been fortunate to get four points here, but one more in San Jose would be great to go home and play a tough Colorado team.”
The Lightning will host the NHL-best Avalanche on Tuesday.
Nikita Kucherov notched a goal and two assists in his sixth straight road game with a multi-point showing. Brayden Point had two goals, including one on the power play, for his first multi-goal game of the season.
The matchup with the Sharks is the first of two this month between the clubs. San Jose will play at the Lightning on Jan. 20.
Coach Ryan Warsofsky’s team recorded its third straight win following the holiday break with a 4-3 shootout win Wednesday over the visiting Minnesota Wild.
Sensational 19-year-old Macklin Celebrini hit the net in regulation and in the shootout, and William Eklund netted the game-deciding goal in the skills session.
Celebrini, who leads San Jose with 22 goals, has been on fire lately.
He has found the net in four straight games and produced 19 points (seven goals, 12 assists) over a nine-game point streak. Overall, he has 22 goals and 62 points in 40 games.
Hockey Canada general manager Doug Armstrong announced Wednesday that Celebrini had been named to the team’s roster for the upcoming Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy.
“It was tough to refocus into the (Wild) game, especially with the early (start),” Celebrini said. “It’s just excitement. … You can tell just by how I am answering these questions that it’s all surreal, and I’m just really excited.”
Will Smith has 12 goals and 17 helpers for 29 points, while Eklund, Tyler Toffoli and Alexander Wennberg have 26 points apiece.
Yaroslav Askarov tops Sharks goaltenders with a 15-10-1 record in 26 games played, including each of the last three wins. He has posted a 3.36 goals-against average and an .897 save percentage.
–Field Level Media
