Five goals in the first half powered the Lightning to victory over the Sharks

Brandon Hagel scored twice in 23 seconds as Tampa Bay went on a five-goal first period 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 scored twice. Jake Guentzel, who finished with two points, scored to cap the shutout, putting the Lightning in position to improve to 8-0-1 in their last nine meetings with San Jose.

Anthony Cirelli, Nick Perbix and Nick Paul also scored for the Lightning, while Brayden Point dished out a career-high four assists in his 600th NHL game. Victor Hedman and Ryan McDonagh each had two assists.

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 games. The Lightning have alternated between a loss and a win in their last six games.

Alexander Wennberg scored for the Sharks, who slipped to 4-8-4 on the road. San Jose had a three-game winning streak.

Sharks goalkeeper Vitek Vanecek allowed five goals on 12 shots and was pulled again after the first half. Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 21 of 24 shots in relief.

Playing without senior right wing Nikita Kucherov, the Lightning were untroubled and scored twice on the third line on their first six shots.

Atkinson found the net on Tampa Bay’s third shot from Vanecek 86 seconds into his third goal after Geekie’s long ball. Geekie posted the fourth at 7:29.

Hagel made it a double count, neatly chipping Vanecek at 8:32 before laying down his 12th at 8:55 — giving the home team a three-point lead at 1:26. Guentzel’s 11th tallied a power play goal at 17:45.

In the second half, McDonagh’s shot was tipped in by Cirelli for his 11th goal overall and ninth in the last 10 games at 4:16. Perbix scored his third goal to close the frame with 7-0.

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

Paul, in his return to the lineup after missing six games, answered with his sixth at 6:01 as Tampa Bay tied its season-high goal total.

–Field Level Media