One week ago, the Sharks were obliterated by the Penguins 5-0 on home ice. They had lost 3 straight games and appeared to be heading south. But tonight, the Sharks turned the tables and won their third straight. The Sharks (9-6-0) defeated the Lightning (8-6-1) 3-1 thanks to an all-around great performance.

The Sharks had a prime opportunity to score early on in the first. Joonas Donskoi was free on a breakaway, and after being hooked, he was awarded a penalty shot. Unfortunately, he couldn’t cash in and we remained scoreless.

The Sharks would score in a crazy situation minutes later. Being attacked by two defenders, Patrick Marleau would run into Lightning goalie Ben Bishop and knock the net off. The puck went into the net, and the referees would review the play. It was called no goal, but Sharks’ head coach Peter DeBoer wasn’t having it. He challenged the play for goalie interference, and it actually worked. After a second look, it was determined Marleau had no intent of interfering with Bishop’s save. He was credited with the goal and the Sharks took a 1-0 lead. Here’s a real-time look at the goal.

If you’re totally confused like I was, here’s a complete explanation of what went down.

The explanation on that Marleau goal: pic.twitter.com/ZVVOW5K62b

— Kevin Kurz (@KKurzCSN) November 13, 2016

The Sharks’ 4th line padded the lead right after. Left alone in front of the net, Tommy Wingels put it home after a perfect pass from Chris Tierney.

The Sharks looked great in the first period and carried all the momentum into the intermission.

The Sharks continued to push forward in the second. They would break through on their first power play chance. Vlasic’s shot snuck past traffic in front and past Ben Bishop for an impressive 3-0 lead.

The Lightning would refuse to go away in the third period. With action in front of the net, Antoin Strahlman found the loose puck and put it past Martin Jones. That would cut the Sharks lead to 3-1. Martin Jones would make some crucial saves down the stretch to preserve the lead. That would be it, and the Sharks skated off with a 3-1 win.

Notes

• It’s probably time to give Martin Jones a much-deserved rest. He’s looked awesome so far on the trip, but he’s going to get worn out at some point. Aaron Dell hasn’t played since the fourth game of the season, so he is probably due. The Sharks play the league-worst Hurricanes on Tuesday, so this might be a good spot to play him.
• The Sharks’ penalty kill continues to be lights out. They’ve now killed off 24 consecutive penalties. That’s good enough for 5th in the league.
• Remember the Sharks’ perfect 6 game road trip last year? This trip has the makings of deja vu for me. I hope I didn’t jinx anything. Oops.
• The fourth line of Wingels, Tierney, Karlsson has been fantastic so far this trip. They’ve scored in consecutive games (both Wingels goals) and seem to be firing on all cylinders right now. /

Fear The Fin Three Stars

1. Martin Jones
2. Tommy Wingels
3. Marc-Edouard Vlasic