The San Jose Sharks travel to the Sunshine State in search of a season sweep of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

San Jose won the last meeting between the two NHL heavy weights 5-2 at the Tank. That loss snapped Tampa's 16-game point streak and announced San Jose's arrival among the league's best.

San Jose had its 7-game winning streak broken in a ho-hum 6-3 loss at Arizona on Wednesday. Evander Kane, Logan Couture and Kevin Lebanc each scored a goal and Aaron Dell stopped 35 of 39 shots in the loss.

The Sharks have three more games before hosting All-Star weekend and the mandatory five day hiatus.

A few Sharks bites to whet your pallet in anticipation of Sharks/Lightning 2.0...

- Evander Kane is on fire. Kaner has 14 points (5g 9a) in his last 10 games and was held off the score sheet only once during that stretch. The 27-year-old is on pace for 28 goals, one off last season's total. It's a bit misleading because he's been so streaky, but his play has really taken off of late. I wouldn't be surprised if he threatens the 30-goal mark for the first time since 2011-12 when he had his first and only 30-goal season as a member of the Winnipeg Jets.

- Remember when Aaron Dell was making a play to steal the cage from Martin Jones? That's not the case any longer. Dell is 6-6 with a .891 save percentage and 3.09 GAA in 14 appearances this season. He's allowed three of more goals in five of his last six starts, including three games of five or MORE goals. Wow!

- Brent Burns was held pointless in the last two games following a three-game stretch in which he collected five points (2g 3a). Burns had three assists in the first meeting with the Lightning.

- The Sharks are 6-0 in their last six game against teams from the Eastern Conference, 5-0 when playing on two or more days of rest and 4-0 in the last four games against teams holding current playoff spots.

- The Sharks have to keep winning to keep pace with Vegas and Calgary. The two Pacific Division juggernauts are a combined 15-3-2 in their last 10 games apiece.

Enjoy the game!

Thanks for reading,
Steve

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