The Sharks were without their captain and points leader Joe Thornton, as he served the first of a two-game suspension after an illegal hit to the head he delivered to David Perron of the Blues on Thursday. They managed just fine without him though, after being shutout two games in a row, the offense got things going with five goals, two of which came from Patrick Marleau. Dany Heatley and Logan Couture both had a goal and an assist apiece.
Marleau's first came at the 12:16 mark in the first after stealing the puck in the neutral zone, he shot from the top of the left circle and got it right past Mike Smith. Less than two minutes later, Steven Stamkos tied the game with a wrist shot from the left point, Niittymaki got a piece of it but it still went in. Marleau responded with his second of the night on a wrister on the power play.
The Sharks kept it going with Heatley picking up his sixth goal of the season, chipping in a Couture rebound. John McCarthy picked up a slapshot goal just six minutes later to put the Sharks up 4-1.
Couture's tip-in of a Heatley shot 27 seconds into the third extended San Jose's lead to 5-1, while Martin St. Louis scored on a big blast with 1:47 to play to account for the final score. The Sharks were 1-for7 on the power play to Tampa Bay's 1-for-4. Antero Niittymaki further made his case for starter playing time by stopping 33 shots and surviving a barrage in the third period.