TAMPA, Fla. — The Sharks lost Erik Karlsson during pregame warmups. Then, they dropped the rematch against the NHL’s top team.
The Tampa Bay Lightning avenged the loss that ended their 16-game point streak on Jan. 5, earning a 6-3 win on home ice as the Sharks tried to make due without a pair of Olympic-caliber defensemen against the NHL’s highest-scoring offense.
Karlsson, who’s fighting a lower-body injury, left the ice during pregame warmups, getting scratched just before puck drop and replaced by Joakim Ryan on the Sharks blue line. Marc-Edouard Vlasic missed his seventh straight game with an upper-body injury.