Another slow start proves costly for the Sharks

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TAMPA, Fla. — Mike Smith won for the first time in nine months, James Wright scored his first NHL goal and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the San Jose Sharks 5-2 on Thursday night.

Smith, who missed the final 32 games last season due to post concussion syndrome, made 32 saves to stop a personal six-game losing streak in his first victory since Jan. 27.

Steven Stamkos had two goals and Andrej Meszaros and Alex Tanguay also scored for the Lightning, who were outscored 11-2 in losing their previous two games.

San Jose got goals from Ryan Vesce and Dan Boyle. The Sharks are 2-2 during a six-game trip.

"We're just not playing the full 60 minutes," Boyle said.

"We're making some mistakes and they're costing us goals."

Wright's first goal — in the eighth game of his rookie season — came from the low slot off a pass from Martin St. Louis just 30 seconds into the game. St. Louis has started the season with a point in eight consecutive, picking up nine assists and 12 points over the stretch.

Malone made it 2-0 when he redirected David Hale's shot for his seventh goal this season with 4:59 left in the first.

"Once again our start isn't the way it should be, so as a coach I'll have some questions to ask some of the leaders," San Jose coach Todd McLellan said. "We'll be looking for some answers."

San Jose got to 2-1 on Vesce's goal from in-close at 12:34 of the second. He has a goal in three straight games.

Tampa Bay went ahead 3-1 with 3:21 to go in the second on Stamkos' fifth goal of the season. Meszaros extended the Tampa Bay advantage to three goals early in the third.

Boyle had a power-play goal with 6:19 remaining in the third.

Stamkos had an empty-netter during the final minute.

SHARKS NOTES — San Jose won both games against Tampa Bay last season, outscoring the Lightning 10-1. This was the lone game between the teams this season. ... Sharks D Jason Demers assisted on Vesce's goal and has five assists in his last three games. ... Sharks C Joe Thornton tied San Jose GM Doug Wilson and Dave Keon for 74th on the career assists list (590) when he assisted on Boyle's goal.

CAPITALS 5, THRASHERS 4, at Atlanta — Jeff Schultz, Matt Bradley and Chris Clark scored in an 88-second span of the second period, Semyon Varlamov stopped 22 shots and Washington earned its third straight win.

DEVILS 4, RANGERS 2, at New York — Dainius Zubrus tipped in Zach Parise's soft shot 7:51 into the third period and New Jersey remained undefeated on the road.

CANADIENS 5, ISLANDERS 1, at Montreal — Scott Gomez and Marc-Andre Bergeron scored in the first period to give Montreal its first two-goal lead of the season, sending the Canadiens on to a victory.

FLYERS 4, BRUINS 3, (SO), at Philadelphia — Claude Giroux scored on a backhand-to-forehand move in a shootout, then Michael Ryder's wrist shot hit the post on Boston's final attempt, giving Philadelphia the shootout victory.

PREDATORS 6, SENATORS 5, (OT), at Ottawa — Shea Weber scored his second goal of the game on a power play in overtime to give Nashville the win over Ottawa.

OILERS 6, BLUE JACKETS 4, at Edmonton, Alberta — Dustin Penner scored his sixth and seventh goals of the season and added three assists for Edmonton.

COYOTES 3, RED WINGS 2, (OT), at Glendale, Ariz. — Adrian Aucoin scored at 1:57 of overtime to give Phoenix the win over Detroit.

KINGS 5, STARS 4, (OT), at Los Angeles — Michal Handzus scored the game-winning goal in overtime for the Kings.

SLAP SHOTS — Anaheim right wing Evgeny Artyukhin has been suspended three games by the NHL for a slew-footing incident in Wednesday night's game against the Dallas Stars. ... The Washington Capitals have assigned center Michael Nylander to Grand Rapids of the AHL for a conditioning stint.