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SAN JOSE – Playing in the second of a back-to-back without their most responsible defenseman, the Sharks were outdone by the Lightning at SAP Center on Saturday, 4-3.

Nikita Kucherov scored twice for the Lightning, who gave the Sharks their fourth loss in the last five games.

All three of the Sharks’ goals came on the power play, as they finished 3-for-8. Of their 34 shots, 16 came with a man advantage.

The Sharks were without Marc-Edouard Vlasic for the game due to a lower body injury. The 28-year-old is day-to-day, and it’s not thought to be a serious injury.

After a sluggish first period in which they surrendered the first two goals, the Sharks pressed the Lightning in the second. They didn’t get any closer, though, and trailed 3-1 after 40 minutes.

Matt Tennyson’s first goal of the season at 13:35 of the middle frame gave the Sharks life. The defenseman, who has been in and out of the lineup lately, powered a one-timer past Ben Bishop’s far side to cut the Lightning lead to 2-1.

A pair of Sharks penalties shortly after that halted the momentum, though, when Chris Tierney and Joel Ward were whistled for tripping minors about a minute apart. Tampa took advantage of its five-on-three, when Kucherov picked the top far corner over Alex Stalock’s shoulder at 16:44 to restore the two-goal cushion.

The Lightning upped their advantage to 4-1 just three minutes into the third when Stalock stopped J.T. Brown on a rush after the Lightning forward got position around Justin Braun, but couldn’t locate the loose puck in the crease. Brian Boyle did, and easily flipped it over the Sharks goalie to give Tampa a 4-1 lead.

The Sharks made it interesting, though. Ward tipped in a Burns wrist shot on a power play at 8:26, and a great one-man effort by Burns brought the Sharks back to within 4-3.

On another man advantage, Burns kept the puck in at the blue line and skated to the other side of the ice before unleashing a perfectly placed laser over the near shoulder of Andrei Vasilevskiy at 14:32. Vasilevskiy entered the game after Bishop was forced to leave due to injury with 11:10 to go in the third.

That’s as close as the Sharks could get, though, in falling to 4-8-0 at home.

Kucherov opened the scoring when he cut to the slot, went around a flailing Burns and flipped in a shot off that deflected in off of Paul Martin at 2:19. Tampa Bay increased it to 2-0 when Eric Condra directed an Andrej Sustr pass towards the crease off of his skate.

Video review wasn’t kind to the Sharks through two periods, as the war room in Toronto ruled that Condra didn’t purposely kick the puck into the net on a play that probably could have gone either way. In the second, what looked like a Sharks goal did not count when the review showed that Mike Brown pushed a loose puck in the crease over the line.

The Sharks and Lightning will meet once more in Tampa Bay on Feb. 16.

The Lightning improved to 5-0 against the Pacific Division, with a 17-6 scoring margin. They visit the Kings on Sunday.

Special teams

The Sharks are 8-for-27 on the power play over the last six games. Saturday marked their first game of the season with three power play goals.

Tampa Bay was 1-for-4.

In goal

Stalock had won his previous two starts, but took the loss with four goals allowed on 20 shots. The backup has surrendered four-plus goals six times in his last 13 starts, and fell to 2-4-0 on the season.

Bishop was credited with the win, improving to 11-8-2, with 24 saves on 26 shots. Vasilevskiy allowed one goal on eight shots in the no-decision.

Lineup

Mirco Mueller was recalled on Saturday morning to take Vlasic’s place in the lineup. Dylan DeMelo remained with the club, but was a healthy scratch.

Micheal Haley was reassigned to the Barracuda on Saturday.

Up next

Seven of the next eight Sharks games are on the road, where they are 10-4. They visit the Flames on Tuesday and Oilers on Wednesday, host the Wild on Saturday, and begin a five-game road trip in Montreal on Dec. 15.