Martin St. Louis and Joe Pavelski Score Hat Tricks in Lightning vs. Sharks Game

When the San Jose Sharks traveled to Tampa Bay to take on the Lightning on Jan. 18, it was supposed to be a critical game between two squads battling for a postseason position in their respective conferences before the Olympics break.

What actually broke out was a good ol’ fashioned scoring duel between Martin St. Louis of the Lightning and Joe Pavelski of the Sharks.

While San Jose ultimately picked up the crucial road victory to the tune of 5-4, St. Louis drew many of the headlines by netting all four of Tampa Bay’s goals. He did so with six shots on net.

Not to be outdone, Pavelski picked up a hat trick of his own for the Sharks with three of five shots on target. The Tampa Bay Lightning’s official Twitter account alerted us to the fact that both scorers were among the three stars chosen by the media:

As for the other star, Patrick Marleau was a bit overshadowed by the goal scoring, but he was just as critical to the Sharks' winning efforts. He picked up a goal and two assists against the Lightning.

All three of Pavelski’s goals came after the Sharks found themselves trailing 4-2. In fact, all three of the goals came in the second period, which gave San Jose the 5-4 lead that it ultimately held on to throughout the final period.

The Sharks moved to 31-12-6 with 68 points with the victory. Pavelski has 25 goals on the season, while St. Louis has totaled 25 goals on the year, as well, after their impressive performances.