Sharks struck by Lightning in Tampa.

Byline: Victor Chi

TAMPA, Fla. _ They overhauled lines. They got two more goals from Patrick Marleau. They had Brad Stuart back. And the Sharks still got beat.

So after their 4-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday, the Sharks spoke of having played stronger in comparison to recent efforts and of taking a step in the right direction.

But for the fifth consecutive game they could not speak of victory, in part because Lightning goalie Nikolai Khabibulin delivered some big saves but also because of botched defensive-zone assignments again.

"This was a start," Sharks center Vincent Damphousse said. "We still lost but overall we worked a lot harder. This looked like more of what we want to see game in and game out. We've got everybody back now, so there's no excuses. We've got to get the job done."

A couple of costly mistakes bothered Coach Darryl Sutter but he expressed encouragement in regards to the team's upgraded vigor.

"If we continue to play like that, we'll be fine," Sutter said. "I'm not going to beat players up for that kind of effort. We just need more of that emotion, more of that effort."