Hearing that the Sharks reportedly have interest in Schneider is understandable. At just 24 years old, Schneider could be a great fit on a young Sharks team on the rise. This is especially so if the change of scenery helped the former first-round pick hit a new level.

Still, the Sharks’ road trip went about as expected. They beat the teams (Washington, Florida) that are around or below them in the NHL’s overall standings and lost to two of the best teams (Detroit, Tampa Bay) in the Eastern Conference.

Brandon Hagel scored two goals to reach 25 for the season and surpass Nikita Kucherov for the team lead as the Tampa Bay Lightning continued their surge with a 4-1 win over the San Jose Sharks.

The Tampa Bay Lightning returned to Benchmark International Arena for a quick one-game homestand on Tuesday night, as they hosted the San Jose Sharks in a battle of two surging teams.

After the Sharks pulled Askarov for an extra attacker, Hagel finished the scoring with an empty-netter. Kucherov helped set up the goal by using his skate to direct the puck from the neutral zone ahead to Hagel, who had only Guentzel with him in the offensive zone. They exchanged passes before Hagel finished the shot into the vacated net.