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 The upstart team from Alberta's Great White North capped a
surprising yet dominating season series, handing San Jose a fourth
loss in five meetings with a 4-1 decision Monday in front of 17,010
at SAP Center.
"They're all four-point games, you can't fall back," Calgary coach
Bob Hartley said. "We knew that it was a big game. I'm very
impressed that we didn't have a very good game against Pittsburgh
(in a 4-0 loss Friday), and we found a way to step right back. It
was a good team effort by everyone, the 20 guys who went to war."
The victory enabled the Flames (30-21-3) to tie the Sharks (28-20-7)
with 63 points, but Calgary moved past San Jose into second place in
the Pacific Division based on playing one fewer game. San Jose lost
a second straight and fell for the fourth time in five games.
"They earned the points," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. "They
came into our building and beat us. And each time it was very much a
carbon copy of low-scoring games where we had opportunities, and we
made enough mistakes where they could capitalize."
Calgary left wingers Mason Raymond, Lance Bouma and Jiri Hudler
scored in the first, second and third periods, respectively.
Defenseman Brent Burns scored San Jose's goal, which cut the Flames'
lead to 2-1 at the end of the second period.
Burns' first goal in 15 games came at 19:59 as the Sharks took
advantage of a Calgary icing and managed to convert within three
seconds after winning the faceoff.
"You've got to feel good going into the third," Burns said. "We had
time to get back to our game plan."
Instead, the Flames regained their two-goal advantage at 5:20 of the
third period by converting a power play following a roughing penalty
called against Burns for a hit on Flames rookie left winger Johnny
Gaudreau.
"I was just trying to play big, that's all," said Burns, in obvious
disagreement with the call. "It's hockey."
Gaudreau drew penalty-killers close to him on the goal line before
feeding Hudler for an open shot. Hudler's 16th goal of the season,
and fifth against the Sharks, came nine seconds before Burns'
penalty was due to expire.
"We kept our composure, and then the power play came up huge,"
Flames defenseman Mark Giordano said. "That third one's a huge goal,
obviously."
The Sharks had a chance with a late power play to narrow the 3-1
deficit, but they couldn't score despite putting three shots on
goal. San Jose went 0-for-3 with six shots on the man advantage,
while Calgary went 1-for-3. The Sharks were only 1-for-13 on the
power play against the Flames during the season series.
"If you win that (special teams) battle, you're getting points on
most nights," Sharks right winger Joe Pavelski said. "We're not
where we need to be, and we understand that. We have confidence in
our (penalty killers), our (power play), it's just about executing
and getting it done on a nightly basis."
Flames right winger David Jones then put the game away with an
empty-net goal at 18:07 of the third period.
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Calgary goalie Jonas Hiller made 33 saves in the win. Sharks goalie
Antti Niemi stopped 23 shots.
"He was strong right from the start," Hartley said of Hiller. "Lots
of times in those key games, if our goalie is better than their
goalie, I like our chances. That's exactly what happened tonight."
Calgary took a two-goal lead at 8:10 of the middle period when Bouma
got position on Sharks rookie defenseman Mirco Mueller in front of
Niemi to backhand a short rebound of Giordano's point shot. Jones
beat San Jose center James Sheppard in the faceoff circle to start
the sequence.
The Flames had the better of the opening period, scoring the only
goal, outshooting the Sharks 9-7 and basically skating at will
against the hosts.
The goal came late in the period when San Jose defenseman Brenden
Dillon got caught pinching deep in the Calgary end. The visitors
broke out three-on-three, but two of the Sharks' backcheckers were
forwards, including rookie center Chris Tierney. Raymond cut from
the left side to the middle, leaving Tierney in his wake, and he
beat Niemi with a high wrist shot at 14:52.
The Sharks played without top defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who
was placed on injured reserve (retroactive to Feb. 6) due to a
suspected concussion.
"He definitely settles us down, so we miss that a little bit, but
that's not an excuse," Pavelski said. "We'll be happy when he gets
back, but guys who are on the ice right now are more than capable of
doing it. Bottom line is it's on everybody."
NOTES: G Evgeni Nabokov is expected to announce his retirement
Wednesday after being acquired by the Sharks, his original team,
from Tampa Bay in exchange for future considerations on Monday.
Nabokov, 39, was not claimed after the Lightning put him on waivers
last week after going 3-6-2 with a .901 save percentage this season.
Nabokov, drafted by San Jose in 1994, holds San Jose's club records
for games played by a goalie (563), wins (154) and shutouts (50).
... Calgary started a two-game trip that concludes Thursday in Los
Angeles with the players' fathers included. ... Sharks RW Tommy
Wingels was activated off injured reserve after missing seven games
with a left-hand injury. Rookie RW Daniil Tarasov was placed on IR,
a result of blocking a shot on Saturday. Rookie D Dylan DeMelo was
promoted from Worcester of the AHL. ... Calgary LW Curtis Glencross
returned from a lower-body injury after missing nine games since his
last appearance on Jan. 15. ... Flames LW Paul Byron (illness) was
replaced by RW David Wolf.
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