by Jerry Feitelberg

There are two droughts going on in California right now. The first is a severe drought caused by the lack of rain in California this winter. The second drought is the scoring drought that the Sharks are experiencing right now. The Sharks, playing on consecutive nights, lost to the Calgary Flames

Thursday night by a score of 4-1. The Sharks did not score in the first two periods of the game and had gone scoreless in their last eight periods of play. The Sharks did get on the scoreboard early in the third period when Eriah Hayes scored his first goal in the NHL.

The Sharks were clearly out skated in the first period by the Flames. The Flames took an early 1-0 when Lee Stempniak beat Stalock on a rebound. Defenseman Dan Boyle could not establish good body position in front of the net and that allowed Stempniak to put the puck past Alex Stalock. There was no more scoring in the period and Calgary outshot the Sharks 12-8.

The Flames took a 2-0 lead with 3:38 played in the second period. The Flames shot the puck off the boards behind the net and the puck bounced out to Flames’ defenseman Mark Giordano who put it the net for the score.

The Sharks made it a 2-1 games with just 36 seconds played in the third period. Eriah Hayes, playing on the second line, scored his first NHL goal beating Flames’goalie Karri Ramo on the short side and putting the puck into the top corner of the net. Patrick Marleau and Tommy Wingels assisted on the play. Try as they might, the Sharks could do no more as they looked fatigued both mentally and physically. The Flames took a two goal lead when nineteen year old rookie Sean Monahan scored his fifteenth goal of the year with just seven minutes left to play in the game. The goal was very similar to the Flames second score. The puck bounced off the boards behind the net and Joe Colborne passed it to Monahan who the put the puck by Stalock. The Flames scored their fourth goal of the night into an empty net.

Notes- This is the second time this year that the Sharks have lost three games in a row in regulation.

Alex Stalock made 26 saves while allowing three goals while Karri Ramo stopped 27 shots and let one go by him.

Coach Todd McLellan said after the game that the lack of scoring “was a big concern for us.” He also said that the Sharks “need some other players to pick up the slack.” He was referring to the fact that the two top lines had accounted for most of the scoring. He also said that “we have a lot of talent.’ but that “our team was tired.”

The Sharks return to home to play four more games before the break for the Olympic games. They meet the defending Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks Saturday night at the SAP Center at 7:30.