By Ivan Makarov

SAN JOSE, CA — It’s been a rough season for San Jose Sharks so far. Facing a tough schedule in the first couple of months and spending a long time on the road, they have been inconstant and have yet to show that they are a powerhouse they used to be known as in the last several years. Going into the home matchup against Calgary Flames on Wednesday, they have lost three in a row, including the last two at home.

The season did not get any easier for them, as their slid continued with Flames earning the two points in 2-0 victory and Sharks dropping to a dismal 2-4-2 record at home, and putting themselves five points behind the third place in the Pacific division.

The game got off to a bad start from the get go, with Calgary Flames dictating the play and getting two great scoring chances on the very first shift. Antti Niemi was sharp and weathered the initial storm. As the game progressed, Sharks recovered and the game because even, with Sharks holding the puck more and holding a shot advantage.

The first goal in the game came towards the end of the second period when Flames forward Jiri Hudler broke through the middle of the Sharks zone on a well timed centering feed from TJ Brodie and put the puck above Sharks netminder Antti Niemi’s blocker. Niemi reacted but it was too late and Hudler scored his ninth of the season, giving his team a lead leading into the third period.

So far this season the Sharks did not have very many games when they won after trailing, being 24th in that category in all of the NHL. This game did not prove to be an exception, and even one goal game lead for the Flames proved to be too much. Sharks had their chances in the third period, perhaps their best, but the Flames played a strong defensive game, keeping the Sharks on the peremiter of their zone and blocking a lot of the shots. Whatever pucks reached the net, they were stopped by the stellar play of the Calgary’s backup goaltender Karri Ramo.

When the game came down to the last two minutes when teams usually pull their goaltender for an extra skater, Sharks did so but just to even out the number of players on the ice as Justin Braun was in the penalty box. Patrick Marleau did seem to have a scoring chance at that time as he broke through on the wing, but he missed the net on his shot and the puck skated all the way outside the Sharks zone, giving two Flames players an open net, with Hudler taking the shot and scoring his second of the night.

Both the coaches and the players felt disappointed after the game

“We’re a result based league and not happy with the results,” said Sharks coach Todd McLellan. “The effort was there. We had some opportunities to score, obviously. For whatever reason, they’re not going in. Defensively we didn’t give up much. I thought the weakest shift we had was the very first one when they got two or three scoring chances. After that we played pretty well defensively. Didn’t give up much.”

Joe Pavelski felt the same way, thinking they “had some good looks and maybe it didn’t feel as dangerous as it could’ve been at times and it’s just disappointing. We want to win; we want to get out of this. It’s the harder we try right now, the worse it’s going. So we’re probably not doing the right thing from guy to guy and we’ve got to find a way.”

Sharks next face Anaheim Ducks back at SAP Center on Saturday.