By Morris Phillips

Peter DeBoer wasn’t fooled.  The scoreless period-and-a-half of hockey at the SAP Center on Thursday night between the Flames and the Sharks wasn’t a mid-point draw.  To DeBoer, the scoreless tie meant one thing from his perspective, his Sharks were behind, symbolized by the lack of physicality he’s always pointed to as an integral component to winning NHL games.

“We lost because of a lack of a 60-minute commitment from everybody,” DeBoer said, no doubt pointing to the stat sheet that showed his Sharks registered just one hit in the first 20 minutes of play against Calgary.  “The desperation level of the teams we’re playing is really high, and we need to understand that.”

Two goals—93 seconds apart—late in the second period gave the Flames the implicit lead on the scoreboard as well, and they would go on to hand San Jose its first home loss of the season, 3-2.

Calgary rookie Matthew Tkachuk scored twice for the first time in his career, coming up with the game-winner on a nifty pass from Michael Frolik with less than five minutes remaining.  Frolik dropped a perfectly timed cross in front of the net, and Tkachuk did the rest, patiently maneuvering around goalie Martin Jones before lightly touching the puck into the net.

The Sharks answered Calgary’s second period goals with two of their own in the first half of the third period, only to see Tkachuk win it with his second goal.  Still the Sharks’ coach and his players pointed to the team’s slow start that failed to take advantage of Calgary’s leaky defense, which had surrendered 40 goals in 11 games to rank last in the Western Conference.

“Right now we’re a goal short, a shot short, and that’s on everybody,” Joe Pavelski said.  “The work ethic can go up.”

Pavelski, along with Joe Thornton, assisted on the Shark’s initial goal, a one-timer from the point off the stick of Brent Burns just 35 seconds into the third period.  Last than nine minutes later, the Sharks tied when Melker Karlsson willed the puck past Chad Johnson while operating in the Calgary goalie’s kitchen.

On a night where San Jose’s bigger names failed to make an impact, Karlsson may have been the Sharks’ best player, willing to mix it up inside despite seeing just over 12 minutes of ice time.

The Sharks committed a pair of third period penalties after scoring their initial goal, but the Flames failed to regain their two-goal lead before Karlsson tied it.  Chippy play in front of the net preceded Tkachuk’s game-winner, but the teams were skating at equal strength when the 18-year old rookie untied it.

Tkachuk is the son of Keith Tkachuk, best known for his stints with the Coyotes and Blues in a 19-year NHL career in which he played 1,201 games and scored 538 goals.  The 18-year old Tkachuk found out earlier in the day that he wouldn’t be demoted to the minors ostensibly to delay his free agency by one year.

“He’s getting better each night out,” Flames GM Brad Treliving said during the pre-game skate.  “And there’s always going to be bumps along the way with a young player.  But he belongs here.”

The Sharks resume their home stand on Saturday night meeting the defending Stanley Cup Champion Penguins who captured the trophy in June, winning game 6 in San Jose.