San Jose Sharks’ Joonas Donskoi, center, from Finland, celebrates his goal during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Calgary Flames in Calgary, Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP)

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ In his first game back from injury, San Jose Sharks’ Joonas Donskoi scored twice as the Sharks doused their division rival Calgary Flames 3-2 Thursday.

Donskoi’s game-winner came at 17:12, less than three minutes before overtime, as he made sure a loose puck under goalie Mike Smith went into the net. Joe Thornton and Justin Braun aided Donskoi as Thornton scored his sixth point in five games. Donskoi was playing for the first time since November 28.

Goalie Aaron Dell earned his third straight win as he made 32 saves back in his hometown of Calgary.    

Both teams came in tied for third in the division off shootout losses as each team scored in the opening and closing periods. The Sharks improved to 11-0 when leading after two periods.

San Jose’s Timo Meier and Donskoi had at least one goal and an assist apiece.

The Flames’ Michael Frolik picked up Tim Heed’s turnover in the Sharks’ end to score off Dell at 4:42 of the first.

Meier tied it later at 16:07, aided by Chris Tierney and Donskoi.

Special teams did not start off well for the Sharks. Their first power play in the opening period was cut short and  they then had a less than ideal first penalty kill in the second, in that it was cut short to where they were down 5-3. San Jose however had two shorthanded shots during the two-man advantage and another after. Logan Couture also had a chance which resulted in a power play for his team.

It was on the Sharks’ third man advantage they finally scored a power play goal for the fourth game in a row to make it 2-1. Tierney scored his first on the man advantage as he was helped by Meier and Kevin Labanc at 10 minutes of the second.  The play initially began back near the blue line when Brent Burns passed to Labanc and then Meier pushed the shot from Labanc back away after it hit goalie Mike Smith’s stick.  

San Jose re-tied the game at 7:39. The Sharks’ Marc-Edouard Vlasic lost the puck battle at the far blue line and Johnny Gaudreau converted on a 2-on-1 from Garnet Hathaway.

Game notes: Gaudreau had a game-high six shots. San Jose continues their three game Canadian road trip against the Vancouver Canucks Friday at 7pm.