Sharks Fall 3-2 to Flames; Sharks head to Chicago on Monday night

The Calgary Flames Joel Farabee (86) scores on San Jose Sharks goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic (33) as John Klingberg (3) looks on at Soctiabank Arena in Calgary on Sat Jan 31, 2026 (Canadian Press via AP photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 3-2 to the Calgary Flames Saturday, ending the Flames’ five game losing streak. Morgan Frost, Matvei Gridin, and Joel Farabee scored for the Flames. Dustin Wolf made 23 saves for the win. Will Smith and Adam Gaudette scored for the Sharks. Alex Nedeljkovic made 39 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky said: “We just couldn’t get ‘er going at all. Second period we really struggled.”

The Sharks scored early, on a power play just 3:11 in. Skating to the net, Alexander Wennberg made a quick little pass across the slot to Will Smith. Smith’s snap shot beat Wolf as the goaltender tried to come across.

Morgan Frost tied the game at 14:44. The tying goal was also on the power play, a five-on-three. Nedeljkovic stopped a shot from Matt Coronato but put a rebound out in front, which Frost jumped on. Assists went to Coronato and Jonathan Huberdeau.

The Flames outshot the Sharks 15-11 in the first. The Sharks had two power plays, one that carried over to the second period. The Flames’ two power plays overlapped in the middle of the period.

The Sharks took another lead with a goal from Adam Gaudette at 1:21 of the second period. After three blocked Sharks shots and a save by Wolf, Gaudette’s wrist shot made it through. William Eklund and Michael Misa got the assists.

Matvei Gridin tied it again at 6:59. a cross-ice pass from Frost set him up for a snap shot. Assists went to Frost and MacKenzie Weegar.

The Flames outshot the Sharks 17-6 in the second period. The Sharks took two penalties and the Flames took none.

Joel Farabee scored the game-winner short-handed at 6:53 of the third period. Farabee was right by the goal when the puck came off the backboards, ready for a tidy backhand shot. Assists went to Mikael Backlund and Kevin Bahl.

In the third, the Sharks took three penalties, including a 10-minute misconduct to Barclay Goodrow and a too many men on the ice. The Flames took two.

With just over three minutes to go, Nedeljkovic seemed to leave the game with what looked like a lower body injury. Instead, he walked it off during a tv timeout and did not miss a shift. After the game, he said: “I just needed to get off the ice. My leg was starting to bug me. Thankfully it was the tv time out so I was able to get things under control.”

In other not-injury news, Philipp Kurashev returned to the lineup for the first time since December 13.

The Sharks next play on Monday at 5:30 PM PT against the Blackhawks in Chicago.

Leave a comment