Winless Raiders to host Baker Mayfield and the Browns in Week 4

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Photo credit: @Raiders

By Joe Hawkes-Beamon
SRS Contributor

OAKLAND — With the first quarter of the season drawing to a close, the Oakland Raiders are in dire need of their first win…and they hope it’ll be versus the Cleveland Browns.

After playing two of their first three games of the season on the road, the Raiders return home to play two of their next three games beginning this Sunday when they will host the Browns and rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield at the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum.

Week 4’s matchup will mark only the second time since the Browns have traveled to the Black Hole and their most recent game, in 2015 at Cleveland, the Raiders defeated the Browns 27-20 at FirstEnergy Stadium.

Kickoff is set for 1:05 p.m. PT. The Browns are 12-10 all-time versus the Raiders in the regular season.

Last week, Oakland (0-3) lost to the first-place AFC East Miami Dolphins 28-20 in South Florida. Wide receiver Jordy Nelson had the biggest day for the Raiders, hauling in six catches for 173 yards (28.8 yards per catch) and a touchdown. In his last two meeting with the Dolphins, Nelson has destroyed Miami catching 15 passes for 280 yards (18.8 yards per catch) and two touchdowns.

Nelson became just the third Raider pass-catcher this season to top 100 yards in a game, joining tight end Jared Cook (180 yards against the Rams in Week 1), and fellow wide receiver Amari Cooper (116 yards against AFC West rival Denver in Week 2), making Oakland one of two teams to accomplish the feat.

Quarterback Derek Carr threw for 345 yards on 27-of-39 attempts with one touchdown and two interceptions. It was Carr’s second 300-yard passing day of the season (Carr threw for 303 yards against the Rams in Week 1). Through the first three games of the season, Carr is sixth in the NFL in passing yards per game (302) and second in completion percentage (76.6).

Oakland held a 17-7 lead midway through the third quarter before the Dolphins scored 21 unanswered points in the second-half to overtake the Raiders. Before kicker Mike Nugent booted a 52-yard field goal, the Raiders didn’t score a single point in the fourth quarter in their previous two games.

Speaking of Nugent, the Raiders placed Nugent on injured reserve with a hip injury and signed kicker Matt McCrane. McCrane is in his first year in the NFL after signing as an undrafted free agent with Arizona at the conclusion of the 2018 NFL Draft.

Strangely, the Raiders have led after three quarters in each of their previous three games but have yet to notch a win this season.

The Browns (1-1-1) are coming off 21-17 victory over the New York Jets in Cleveland on Thursday Night Football. Cleveland head coach Hue Jackson is just 2-32-1 as he enters his third season at the helm. Jackson, who spent 2010 as the Raiders’ offensive coordinator, was promoted to head coach in 2011 where he led the club to an 8-8 finish, but wasn’t retained as the team hired Dennis Allen heading into the 2012 season.

Allen finished 8-28 in his two-plus seasons in Oakland before being fired four games into the 2014 season as the team got off to a 1-10 start.

For Cleveland, quarterback Baker Mayfield will make his first-career NFL start when he leads the Browns into the Black Hole. Mayfield was selected first overall by the Browns in this year’s NFL Draft, but the Browns opted to start the season with Taylor under center and wanted Mayfield to watch and learn.

With Cleveland trailing 14-3 shortly before halftime, the rookie replaced veteran Tyrod Taylor, who was already playing poorly completing just 4-of-14 passes for 19 yards, when Taylor suffered his third concussion in the past 13 months.

In the second half, Mayfield energize that team and the home crowd, helping the Browns outscore the Jets 18-3. Mayfield threw for 201 yards on 17-of-23 attempts and even caught a two-point conversion from wide receiver Jarvis Landry that tied the game 14-14 in the third quarter.

Landry caught a game-high eight catches for 103 yards against the Jets, and leads the Browns with 20 catches for 278 yards. Rookie wide receiver Antonio Callaway has the Browns’ lone touchdown catch this season.

Running back Carlos Hyde rushed for 98 yards on 22 attempts and scored two touchdowns last week and given the Raiders inability to stop the run, (Oakland surrenders 116.3 yards on the ground per game, which ranks 22nd in the NFL), there could be some opportunities for Hyde to have another big game.

Defensively, Cleveland has some good, young players on that side of the ball that new defensive coordinator Gregg Williams can mold into a formidable group.

Second-year defensive end Myles Garrett has become one of the more feared pass rushers in the NFL. Garrett’s four sacks this season are tied for the most in the NFL with New Orleans defensive end Cameron Jordan, Chicago defensive end Khalil Mack (sorry Raider Nation), and Von Miller.

Garrett also has two forced fumbles.

Fellow defensive lineman in second-year defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi is quickly making a name for himself too, pacing second on the Browns with three sacks.

Rookie cornerback Denzel Ward, who the Browns selected fourth in the same draft as Mayfield, has played great for Cleveland so far this season. In his first pro game, Ward intercepted Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger twice.

Ward leads the team with two interceptions and along with fellow cornerback Terrance Mitchell, has solidified Cleveland’s pass defense.

Following Sunday’s game, the Raiders heads south to Los Angeles for a tough matchup in the AFC West against the Chargers in Week 5 before flying to London to take on the Seattle Seahawks in Week 6, while Cleveland will head home to prepare for back-to-back visits from AFC North rival the Baltimore Ravens and Chargers.

Offense Optional: Youthful Giants look the part minus the timely base hits

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO — Aramis Garcia working the knee high socks, showing the extension on his swing, the big league balance on the follow through, and the majestic path of the baseball into the sparsely populated, left field bleachers.

And that is your San Francisco Giants offensive highlight of the evening.

No doubt, the new look Giants know how to compete, but don’t expect a bushel of wins until the formula includes singles, doubles and home runs to go with the effective pitching and stingy defense. In Wednesday’s 3-2 loss to the Padres, Garcia’s homer wasn’t just the highlight, it was the entirety of the Giants’ offense. Don’t blink or you’ll miss it.

“We were one hit away. We’ve done that a few times,” said manager Bruce Bochy, employing simple subtraction, three minus two.

Freddy Galvis singled and tripled, Travis Jankowski had a seventh inning home run among his three hits, and Luis Perdomo was the first of three relievers to combine for six plus innings of shutout baseball, leading the Padres to the win and the series victory.

The Giants played without Brandon Crawford and Evan Longoria in their starting lineup, giving the team a decidedly 2019 audition look with Hunter Pence and Gregor Blanco hitting first and second as part of their farewell tour. With the teams not obligated to tear at the others postseason aspirations, the lineups leaned toward inexperience.  Unfortunately for the Giants, their lineup also leaned toward ineffectiveness.

Abiatal Avelino, acquired in the Andrew McCutchen deal with the Yankees, singled in the third for the Giants’ first hit. Garcia homered in the seventh ahead of Joe Panik’s walk. And three singles followed, split among the seventh and eighth innings with little impact.

And that was it. Sure the Giants didn’t do much with only five hits, but credit San Diego’s bullpen. Since the All-Star break, the Padres’ pen has posted the National League’s lowest ERA. On Wednesday, they backed it up starting with Perdomo as the opener, and on to Miguel Diaz, who pitched the fifth and sixth innings and got the win.

Casey Kelly got the start for the Giants and pitched well, excepting his throwing (flipping) error and balk in the fifth. The balk scored Travis Jankowski from third and a 2-0 Padres lead.

Kelly was seeking his first big league win since 2012 when he was with the Padres. He’s lost nine decisions since then, and pitched in seven games with the Giants this season, all of them Giants’ losses. Having home plate umpire Ryan Additon catch him flinching slightly with a runner on third was more frustration.

“When I shook my head I kind of moved my hands. I think that’s whey they called it. Once it gets to that point there’s really no going back so there’s no sense in arguing,” Kelly said.

The Giants host the Dodgers in the season-concluding series beginning Friday night and the possibility for drama lies in the hands of the home team. The Dodgers fell out of first place on Wednesday, and pending the result of Thursday’s Phillies-Rockies game, could find themselves a full game back when Madison Bumgarner takes the mound against them on Friday.

Garoppolo’s season over, so the 49ers’ fate may be sealed

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By Jeremy Harness

With one attempted cut inbounds to try to gain a few more yards, the fate of the 49ers’ 2018 season appeared to be sealed.

The 49ers were trailing in the fourth quarter of the team’s loss to the Kansas City Chiefs when quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo made that cut and then fell to the ground after his left knee buckled. He left the game and learned the next day that he had torn the ACL in that knee, effectively ending his season.

With that, the 49ers’ season may be over as well.

The second-biggest fear has also come to reality: C.J Beathard, the team’s second-year backup quarterback and has been far from awe-inspiring, is next up.

Expect the Los Angeles Chargers, who will host the 49ers at the StubHub Center on Sunday, to put heavy pressure on Beathard, who has shown a significant lack of accuracy in his brief career. He completed 55 percent of his throws last season and threw six interceptions against four touchdowns, amassing a lackluster passer rating of 69.2.

Of course, last season was just that, and it wouldn’t be so bad if he had shown any improvement, but that has yet to be seen.

He was out of shape for last year’s training camp, and he reportedly showed up in the same exact condition as the season before. Not exactly what you would want to see in your second-string signal-caller. That’s the reality that is staring the 49ers right in the face at this point.

To make matters worse, Beathard will not have any offensive stars to lean on. Jerick McKinnon, of course, is out for the season after tearing his own ACL in training camp. The team’s running game is headed by the duo of Alfred Morris, who didn’t even have a job when training camp opened this year, and Matt Breida, who provides a bit of quickness and catching ability out of the backfield but has otherwise been unimpressive in his young NFL career.

Meanwhile, the receiving corps has been less than stellar, as Pierre Garcon, who the 49ers had big expectations for when they brought him in prior to last season, has been practically nonexistent this season.

On the defensive side, cornerback Richard Sherman suffered a strained calf on Sunday, is expected to miss the next few weeks, while safeties Adrian Colbert and Jaquiski Tartt both missed practice with assorted injuries.

So basically, the 49ers will need to get healthy very quickly if they hope to be at least competitive for the remainder of the season.

Matt Olson’s grand slam leads A’s over Mariners 9-3

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By: Ana Kieu

After a rough, 12th inning walk-off loss, the Oakland A’s had one goal on their minds…to finish off their stay in the Pacific Northwest with a win over the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday night. Did the A’s achieve their goal? Scroll down the story to find out.

It was another high-scoring game in the Emerald City. The A’s got on the board first as Marcus Semien homered on a fly ball to center for a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning.

The A’s made it a 2-0 game when Chad Pinder homered on a fly ball to center in the top of the second inning.

The M’s quickly tied the score 2-2 in the bottom of the second inning. Ben Gamel doubled on a sharp line drive to Mark Canha. Both Nelson Cruz and Kyle Seager scored on Gamel’s double. Daniel Vogelbach went to third.

The A’s poured in a whopping six runs in the top of the fifth inning. Nick Martini got things started with a single on a ground ball to Gamel. Canha scored on Martini’s ground ball single. Josh Phegley went to third. Semien then singled on a line drive to Denard Span. Phegley scored on Semien’s line drive single. Martini went to second. Matt Olson broke the ballgame wide-open with a grand slam to right center. Both Martini, Semien and Khris Davis scored on Chapman’s grand slam. The A’s had an 8-2 advantage to end the inning.

The M’s proceeded to pull within five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Cruz hit a sacrifice fly to Canha. Jean Segura scored on Cruz’s sac fly.

After a scoreless sixth inning, the A’s tacked on a run to take a 9-3 lead in the top of the seventh inning. Davis homered on a fly ball to right center. With that homer, Davis led the Major League with 47 homers this season. Other MLB players with 47-plus homers since 2010 include Giancarlo Stanton (59 in 2017), Joey Bautista (54 in 2010), Chris Davis (53 in 2013; 47 in 2015), Aaron Judge (52 in 2017) and Mark Trumbo (47 in 2016).

Neither team added additional runs, and the A’s defeated the M’s 9-3. Oakland’s Ryan Buchter (6-0) was the winning pitcher. Seattle’s Felix Hernandez (8-14), better known as “King Felix,” took the loss.

Notes
The 2018 AL Wild Card Game, presented by Hankook on TBS, has been scheduled for a 5:00 pm PT airtime.

The Las Vegas Ballpark, the soon-to-be home of the triple-A Las Vegas 51’s, officially introduced the two-year Player Development Contract between the 51’s and the A’s.

Up Next
The A’s have a much-needed day off, then they’ll head to Anaheim to close out the regular season against the Angels. Game 1 is set for Friday night at 7:07 pm PT.

San Jose State’s Bryce Crawford named a finalist for William V. Campbell Trophy

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By: Ana Kieu

San Jose State senior kicker Bryce Crawford is one of 179 national semifinalists for the 2017 William V. Campbell Trophy, presented by Fidelity Investments, according to an announcement by the National Football Foundation and the College Hall of Fame.

The Campbell Trophy honors the top scholar-athlete in college football. Candidates for the Campbell Trophy must be a senior or graduate student in his final year of playing eligibility, have at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA, be a first-team player and demonstrated strong leadership and citizenship.

“These 179 impressive candidates truly represent the scholar-athlete ideal,” said NFF Chairman Archie Manning, whose sons Peyton (Campbell Trophy winner) and Eli were named NFF National Scholar-Athletes in 1997 and 2003, respectively. “For 60 years, the NFF National Scholar-Athlete program has showcased more than 800 college football players who have been successful on the football field, in the classroom and in the community. This year’s semifinalists further illustrate the power of our great sport in developing the next generation of influential leaders.”

One of the best kickers in SJSU history, Crawford is a two-time Mountain West Scholar-Athlete, two-time Academic All-Mountain West honoree and a SJSU Dean’s Scholar.

Crawford’s contributions in the community are just as impressive and showcase the total student-athlete ideal. He served as a team representative to the Florida Hospital during the 2015 AutoNation Cure Bowl. He has participated in after school reading programs with students that have English as a second language. He has volunteered time at the Via Hermosa Senior Housing apartment complex in San Jose, assisting residents with daily chores. He has assisted with SJSU events such as the annual fall on-campus move-ins.

“Bryce Crawford is everything that is right about college football. He is a young man that takes his academics very seriously. He is an honor roll guy every semester. He works extremely hard at being the best he can be. He’s dependable, on time, a good leader for our team. Guys look up to him,” says SJSU Football Head Coach Brent Brennan.

“He shows up for everything (community service). He wants to give back. He totally appreciates and respects his opportunities as a student-athlete and recognizes the potential power and platform that he has to positively impact the community.”

“The NFF would like to personally congratulate each of the nominees as well as their schools and coaches on their tremendous accomplishments,” said NFF President and CEO Steve Hatchell. “We are extremely proud to highlight each semifinalist’s achievements, showcasing their ability to balance academics and athletics at the highest level. The NFF Awards Committee will have an incredibly difficult task in selecting the finalists from this outstanding group of candidates.”

12 to 14 finalists will be selected and announced as 2018 National Football Foundation National Scholar-Athletes on October 31 and receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship. From the finalists, one will be designated as the William V. Campbell Trophy winner and have his postgraduate scholarship increased to $25,000.

In 2016, wide receiver Tim Crawley became SJSU’s first recipient of a NFF National Scholar-Athlete award.

Headline Sports podcast with London Marq: Who will win the AL MVP?; Ex-Raider Ball suffering aneurysm; Vikings’ Griffen asked to take mental evaluation

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Photo credit: @StribSports

On the Headline Sports podcast with London:

#1 In the American League MVP selection, it comes down to the Los Angeles Angels’ Mike Trout with .314, 38 HRs and 77 RBIs, and for the Boston Red Sox’s Mookie Betts .343, 32 HRs and 80 RBIs.

#2 Former Oakland Raiders linebacker Neiron Ball, who played for the team for only six games in 2015 and was also a former Florida Gator. Due to a knee injury, Ball left the Raiders in his brief NFL career suffered a brain aneurysm that ruptured on September 16th. Could head trauma play a role in brain aneurysms and other head injuries after a player has retired?

#3 Minnesota Vikings defensive end Everson Griffen was ordered by the Vikings to take a mental health evaluation after having an outburst at the team’s Minneapolis hotel last Saturday. He was heard screaming and yelling that he was going to shoot someone if they didn’t open the door to his room. Police were called and found that he had no weapon.

#4 Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said that the comparison of the 1998 Chicago Bulls to the 2018 Golden State Warriors is a huge difference. The ’98 Bulls had free agents that were going to leave the team and the 2018 Warriors have players that plan to stay and the top brass is going to work to keep the free agents.

#5 The New York Yankees look like they have a great shot at getting the AL Wild Card title. The Yankees lead the Oakland A’s by two full games and neither team have given up. Both A’s and Yankees still continue to win.

London does the Headline Sports each week and will host the next remote podcast at Il Fornaio in downtown Sacramento Mon Nov 5th at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco Giants podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Name all the things that went wrong with S.F. this season

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On the Giants podcast with Marko:

#1 What went horribly wrong for ex-Giants general manager Bobby Evans?

#2 There were plenty of injuries throughout the season: Buster Posey, Brandon Belt, Jeff Samardjiza, Johnny Cueto, Joe Panik and Evan Longoria; just to name a few did that lend to the lack of play for the Giants, and thus, Evans getting the blame for the mounting loses.

#3 The Giants fell short of losing 100 games last season and have lost 13 of 16 as of Tuesday night and are 12 games under .500 did. That also factored into Evans’ departure.

#4 Giants manager Bruce Bochy said he was hoping to stay on with the Giants for next season. The front office says they’re going to look for outside help for replacing Evans. Where does Bochy’s future lie with this change?

#5 Finally, how much blame does Giants CEO and team president Larry Baer share in the failure of last year’s team as well as this year’s team?

Marko Uklovic did the Giants podcasts for the 2018 season and will be doing the San Jose Barracuda podcasts starting next week on Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Bumgarner’s walk-off single lifts Giants to 5-4 win over Padres in 12 innings

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Photo credit: @NBCSGiants

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — Madison Bumgarner came up with the biggest hit of the night when it was needed the most.

Bumgarner, who was forced to pinch hit after there were no more pinch hitters hit a walk-off single off of Brad Wieck in the bottom of the 12th inning, as the San Francisco Giants came back to defeat the San Diego Padres 5-4 before a crowd of 36,063 at AT&T Park on Tuesday night.

The Bumgarner single off of Wieck scored Gorkys Hernandez from third base, after Hernandez tripled to lead off the inning against Wieck.

This was the first walk-off of Bumgarner’s career, and his fourth career pinch-hit with the last coming on July 21, 2016 against the Washington Nationals.

Chris Stratton went just 4.2 innings, allowing three runs on six hits, walking five and striking out five.

The win by the Giants stopped their five-game losing streak, as they won for just the fifth time in their last 22 games.

The Giants took the lead in the bottom of the seventh inning, as Gregor Blanco came off the bench and doubled down the left field line to score pinch-hitter Joe Panik, who singled and Hunter Pence, who singled Panik to third base. Gorkys Hernandez led off the inning with a double, but was thrown out trying to steal third base for the first out of the inning.

Unfortunately, Will Smith was unable to close it out, as he gave up a one-out double to Wil Myers and then Framil Reyes singled to score Myers.

Eric Hosmer gave the Padres the lead in that third inning, as he singled in Robbie Erlin and Myers, on the play, Hernandez to control the ball for an error that sent Reyes across the plate.

Abiatal Avelino then committed the Giants second error in as many at-bats, as he was unable to field the Hunter Renfroe ball that scored Reyes from third base.

Erlin went the minimum five innings, allowing two runs on four hits, not walking a batter and striking out four, but did not fare in the decision.

Evan Longoria gave the Giants an early 1-0 lead on a double that scored Pence, who led off the by reaching on an error by Javy Guerra.

Pence, whose contract with the Giants comes to an end on Sunday got the Giants within one run in the bottom of the fifth inning, as he hit his fourth home run of the season.

NOTES: With the victory, the Giants raise their record to 52-19 when they score four or more runs in a game.

Bumgarner is the first MLB player since Jon Lester of the Chicago Cubs to get a walk-off single without pitching in a game. Lester’s walk-off came on July 31, 2016 against the Seattle Mariners at Wrigley Field.

UP NEXT: The Giants and Padres conclude their series Wednesday night at 7:15 pm PDT.

The Giants’ Casey Kelly takes the mound, as he looks for his first win, while the Padres will Eric Lauer to the mound in the series and season finale between the two teams.

Chris Herrmann’s pinch-hit, 2-run homer pushes Mariners past A’s 10-8 in 11 innings

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Photo credit: @710ESPNSeattle

By: Ana Kieu

The Oakland A’s were looking for another win against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field on Tuesday night.

The A’s took a 3-0 lead after the top of the first inning. The A’s jumped out to an early 1-0 lead as Ramon Laureano hit a line drive single to Guillermo Heredia. Jed Lowrie scored on Laureano’s single. Matt Olson to third, and Laureano to second. The A’s added two runs as Matt Joyce hit a two-run, line drive single to Heredia. Both Laureano and Olson scored on Joyce’s single.

The M’s hastily tied the score 3-3 in the bottom of the first inning. Nelson Cruz homered on a line drive to center for his 37th homer of the season. Both Mitch Haniger and Jean Segura scored on Cruz’s game-tying homer.

The A’s, however, extended its lead to 6-3 in the top of the second inning. Nick Martini tripled on a sharp ground ball to Haniger for a 5-3 lead. Both Chad Pinder and Jonathan Lucroy scored on Martini’s triple. Jed Lowrie then singled on a fly ball to Haniger for a 6-3 lead. Martini scored on Lowrie’s single.

The M’s pulled within two runs in the bottom of the second inning. Dee Gordon grounded out, Pinder to Olson. Mike Zunino scored on Gordon’s ground out.

The M’s made it a one-run game in the bottom of the third inning. Jean Segura homered on a fly ball to left for his 10th homer of the season.

The A’s tacked on another run in the top of the fifth inning. Marcus Semien homered on a fly ball to left for his 15th homer of the season.

The A’s tacked on yet another run in the top of the sixth inning. Olson ripped a ground-rule double on a fly ball to left-center. Martin scored on Olson’s ground-rule double. Matt Chapman to third.

Then, the M’s made it a one-run game once again. Denard Span doubled on a sharp line drive to Laureano. Both Ryon Healy and Gordon Beckham scored on Span’s double.

As if things couldn’t get any worse, the M’s tied the score 8-8 in the bottom of the eighth inning. Kyle Seager hit a ground ball single to Mark Canha. Ben Gamel scored on Seager’s game-tying single. Andrew Romine to second.

The A’s Twitter was counting the ticks on the clock and then the ballgame went into extra innings. Fans in attendance got a chance to watch some free baseball.

At least, the ballgame came to an end in the bottom of the 11th inning…just not in favor of the A’s. Chris Herrmann homered on a fly ball to right center. Ben Gamel scored on Herrmann’s homer.

The M’s defeated the A’s 10-8 in game two of the series.

Notes

Up Next
The A’s and Mariners wrap up their series Wednesday night at 7:10 pm PDT.

Flames avoid burnout vs. Sharks 7-5

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Photo credit: Al Charest/Postmedia

By Pearl Allison Lo

The San Jose Sharks and Calgary Flames went toe-to-toe through the first two periods, but the Flames prevailed in front of their home crowd Tuesday night at Scotiabank Saddledome.

After losing 5-4 in overtime on Monday, Calgary looked no worse for the wear. San Jose last played Saturday but had to make the trip northeast.

San Jose is now 4-for-4 in the preseason in terms of scoring at least four goals per game. Calgary also done the same in their first three games played.

Calgary had more regulars dressed but it was still a shootout. The first and second period were both marked by 4-1 scores for each side.

The Flames went ahead 6-5 in the third at 5:33 while the Sharks were blanked by Jon Gillies after 15:22 of the second period. San Jose was held to four shots in the third and their last shot came with 6:49 left in the game.

The Sharks’ Lukas Radil had a goal and assist and the Flames’ Johnny Gaudreau scored twice.

“Each line contributed offensively. It was a good team win, ” Gaudreau remarked.

Both teams played tic-tac-toe in a variety of ways during the night and switched out goalies. Sharks goalie Aaron Dell was pulled after five goals in favor of Antoine Bibeau. Flames goalie David Rittich left after four goals for Gillies.

The Sharks scored first with Barclay Goodrow getting his third goal of the preseason.

San Jose went on the power play at 12:10. Six seconds later, Rourke Chartier followed suit with the teams’ first power play goal of the preseason, making them 1-for-12. Less than 40 seconds later, Gaudreau scored Calgary’s only goal of the first. He, Brett Kulak and Sean Monahan got their first points of the preseason in the game. Then, just eight seconds after, Radil scored unassisted.

The Sharks’ Marcus Sorensen had a goal, but it was disallowed for goalie interference, even after a Coach’s Challenge.

San Jose’s Maxim Letunov capped off the first period, scoring his first preseason goal at 16:18.

Both sides played a little penalty tic-tac-toe after. The Sharks were called for a penalty at 16:47. Less than 30 seconds later, the Flames nullified their own power play and then less than 30 seconds later again, San Jose got the high-sticking call.

The Flames played their period a little differently in the second, scoring three straight goals before the Sharks did.

All of the Flames’ three goals came in the slot near the left faceoff circle, Matthew Phillips at 7:05, Monahan at 9:47 and Matthew Tkachuk at 12:38.

Alexander Chmelevski scored San Jose’s sandwich goal at 15:44 with his first goal.

Gaudreau topped off the period with another goal 10 seconds before the middle period ended, leaving both teams heading into the third with a 5-5 tie. He and his teammates had Bibeau caught looking back and forth between the pipes before scoring.

Sam Bennett got Calgary their first lead and the game-winner with the first goal of the third period.

The Sharks’ Kevin Labanc tried to fight Austin Czarnik away from the empty net with time running out, but Czarnik got his stick ahead for the 7-5 score at 18:46 to seal the deal.

Up Next: The Sharks will face the Flames again, but on their own ice Thursday night at 7:30 pm PDT.