Tag: Calgary Flames

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Lightning get shutout help from Vasilevskiy; Isles edge Bruins 2-1 at the Garden; plus more NHL news

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Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) and defenseman Ryan McDonagh (27) put the stop on the Calgary Flames right wing Matt Coranato (27) at the Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay on Thu Feb 27, 2025 (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 The Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped all 27 Calgary Flames shots on goal for a 3-0 shutout at the Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay on Thursday. The Lightning got goal scoring from Brandon Hagel, Erik Cemak, and Nikita Kucherov.

#2 The New York Islanders just got by the Boston Bruins 2-1 at the Garden in Boston. The Islanders Alexander Romanov scored his fourth goal of the season at 16:11 in the first period and teammate Kyle Palmieri scored his 18th goal of the season at 4:21 in the second period. The Bruins got their only goal of the game at 10:04 when David Pastrnak scored in the third period.

#3 The Columbus Blue Jackets won a three goal contest against the Detroit Red Wings. Most of the game’s scoring came in the second period when the Red Wings Alex DeBrincat scored his 27th goal at 27 seconds making it 1-0, the Blue Jackets would follow up with four unanswered goals from James Van Riemsdyk, Sean Kuraly, Kent Johnson, and Riemsdyk scored his second goal of the period making it 4-1 CBJs. The Red Wings JD Compher scored at 16:30 for the final goal of the period making it 4-2. The Jackets Kirill Marchenko scored at 19:03 in the third period to round out all the goals in a 5-2 win for Columbus.

#4 The San Jose Sharks and Montreal Canadiens skated to a 2-2 after the first period. The Sharks getting first period goals from Fabian Zetterlund and Nico Sturm. The Habs got first period goals from Nick Suzuki scoring twice in the period. In the second period the Sharks Will Smith scored at 17:21 making 3-2 Sharks. The Canadiens added two more in the third period Alex Newhook and in overtime Cole Caulfield scored the game winner for the 4-3 win.

#5 The Carolina Hurricanes came away with a 5-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night. Wearing their Hartford Whalers uniforms the Hurricanes scored three unanswered goals in the first period taking a 3-1 lead after the first period. Carolina would score a goal in each of the second and third periods for the 5-2 win.

Len Shapiro does the NHL podcasts each Friday morning at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Utah HC Posts Third Consecutive Home Win With 2-1 Victory Over Chicago

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Utah Hockey Club left wing Lawson Crouse (67) takes the puck up ice against the Chicago Blackhawks at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Tue Feb 25, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Clayton Keller and Lawson Crouse each found the back of the net, and Karel Vejmelka stopped 21 of 22 shots, as Utah nails down third consecutive home win.

Coming off of a 2-1 home victory against the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday, Utah HC returned to the ice on Tuesday to square off against the Chicago Blackhawks, whom they defeated 5-2 on opening night in October.

Prior to the puck drop, local recording artist Yahosh Bonner, fresh off of starring in the lead role of Coalhouse Walker Jr. in the musical “Ragtime!,” the inaugural production at The Ruth and Nathan Hale Theater in Pleasant Grove, set the tone for the game with his powerful performance of the national anthem.

At 12:47 of the first period, Utah forward Kevin Stenlund went to the penalty box for holding against Connor Bedard to give Chicago its first power play of the evening. Blackhawks defenseman Seth Jones converted the man advantage on a snap shot for his 7th goal of the season, assisted by Ryan Donato and Teuvo Teravainen, as Chicago took a 1-0 lead into the locker room.

Chicago goaltender Arvid Soderblom was stingy in net for the first two periods, but with 44 seconds remaining in the second, Utah captain Clayton Keller found the back of the net to tie things up with his 21st goal of the season, assisted by Michael Kesselring and Logan Cooley.

Kesselring’s assist was his 17th of the season establishing his new single-season high. Last season he registered 16 assists in 65 games for the Phoenix Coyotes. Cooley’s assist gave him at least one point in each of Utah’s last 8 home games.

Utah forward Lawson Crouse gave his squad the lead at 12:12 of the third period with a backhand shot, his 9th goal of the season, assisted by Josh Doan and Olli Määttä. The goal turned out to be the game-winner, Crouse’s second of the season, matching his 2023-2024 total. Crouse also scored against the Blackhawks on opening night.

Chicago put heavy pressure on Utah in the closing minutes of the game with their goaltender pulled, but Karel Vejmelka stood tall to protect the victory. Vejmelka has now won 3 games in a row, allowing just 4 goals during that span for a 1.40 GAA and .942 save percentage.

In the locker room, Lawson Crouse talked about how his team has been handling pressure recently. “As our identity progresses forward, we keep taking steps in the right direction. It’s a lot of fun when we play this way. Everyone is on board.

Everyone that’s contributing and creating team success pushes everyone to be the best they can possibly be.” Describing his game-winning goal, Lawson added, “We attacked as a unit, and Doaner made a great play to find me in the middle. There was a lot of open ice, and I think the key player on that play was McBain just being at the net, and that allowed me to have that extra second to get the shot off.”

Captain Clayton Keller, Tuesday night’s other scorer, talked about his squad’s perseverance. “It’s huge. We didn’t have our best stuff to start the game, but we stuck with it. They played hard. They made us work for everything. It’s good to get the win there.

It was a tight game all the way through, so a huge win for us.” Talking about Crouse’s goal, Keller said, “It’s huge. He’s such a great teammate. He’s scoring, not scoring, and has been through the ups and downs. He’s a guy that you love being around at the rink.

Just a great teammate. Anytime another guy has success, it’s awesome.” When asked about holding onto the lead for the final eight minutes, Keller added, “Just keep playing our game. Keep going. I think we’ve taken strides in learning from previous mistakes when we’ve had the lead. Playing a little bit more loose. That’s part of the way that we kind of stuck with it. We had a lot of possession and chances in the third there.”

Head coach André Tourigny was happy with his team’s consecutive home win and offered particular praise for the play of Crouse. “He’s playing with more conviction. He has less doubt in his head, he plays a little bit more free-minded. He shoots quickly and you can see he doesn’t overthink the game. So, I like the way he played, the pace he played with, and I think that line was excellent again tonight. Obviously, they got the big goal as well, but the pace and the key moments were really good.” With regard to the whole team, he said, “They want it. There’s a good feel on the bench right now. There’s a feel of competitiveness, there’s a feel of care, and there’s a feel of passion. I like the way it feels and the guys are all in on winning. They don’t give a damn about who, but us.”

Speaking about Vejmelka, who also won Sunday’s 2-1 contest against the Canucks, Bear noted, “He stopped the puck and that’s a good quality for a goalie. He did a really good job in both games and found a way to make the last stop. Even during 6-on-5, they had two good looks, and [Vejmelka] came up big. I like the way he plays…He was really solid [against Vancouver] and looking at this body of work since he got hurt, I think he really stepped up and has allowed us to be in the hunt.”

Summarizing the game, he concluded, “It was huge. I think we’re at the point as a team where we’re in the zone and it’s like next man up. We need to find a way to win games and I think tonight, we did a lot of good stuff, offensively and defensively. The puck was not going in and we had a little bit of a tough time to make the next play offensively in terms of execution, but we stayed with it, and I think the guys were focused. Even if the execution was not at our best, we stayed with it, and we played with confidence. We had confidence in our play without the puck and confidence if we kept pegging away and putting the puck behind and putting pucks at the net. Something will go in and it did.”

Utah will go for its fourth consecutive home win on Thursday against the Minnesota Wild. They have won five of their past seven games and trail the Calgary Flames by three points in the Western Conference Wild Card chase.

Sharks Fall 3-2 to Flames, Losing Streak at five

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San Jose Sharks Henry Thrun (3) tries to stop the Calgary Flames Jonathan Huberdeau (left) from attacking Sharks goaltender Alexander Georgiev (40) and the net in the second period at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary on Sun Feb 23, 2025 (News photo by Canadian Press via AP)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 3-2 to the Calgary Flames Sunday. Nazem Kadri, Kevin Rooney and Joel Hanley scored for the Flames. Dustin Wolf made 27 saves for the win. Macklin Celebrini and Tyler Toffoli scored for the Sharks. Alexandar Georgiev made 33 saves in the loss.

After the game, Toffoli said: “It just sucks. I thought we had a pretty good game, better than the one we played going into the break.” Asked if this five-game losing streak is frustrating, he said “If anyone says they’re having a good time losing games, I don’t want them on my team, to be honest.”

The Sharks scored first, at 3:41 of the first period. Toffoli centered the puck from below the goal line, just as Celebrini closed on the crease. Celebrini scored his 18th of the season with a wrist shot. Assists went to Toffoli and Jake Walman.

The Flames tied it on a power play at 7:27. Nazem Kadri scored with a wrist shot from just above the left face-off circle. Assists went to Morgan Frost and MacKenzie Weegar.

Calgary outshot the Sharks 14-8 in the first period. The Sharks took two penalties and the Flames took on in the first.

Kevin Rooney gave Calgary the 2-1 lead at 3:35 of the second period. Rooney caught a rebound from a shot by Ryan Lomberg. Assists went to Lomberg and Martin Pospisil.

The teams were tied with 13 shots apiece in the second period. They also had one penalty apiece.

Toffoli tied it back up at 1:54 of the third period. Wolf stopped Toffoli’s first shot but left a rebound. Toffoli caught that and scored his 21st of the season. Assists went to William Eklund and Shakir Mukhamadullin.

Joel Hanley gave Calgary the 3-2 lead at 13:28 of the third. Hanley shot the puck to the net from the blue line, then skated in. Jonathan Huberdeau caught the puck just outside the blue paint and passed it back up to Hanley for the shot. Assists went to Huberdeau and Kadri.

The officials were very busy in the third period. The Sharks were given two minor penalties, one matched penalty and a double minor. Calgary had one minor penalty and the matched penalty. The teams were very close again in shots, 9-8 Calgary.

The Sharks next play on Monday in Winnipeg against the Jets at 4:30 PM PT.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: Sharks try to rebound after rough first half against Flames Sunday

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San Jose Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov (30) makes a save against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second period at SAP Center in San Jose on Mon Jan 27, 2025. Askarov is out for three weeks due to a lower body injury (AP News photo)

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 Maybe the Four Nation Face Off came at a right time for the San Jose Sharks the Sharks were in the middle of a four game funk that saw them in their last game get absolutely hammered in San Jose on Sat Feb 8 to the Dallas Stars 8-3.

#2 One of the things the Sharks have had problems with is allowing their opponents to get the early lead and the game against the Stars was not an exception allowing three goals in the first period.

#3 Their third periods have been troublesome too in that same game against the Stars the Sharks allowed three goals against and were whipped by the Stars in a five goal advantage.

#4 Goaltending is a concern for San Jose as top goalie prospect Yaroslav Askarov is out three weeks with a lower body injury while playing for the San Jose Barracuda on Wednesday. He faced 14 shots in the first period of the game but had to come out and did not return. How critical is Askarov’s loss going to be with two months left of the season?

#5 The Sharks return to action opening up a seven game road trip starting this Sunday in Calgary at the Scotiabank Saddledome against a Flames team that is fifth in the Pacific Division having lost five of their last ten games and lost three in a row. The Sharks need to snap their four game skid and will have a real test starting this seven game road trip.

Join Mary Lisa for the San Jose Sharks podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks add Seventh Straight Loss Against Calgary 3-1 at SAP Center

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Another Saturday night action at the tank as the Sharks hosted the Flames in front of a big crowd that expected a victory.

Calgary Flames in action against San Jose Sharks at SAP Center in San Jose on Dec 28, 2024 (AP Photo)

By: Fernando Abarca

Lately, Calgary has been a tough customer for the Sharks as the team added up the eighth loss in nine of the last nine games Sharks losing Saturday night 3-1. Unsurprisingly, the team from Alberta, Canada, is currently fifth in the standings showing great hockey.

Friday night against Vegas, the Sharks suffered one of the most painful losses in the season so far with a 6-3 score in a game where the Sharks completely dominated for most of the 60 minutes of hockey. Saturday night, it was the same result.

The team had many positive things to take away and one of them was the performance of goaltender, Yarovlav Askarov who recorded 30 saves throughout the game.

Also, there were plenty of shots on goal but only one on goal, it has been one of those nights in which the Sharks have not found ways to get ahead.

Macklin Celebrini, is at the top of the rookie scoring with 12 goals and 27 points showing the quality of player that he is and what he has shown in the first half of the season.

Macklin scored a goal in the second period assisted by Alexander Wennberg.

Calgary, despite dominating and being the winner, was very passive. Jonathan Huberdeau put Calgary 1-0 in the first period, while the second goal fell in the second period by Mikael Backlund. In an empty net, Huberdeau sealed the game with a goal in the last seconds of the third.

This game has surely been one of the most challenging for the Sharks due to the injuries that occurred during the course of the game, especially to key players who decide the game. At the press conference, Macklin Celebrini appeared indifferent, pensive, and at times evasive.

Clearly, they do not want to get used to losing, especially in instances where they can play a good game.

The Sharks will close the year at home, receiving the Flyers on New Year’s Eve.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: Sharks can’t hold the line Knights score 4 times in third in 6-3 win

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San Jose Sharks Luke Kunin (11) makes a move on the net against the Vegas Golden Knights net minder Adin Hill (33) at SAP Center in San Jose on Fri Dec 27, 2024 (Bay Area News Group photo)

On the SJ Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 The San Jose Sharks (11-21-6) were sailing along through the second period with a 3-2 lead until the third period happened and the visiting Vegas Golden Knights (24-8-3) opened up a can on the Sharks scoring four unanswered goals taking a 6-3 lead and then the win.

#2 Mary taking a look at the first period of the game the Sharks defenseman Shakir Mauhamadulin scored his first goal of the season at 14:40 giving the Sharks a 1-0 lead. The Knights would even the score at 6:58 when Noah Hanifin to make it 1-1.

#3 In the second period the Knights Mark Stone scored the first goal of the period at 3:27 to make it 2-1 Knights. The Sharks Will Smith at 5:53 scored for the Sharks to tie it up at 2-2. Then Tyler Toffoli scored his 14th goal of the season at 15:57 and gave the Sharks a 3-2 intermission lead.

#4 The Knights in the third period scored four unanswered goals to quickly erase any lead and any chance for a win for the Sharks. Vegas scorers in the fourth Brayden McNabb at 1:03, Jack Eichel at 1:26, Pavel Dorofeyev at 5:46 and to close all damage out at 19:28 Brett Howden an empty netter for a 6-3 final.

#5 Sharks playing back to back nights face the Calgary Flames on Saturday night at SAP Center for a 7:00pm PST face off. The Flames are fifth in the Pacific Division at 16-11-7. The Flames have won four of their last ten games. The Sharks are in last in the Pacific and with the loss to the Knights being their sixth in a row.

Mary Lisa does the Sharks podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Bruins Marchand scores gamer in OT to beat Flames; Panthers win 6th straight game with 6-2 win over Preds; plus more NHL news

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Boston Bruins left wing Brad Marchand right celebrates his goal with teammate defensemen Charlie McAvoy (left) in overtime at the Boston Garden on Thu Nov 7, 2024 (AP News photo)

On NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 The Boston Bruins Brad Marchand with 20 seconds left in the overtime stanza to help the Bruins with a 4-3 win over the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Arena in Calgary. The Flames battled earlier scoring two goals in the third period forcing a tie.

# 2 The Florida Panthers are hot they have now won six in a row defeating the Nashville Predators on Thursday night 6-2. The Predators have won five of their last six games. The Panthers Carter Verhaeghe had three points scoring a goal and with two assists.

#3 The New York Islanders Bo Horvat scored a goal and had two assists and stopped the Ottawa Senators from coming back in the Isles 4- 2 win at Canadian Centre in Ottawa. The Isles Anders Lee scored a goal and an assist, Jean-Gabriel Pageu and Oliver Wahlstrom added goals.

#4 The Utah Hockey Club’s Dylan Guenther scored what later be the game winning goal with 3:21 left in the game as Utah defeated the St Louis Blues 4-2 at Enterprise Center in St Louis on Thursday. Guenther had an assist at 16:39 intercepting a pass by the Blues Jordan Kyrou when his centering pass deflected off of the Blues defensemen Colton Parayko.

#5 Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck stopped all 35 of the Colorado Avalanche’s shots for a 1-0 shutout at the Canada Life Centre. The Jets set a record with the win becoming the second NHL team to win 13 of their first 14 games ironically joining the 2007-08 Senators. The win was the Jets fifth straight.

Len Shapiro does the NHL podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Utah Hockey Club Douses Flames 5-1

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Utah Hockey Club center Nick Schmaltz (8) controls the puck against the Calgary Flames center Justin Kirkland (58) in the first period at Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wed Oct 30, 2024 (AP News photo)

Utah HC Bounces Back Big From Monday Loss With Commanding Win Over Calgary

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–In the aftermath of Utah Hockey Club’s third period collapse and overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks on Monday, the team dealt a 2025 third-round draft pick to the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday to acquire veteran defenseman Olli Määttä. The Finnish 30-year-old brings much-needed depth to a defense reeling from long-term injuries to John Marino and Sean Durzi.

Määttä joined the lineup on Wednesday night as Utah HC played host to the Calgary Flames. Määttä is reunited with former teammate Ian Cole, both of whom won back-to-back Stanley Cup championships with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016 and 2017. He entered tonight’s game with 177 points (40g, 137a) in 691 career NHL contests with PIT, CHI, LAK and DET.

Alex Kerfoot gave Utah an early lead at 4:41 of the first period with his first goal of the season, assisted by Michael Kesselring and Mikhail Sergachev. With 61 seconds remaining in the opening frame, Martin Pospisil and Mikhail Sergachev both went to the box for roughing penalties. Utah controlled the puck for much of the final minute, but seemed as if they would run out the clock in their own defensive zone.

As the final seconds counted down on the scoreboard, Utah rushed up the ice and Barrett Hayton found the back of the net with slightly less than two seconds remaining, his fifth of the season, assisted by Nick Schmaltz and Ian Cole. This was the latest goal Utah has scored in any period so far this season.

Calgary cut their deficit in half at 3:53 of the second period on a goal by Anthony Mantha, assisted by Justin Kirkland and MacKenzie Weegar. Utah answered just 17 seconds later when rookie Maveric Lamoureux scored his first NHL goal from near the blue line in his fourth game since being called up from Tucson, assisted by Kevin Stenlund and Jack McBain.

Late in the period, Utah went on the power play as Calgary’s Anthony Mantha went to the box for roughing. He was joined forty seconds later in the sin bin by Blake Coleman who committed a boarding penalty against Clayton Keller, giving Utah a 5-on-3 advantage.

With five seconds remaining on the first penalty, defenseman Mikhail Sergachev netted his second goal of the season, assisted by Dylan Guenther and Nick Schmaltz, giving the home team a 4-1 lead heading into the locker room.

Utah also had a 4-1 lead entering the third period on Monday night, only to squander it in the final five minutes of the game, so nothing would be taken for granted. Dylan Guenther gave the Flames a chance to get back into the game, committing a holding penalty against Andrei Kuzmenko which Utah was able to kill. At 4:53 of the third, Calgary’s Nazem Kadri gave Utah another power play opportunity, going to the box for cross-checking against Juuso Valimaki.

That was all captain Clayton Keller needed to increase Utah’s lead to 5-1 on his sixth goal of the season, assisted by Dylan Guenther and Mikhail Sergachev. This time the defense held on to deny Calgary a comeback, with goaltender Connor Ingram stopping 30 of 31 shots for the win.

Following the game, Utah HC head coach André Tourigny commented on the team’s response to Monday’s game. “Really (satisfying). I was confident that would happen. There’s a lot of factors that can happen in the game. (If) they get a great scoring chance and score right away at the beginning or whatever, it can shake you a little bit. But I was confident we’d play solid.”

Tourigny had praise for 20-year-old defenseman Maveric Lamoureux who scored his first career NHL goal and point. “Great for Mav; I’m really happy for him. That was great–but the timing of it, it could have been anybody. I was really happy (with the timing). But I’m really happy for Mav. That was great. But the timing of it; (Calgary) got close at 2-1 and we scored on the next shift. That was solid…All of the shift was solid. I liked the reaction after (we gave up) that goal. You needed a solid shift and we had one.”

Lamoureux weighed in on his first goal after the game. “It was amazing. It just felt like it was going in slowly. Then I saw the light go on. I was really happy when I saw it go in.” When asked how many texts he received after his first goal, he responded, “No idea. It’s probably going to be blowing up like it was when I got called up to play my first game. So it’s probably going to take me a few days to answer everyone.”

Newly acquired defenseman Olli Määttä spoke in the locker room about the last 24 hours since being traded from Detroit. “I don’t think you ever get used to it. It was quite the night and quite the morning. But I think the moment I came in here, guys welcomed me really good. I can see this organization is a great one. There’s a great thing going on here, a great group of guys we got. It just feels right.” With regard to his expectations going into Wednesday night’s game, and his first impressions of Salt Lake City and the Delta Center, Määttä commented, “I didn’t know what to expect, to be honest. I just wanted to go out there and play. It wasn’t really a routine game day. But it was fun. … I played here in (the Frozen Fury exhibition) with the Kings against Vegas. But I liked it. The rink’s awesome. The city’s awesome. When you land, you see the mountains and everything. It looks so cool.”

Speaking of the win, captain Clayton Keller said, “It feels good. Obviously, we had a good first two periods. We wanted to learn from our last couple games and our mistakes. I thought we did a good job.” What changed over the last few games? “I thought we were simple. We kept the pucks going North. Before, we kind of backed off and gave (opponents) some space. Tonight, I thought we did a good job staying above (Calgary), not giving them much space and letting them get in the game. I’m proud of the way we responded. … This is the best league in the world. It’s hard to do it consistently and every single night. That’s something that we’re striving for. Even nights when you don’t have your best (night), there’s still ways you can find a way to win or get a point or two.”

Calgary Flames captain Mikael Backlund commented afterward about playing in his 1000th career game, all in a Flames jersey. “That was great. It was an awesome feeling skating out and doing a solo lap. It’s been a long time since I did that last, that was a special feeling for sure. It sucks that it didn’t carry over into the game.”

According to NHL Stats, Backlund is the second player to skate in 1,000 NHL contests with the Flames, Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Jarome Iginla having been the first. Jarome’s son, Tij Iginla, was selected sixth overall by Utah in the 2024 NHL Draft and is currently playing for the Kelowna Rockets in the WHL.

Utah now hits the road for a 4-game swing beginning on Saturday in Las Vegas and continuing to Winnipeg, St. Louis, and Nashville before returning home on November 13 to face the Carolina Hurricanes.

Sharks Lose Last Game of Season 5-1 to Flames

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The Calgary Flames forward Matthew Caronato (27) stops a shot by the San Jose Sharks goaltender Devin Cooley (1) at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary on Thu Apr 18, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost their final game of the season 5-1 to the Calgary Flames on Thursday. Adam Klapka, Blake Coleman, Oliver Kylington, Kevin Rooney and Mackenzie Weegar scored for the Flames. Dustin Wolf made 16 saves in the win. Fabian Zetterlund scored the lone Sharks goal. Devin Cooley made 18 saves for the Sharks before being pulled. Georgi Romanov made 14 saves in relief. The Sharks finished the season with a record of 19-55-9.

Mikael Granlund finished the season on a 13 game point streak. The game was also noteworthy for being the first to see two Bay Area born goaltenders start in an NHL game. After the game, Devin Cooley said, of playing against Wolf:

“I don’t know him personally, but I’ve been following him for a while, obviously, in the American League. He’s had a great career so far and it’s really awesome to see how far youth hockey has come in Northern California and in the Bay Area. It was really cool to be able to play against him tonight and I hope we continue to see more guys from the Bay Area make the NHL.”

Fabian Zetterlund played his 82nd game of the season, the only Shark to do so this season. Of this accomplishment, Zetterlund said: “I mean, obviously that’s nice, you know, I feel fresh every game. I try to stay in shape, ready to go every night. That was my goal before the season and, yeah, I made it.”

Sharks Head Coach David Quinn said, of the season’s final games:

“We’ve made a lot of changes, there’s a lot of new faces here. It’s tough to learn on the go, in a short period of time, what’s expected of you. You know, it’s just hard. But we’re not the only team that’s gone through it. As I’ve said repeatedly, we’re in a situation where we kind of understood that this was going to be a difficult year but we will be better for it moving forward.”

All of the Flames goals came in the first two periods, not unlike the Sharks loss on Monday. Adam Klapka scored his first NHL goal at 12:13 of the first period. His wrist shot through traffic gave Calgary the lead.

Blake Coleman made it 2-0, redirecting a shot from Connor Zary. The goal came at 14:40, just as a Flames power play expired. Assists went to Zary and Rasmus Andersson.

The Sharks were outshot 16-5 in the first period. Early in the second period, Givani Smith and Adam Klapka squared off for a fight. Klapka lost his balance in the fight and both retired to the penalty box.

Oliver Kylington made it 3-0 about a minute after the fight. Andrew Mangiapane acted as a screen for Kylington’s shot from above the faceoff circle. An assist went to Andrei Kuzmenko.

Kevin Rooney made it 4-0 at 5:59. His shot from the slot went through several Sharks defenders and into the far side of the net. Assists went to Martin Pospisil and Matt Coronato.

MacKenzie Weegar scored the Flames’ fifth goal of the night at 6:56, for a total of three goals scored in 3:03 of play. It was another shot through traffic that went by Cooley on the glove side. Assists went to Daniil Miromanov and Blake Coleman.

The Sharks pulled Cooley after that goal and put Georgi Romanov in net. Romanov stopped all the shots he faced for the remained of the game. The Sharks were outshot 13-6 in the second period and 8-6 in the third.

Fabian Zetterlund scored a power play goal in the final ten seconds of the game. He scored his 24th goal of the season with a wrist shot from the faceoff circle. Assists went to Mikael Granlund and Collin Graf.

Mary Lisa Walsh is a San Jose Sharks beat writer for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks Lose 3-2 In Overtime To Calgary Flames

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San Jose Sharks head coach David Quinn stands behind bench with center Kim Kosin (10) and center Mikael Granlund (64) sitting in front at SAP Center in San Jose on Tue Apr 9, 2024 (Bay Area News Group photo)

Tuesday, April 9th, 2024

By Troy Ewers

San Jose, CA – The San Jose Sharks (18-51-9) welcome the Calgary Flames (35-37-5) to SAP Center for their second meeting of three this season, the only one in San Jose on Tuesday night. Last game against the Flames, Sharks won 6-3. Sharks come off a 5-2 loss to the Arizona Coyotes, but one big positive from the game is Mikael Granlund (0g, 1a) extended his season-long point streak to eight games (2g, 7a). Granlund enters the contest against Calgary having tallied 25 points in his past 25 games played (7g, 18a). 

The Sharks who had a 2-2 tie with the Flames let it get away in overtime for a 3-2 loss. The Sharks have now lost 13 of their last 15 games.

First period was exciting for SJ fans even though it wasn’t anywhere near a sell out in the SAP Center. Coach Quinn started the “Lund” line, William Eklund, Fabian Zetterlund, and Granlund and seven minutes and 22 seconds into the period, that line got the first goal of the night.

Zetterlund leads a 2 on 1 breakaway with Eklund and after a crisp pass from Zetterlund, Eklund scored with a backhand shot past the Calgary goalie Dustin Wolf. 1-0 Sharks.

Granlund continued his point streak to nine games and the goal was both Eklund and Zetterlund’s 40th point on the season so far. The whole period was a trade of hits between both clubs, one nasty hit specifically resulting in a boarding penalty for Martin Pospisil when he hit Calen Addison. The Sharks didn’t convert on the power play, but the message was received by the Sharks. San Jose goes into the first intermission up 1-0. 

Second Period was more on the side of Calgary and that’s because the Sharks defense couldn’t keep track of the Flames. San Jose extended their lead early in the second period when Mike Hoffman stole the puck, passed to Jacob MacDonald for a backhand goal, 2-0 Sharks.

Flames come back though as Rasmus Andersson scored after shots on goal were blocked, but with no one in teal picking up the puck on a rebound, Andersson hits the third shot past Blackwood for Calgary’s first goal, 2-1.

The Flames weren’t done capitalizing on San Jose as Nazem Kadri gathered the puck that the Sharks defenders lost in the mix and scored off a snap shot to tie the game up. This was a power play goal coming off a Vlasic tripping call. 2-2 headed into intermission. 

Third Period it appeared Calgary tried to bully the Sharks and it was evident when a couple of times the Flames tried to be aggressive, they got penalized. Miromanov tripped Eklund and set up a power play and then in the last 2 minutes of the game, Coleman cross checked Kyle Burroughs and that earned the Sharks a power play that even bled into overtime.

The Flames killed off their penalty in OT, but it was a Mario Ferraro holding penalty that led to Ilya Solovyov to score in a mix up in front of the net, power play goal, 3-2 Flames and Calgary wins.

Next game for San Jose will be in Seattle against the Kraken, Thursday, April 11th.