The San Jose Sharks are back home after a road trip that started out bumpy, but ultimately ended successfully with a winning record. San Jose will have to bring that momentum into SAP Center tonight against the Calgary Flames.
The Flames are on a short, two-game road trip on the West Coast. Calgary beat the Los Angeles Kings 2-1 in overtime on Saturday thanks to Dustin Wolf, who stopped 21 of 22 shots. Wolf is back on track after a tough start to the season. He now has a 10-12-2 record with a .899 save percentage. He’s won his last four games and stopped 100 of the 106 shots he faced in those games.
Behind Wolf is another Bay Area native, Los Gatos’ own Devin Cooley. Cooley is 3-4-2 this season with a .914 save percentage.
Both goaltenders have done their best to keep the Flames in games, but it’s been a tough season for Calgary. The Flames are 31st in the league points wise and 31st in goals scored, with 84. The only other team with fewer goals scored is the Seattle Kraken.
Nazem Kadri is Calgary’s top scorer with 28 points in 33 games. Matt Coronato leads the team with 10 goals. Blake Coleman is second with nine goals.
This is the second of three meetings between these two teams. The last time these two teams met was on Nov. 13, when the Flames won 2-0. They will meet again on Jan. 31 in Calgary.
The Sharks will see some changes in the lineup. Will Smith and Philipp Kurashev are both on IR. As a result, the Sharks have called up Ethan Cardwell and Igor Chernyshov. We expect to see both players on the lineup tonight.
San Jose Sharks lines tonight
As for where the two youngsters will play, Sharks Hockey Digest’s Max Miller saw the following lines at practice this morning. Adam Gaudette is a maybe. If he can’t play, Zack Ostapchuk will play instead. It looks like Sam Dickinson will sit today. In the net, we expect to see Yaroslav Askarov.
Forwards
Collin Graf — Macklin Celebrini — Igor Chernyshov
William Eklund — Alexander Wennberg — Tyler Toffoli
Jeff Skinner — Ty Dellandrea — Ethan Cardwell
Barclay Goodrow – Adam Gaudette — Ryan Reaves
Defense
Mario Ferraro — Timothy Liljegren
Dmitry Orlov — John Klingberg
Shakir Mukhamadullin — Vincent Iorio
Goaltenders
Yaroslav Askarov
Alex Nedeljkovic
Calgary Flames lines vs. San Jose Sharks Dec. 16, 2035
Tonight marks Captain Mikael Backlund’s 1,100th game. The Swedish center has 579 career points. Meantime, Wolf is expected to be in the net for the Flames. This is what we expect the lines to look like tonight:
Forwards
Jonathan Huberdeau — Morgan Frost — Matt Coronato
Yegor Sharangovich — Nazem Kadri — Joel Farabee
Connor Zary — Mikael Backlund — Blake Coleman
Ryan Lomberg — John Beecher — Adam Klapka
Defense
Kevin Bahl — Rasmus Andersson
Yan Kuznetsov — MacKenzie Weegar
Joel Hanley — Hunter Brzustewicz
Goaltenders
Dustin Wolf
Devin Cooley
How to watch Calgary Flames at San Jose Sharks Dec. 16, 2025
The puck drops at 7 p.m. PT/8 p.m MT at SAP Center in San Jose.
Sharks fans can watch the game on NBCSCA or listen on the Sharks Audio Network.
Flames fans can watch the game on Sportsnet.
If you’re headed to the game, make sure to get there early to see Igor Chernyshov’s solo skate. If you’re not there, come back here at game time to talk with other Sharks fans about what’s happening on the ice and around the league.
