Quick Bite: Sharks avoid collapse in win over Flames

For 30 seconds it appeared the Sharks were going to flush Monday night’s contest against the Flames down the toilet. Thankfully a pair of third-period goals helped San Jose recover from a poor second-period penalty kill effort to win 5-4.

Three of Calgary’s four goals came on the power play, and two of those three were with a two-man advantage (one 5-on-3, the other 6-on-4). Special teams play has not been a strength for the Flames this season (they entered the game dead last in both power play percentage and penalty kill percentage) but Calgary certainly took advantage of its chances Monday.

Calgary pulled its goalie with four minutes to go in the game and Micheal Ferland took advantage, scoring a power-play goal and setting up a wild finish.

Mike Brown took a four-minute minor for high-sticking and Brent Burns followed that up with a trip to give Calgary an extended look at the 5-on-3. The Flames took advantage, scoring on back-to-back shifts to level the score at three, a score that stood heading into the third period.

Calgary did what it did most of the game; that is, the Flames carried most of the play but made key mistakes that allowed the Sharks to score. While Calgary often does well to sustain offensive zone time, the Flames far too often carelessly give the puck away and give up odd-man rushes.

Fin Facts

• Tommy Wingels left during the first period after a collision with Joonas Donskoi. He would return later in the period
• Thornton and Donskoi had goals in the first, putting the Sharks up 2-1 after 20 minutes.
• Logan Couture scores early in the second to put the Sharks up 3-1.
• Patrick Marleau is playing in his 500th straight game.
• Sharks took a four minute penalty followed by another minor and gave the flames a 2 man adv, the Flames scored, 3-2. then they scored on the rest of the 4 min penalty to tie the game 3-3.
• Justin Braun took a puck to the helmet early in the third period. It caught him in the visor and he left the ice immediately.
• Brent Burns made up for his earlier penalty with a power-play goal from in tight to put the Sharks up 4-3.
• Joel Ward gave the Sharks some much-needed insurance with nine minutes to go in the third to make it 5-3 San Jose.
• Much-needed because Micheal Ferland scored with a few minutes to play in a 6-on-4 situation to make the game 5-4.
• Johnny Gaudreau is one of the scariest players in the NHL. Every time he gets on the puck I get nervous, and it seems like he plays something like 40 minutes a night.

[Fancy Stats] – [Flames Reaction] – [TOI Log] – [Play by Play] – [Event Summary] – [Faceoff Report]

Fear the Fin’s 3 Stars

1) Brent Burns

2) Joe Thornton

3) Johnny Gaudreau