Sharks vs. Flames: Final road game for a month

A two-game Alberta road trip ends in Calgary with the last Sharks road game before the Olympic break.

If trap games exist, this is certainly one of them. Less than 24 hours after firing 100 shots at Ben Scrivens in Edmonton, the Sharks will be expected to dust themselves off following one of the most disappointing regular season losses in franchise history, pick up the pieces and go for two points against the lowly Calgary Flames. It's also the team's final road game prior to the Olympic break, meaning each of the Sharks will spend the next month in some combination of the Bay Area, Sochi or vacation.

All of which likely makes tonight's game somewhat difficult to get up for. Luckily, the Sharks have more or less had their way with the Flames in three meetings with them this season. They've won all three, outscoring Calgary 12-7 in the process and controlling 66.6% of even-strength possession in score-close situations. There was a chance scoring winger Mike Cammalleri, a potential Sharks trade deadline target depending on Tomas Hertl's injury status, would return to the Flames lineup tonight after missing eight straight with a concussion but that won't be happening. So with Calgary's top forward still out, if the Sharks can manage not to fall into the trap set for them by the schedule-maker here, they should be able to get back on track after dropping their last two contests.

San Jose Sharks

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Calgary Flames
34-14-6, 74 points
19-27-7, 45 points
2nd in Pacific
6th in Pacific

6PM PST | Scotiabank Saddledome | Calgary, Alberta
TV: CSNCA-HD | Radio: SJSharks.com, 98.5 KFOX
Know Your Enemy: Flames Nation, Matchsticks & Gasoline

Projected Sharks Lineup

Joe Pavelski - Joe Thornton - Brent Burns
Tommy Wingels - Patrick Marleau - Marty Havlat
Matt Nieto - Andrew Desjardins - Tyler Kennedy
Mike Brown - Bracken Kearns - Eriah Hayes

Marc-Edouard Vlasic - Jason Demers
Brad Stuart - Justin Braun
Scott Hannan - Dan Boyle

Alex Stalock
Antti Niemi

Projected Flames Lineup

Jiri Hudler - Mikael Backlund - Lee Stempniak
Lance Bouma - Matt Stajan - David Jones
T.J. Galiardi - Sean Monahan - Joe Colborne
Brian McGrattan - Ben Street - Kevin Westgarth

Mark Giordano - T.J. Brodie
Ladislav Smid - Dennis Wideman
Kris Russell - Chris Butler

Karri Ramo
Reto Berra