Evander Kane Lights Up Sloppy Flames

This was one of the Flames last chances to make a stand this season on home ice against a good team, and it didn’t happen as San Jose smacked the Flames.

1st Period: Calgary Flames 1, San Jose Sharks 1

After a decent start from the Flames, Evander Kane would come into the zone and put up a knuckleball shot that somehow beat Mike Smith. Even with a deflection from Dougie Hamilton, that was a puck he definitely should’ve had. 1-0 Sharks

San Jose would get a powerplay with a tripping penalty to Hamilton but Calgary would do a great job killing it, not allowing a single shot. A large chunk of the period would be played with tight checking and not much room for rushes.

The Flames would find a way to get the game tied thanks to a fourth line goal. Matt Stajan would chase the dump in and create a turnover behind the Shark net. Curtis Lazar would then find the puck and feed Troy Brouwer in the slot who beat Martin Jones over his shoulder. 1-1 Tie

That’s how the period would end. Calgary did a great job limiting Shark chances in the period, only allowing four shots.

2nd Period: Calgary Flames 3, San Jose Sharks 5

Calgary would take the lead after a nice shift by the third line. Garnet Hathaway would pass it to Mark Jankowski who would beat Jones with a perfect shot. Goal #13 for the rookie! 2-1 Flames

Evander Kane would strike again shortly after for the Sharks with a deflection on a Dylan Demelo point shot through Smith’s wickets. 2-2 Tie

Johnny Gaudreau would then score one of his prettier goals of the season, entering the Shark zone, getting through a pair of defenders and beating Jones with a wrister from the slot. His 23rd of the year and 81st point give the Flames the lead. 3-2 Flames

Again the lead wouldn’t last long as Kevin Labanc would beat Smith from a bad angle on another goal he probably should’ve had. 3-3 Tie

Calgary would get a 5-on-3 powerplay with Gaudreau drawing two penalties a minute apart but fail to score.

Then Kane would complete his hat trick bid with some very poor defensive play by the Flames after a giveaway from Travis Hamonic. 4-3 Sharks

The Sharks scoring wouldn’t stop there with another softy as Smith made the original save but Tomas Hertl poked the puck in from under Smith. 5-3 Sharks

3rd Period: Calgary Flames 4, San Jose Sharks 7

1:02 into the third period and Evander Kane gets his fourth on the game after a turnover by Smith up the boards that was put on net and deflected in. 6-3 Sharks

That would spell the end of Mike Smith’s night and frankly it came much too late. The Sharks would do a good job shutting things down for most of the period.

With over six minutes to go, the Flames would pull the goalie (!!) and the Flames would cash in with Micheal Ferland burying a rebound to make it a two goal deficit. 6-4 Sharks

Rittich would get pulled again with four minutes left and the Sharks would capitalize this time to make it a three goal game again. 7-4 Sharks

That’s your final.

Final Thoughts

• Terrible goals killed this game. I hate to rag on Smith because he was so good earlier this year but these last two losses are on him and maybe somewhat on lacklustre defending
• What a frustrating night because the Flames were looking pretty good up until that third Sharks goal took the life out of them
• With the loss the Flames are pretty much done in the playoff race, odds fall to around 10%
• Just more frustration at home, that’s all there is to be said about this game

Flame of the Game

Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

Johnny Gaudreau (F): Scored that beauty of a goal and had a pretty good game on a night that was otherwise pretty bleak.

Next Up: Vegas on Sunday. Woof.