With all the positives that the Sharks have
been nailing the past three weeks, they were probably bound to have a letdown
sooner or later. That happened on Thursday night, as San Jose dropped a 2-0
decision to the worst team in the league in the Calgary Flames at the
Scotiabank Saddledome. Gilroy native Dustin Wolf stopped all 16 shots he faced
to snap the Flames 2- game losing streak.
The loss snapped the sharks
win streak at 4 games, and served as a reminder that the Sharks aren't quite
Stanley Cup contenders just yet. Goaltender Yaroslav Askarov was the lone
bright spot for San Jose. He stopped 34 of 35 shots, keeping the score
manageable for his teammates all night.
The goaltender had to make
several big saves as the defense made several bad turnovers throughout the
night.
Slow starts have been few and far between during the Sharks
play of late, but that's exactly what happened to them to open Thursday's game.
Calgary held a 9-0 advantage in shots through the first 15 minutes of the game,
in what would become a preview for most of the night.
Vincent
Desharnais was forced to lock up Mikael Backlund at the 14:58 mark after the
Flames forward walked a puck past the Sharks defender. Backlund was still able
to get a shot off, albeit of the knuckleball variety. The puck was wide of
Askarov but it still clanked off the right post.
Tuesday night's hero
Collin Graf recorded the Sharks first shot of the period as San Jose tried
killing the Desharnais minor. Calgary turned the puck over behind their own
net, then Graf found himself facing Gilroy native Dustin Wolf for a scoring
chance that the Flames netminder turned aside.
The Sharks would
survive the penalty and the period even though Calgary out-shot them 13-1 in
the frame.
Things looked a little more promising for San Jose to open
the 2nd period. William Eklund was tripped up to put San Jose on the power
play. They would not generate much pressure on Wolf.
A rookie mistake
cost the Sharks at the 5:46 mark when Blake Coleman stripped defenseman Sam
Dickinson in the Sharks zone, then walked the puck to the net before lifting a
shot past Askarov. Dickinson was the last line of defense in the zone when he
turned the puck over, so Coleman had nobody to impede him.
Matt
Coronato took his 2nd penalty of the period at 11:33 when he lobbed a puck over
the glass. Again San Jose failed to seize the opportunity generating only 4
shots in the game at the point that the penalty expired.
With 20
minutes to bag an equalizer, the Sharks started the 3rd period precariously.
William Eklund lost a piece of his tooth on a high stick that went uncalled,
before Dmitry Orlov was whistled for slashing by referee Furman South.
Orlov almost handed the Flames a 2nd goal with 8 minutes to play when his
backhand clearing attempt from the end boards hit Ryan Lomberg on the tape in
the high slot. Askarov had to bail out the Sharks on another golden scoring
opportunity for the Flames.
Tyler Toffoli had one of the best looks of the night
with 7:30 to play but Wolf shut the door.
San Jose pulled Askarov with
1:30 to play but could not generate any real pressure on Wolf The Flames
netminder would face 10 shots in the period, but nothing challenged him.
Samuel Honzek finished the Sharks off with an empty-net goal with 5
seconds left.
Game Notes: * Jeff Skinner was injured in
the first 2 minutes of the game when he went awkwardly into the side boards.
His right skate flexed forward.
* Yaroslav Askarov a single goal in 4
straight games. After giving up 28 goals through his first 6 starts, the
Russian netminder has only allowed 6 goals over his past 5 starts.
*
Will Smith had his 5-game scoring streak snapped. Macklin Celebrini ended his
scoring run of 4 consecutive games.
* The Sharks did little to apply
much pressure on Flames goaltender Dustin Wolf. They put 1 and 5 shots on net
in the first two periods respectively.
* San Jose a miserable 17 for
45 from the faceoff circle for a 38% win rate. That certainly contributed to
the 78 shot attempts the Flames generated. By comparison, San Jose only had 42
attempts.
