Sharks 6, Flames 3
Patrick Marleau and Torrey Mitchell tallied twice as the San Jose Sharks scored four times in the first period and recorded a 6-3 home triumph over the Calgary Flames on Wednesday.
Rookie Logan Couture netted his 28th goal of the season and Andrew Desjardins collected his first career NHL tally for Pacific Division-leading San Jose (43-23-8), which has won four in a row and 22 of its last 29 games (22-4-3).
Making his 29th consecutive start, Antti Niemi turned aside 22 shots to claim his sixth career win in seven outings against the Flames.
After the teams split the first four goals, Marleau tallied twice in a span of 2:34 to give San Jose a 4-2 advantage after one period.
Mitchell then answered Rene Bourque's 26th tally of the season with his second of the night just 2 1/2 minutes later in the second period.
Captain Jarome Iginla netted his team-leading 34th goal of the season and defenseman Cory Sarich also tallied for Calgary (37-28-11), which has dropped three in a row and six of seven. The Flames, who only have six games remaining in the regular season, sit two points behind the Anaheim Ducks (41-27-5) for eighth place in the Western Conference standings.
Miikka Kiprusoff finished with 32 saves to suffer his fourth loss in five decisions.