Flames at Sharks
The San Jose Sharks look to rebound from two straight dispiriting road performances when they open a six-game homestand Sunday against the surging Calgary Flames. The Sharks dropped a 4-3 decision at Dallas on Thursday before getting blanked 4-0 at St. Louis the following night, but they have earned points in five of their last six home games (4-1-1).
“The last two games haven’t been good,” San Jose coach Peter DeBoer told reporters. “We’re not going to make more out of it than it is. We were playing some pretty good hockey up until the last two games. … We’ve got to get it figured out. I think (Thursday) we were reckless, but we had energy. (Friday), we were reckless without energy.” The Sharks have won their last five overall meetings and four in a row at home against Calgary, which has registered a point in six of its last seven contests (5-1-1) after blanking Los Angeles 1-0 on Saturday. Backup David Rittich, who is expected to sit in favor of Mike Smith on Sunday, turned aside 21 shots for his first NHL shutout and defenseman Travis Hamonic scored his second goal of the season as the Flames improved to 6-4-0 on the road. Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau were kept off the scoresheet on Saturday, but they share the team lead with 19 points apiece.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, Sportsnet360 (Calgary), NBCS Bay California (San Jose)
ABOUT THE FLAMES (10-6-1): Tkachuk saw his four-game point streak (three goals, three assists) come to an end and Gaudreau had posted seven points in his previous six contests before coming up empty on four shots Saturday. Elias Lindholm, who is tied with Sean Monahan for second on the team at 18 points, had his six-game point streak halted Saturday but leads Calgary with nine tallies. Captain Mark Giordano tops the Flames with 14 assists, including eight in his last seven games, while leading the team with a plus-9 rating - just ahead of fellow defenseman TJ Brodie (plus-8).
ABOUT THE SHARKS (8-6-3): San Jose has allowed at least three goals in nine consecutive games and is in the middle of the pack defensively while giving up 3.06 per contest despite allowing the third-fewest shots (28.2). “It’s been horrible,” center Logan Couture, who is slated to play in his 600th NHL game Sunday, told reporters. “It’s not just the D-men, it’s forwards. It’s not good. It’s not good enough for the American (Hockey) League level. It’s ugly.” Defenseman Brent Burns leads San Jose with 20 points and Tim Meier has scored a team-best 12 goals while Couture matches him with 17 points.
OVERTIME
1. San Jose C Joe Thornton needs one goal to reach 400 for his career and one assist to tie Mario Lemieux (1,033) for 11th place on the all-time list.
2. Calgary LW James Neal is one point away from 500 in the NHL while Monahan remains one shy of 300.
3. Sharks C Tomas Hertl, who has registered 98 career assists, is questionable after missing the last three games with a concussion.