Sharks at Flames
THE STORY: The San Jose Sharks visit the Calgary Flames on Tuesday for the fourth and final meeting. The Sharks took the first two contests and the Flames pulled out a 4-3 victory on Feb. 8. Calgary has won three straight and is facing a San Jose team playing its second game of a back-to-back. The Sharks snapped a five-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
TV: 9:30 p.m. ET, CS California (Sharks), TSN (Flames)
ABOUT THE SHARKS (34-25-9): San Jose is one point back of eighth-place Colorado in the tight Western Conference. The Sharks had lost 11 of their last 13 games prior to Monday. Winger Martin Havlat could return to the lineup as early as next week. He has been out since Dec. 21 with a hamstring injury. San Jose heads home for three contests against Nashville, Detroit and Anaheim after Tuesday. The last time the Sharks missed the playoffs was in 2003.
ABOUT THE FLAMES (32-25-12): Calgary is tied for 10th in the West and trails the Sharks by one point. “I’m no different than anybody else,” Flames coach Brent Sutter said Monday. “At this time of year, when you’re in the hunt like this, everyone scoreboard watches and knows what other teams are doing. Anybody who says differently, they’re not telling you the truth.” Calgary plays four of its next five on the road after Tuesday.
OVERTIME:
1. Flames forward Olli Jokinen has three goals and an assist in three contests with the Sharks.
2. Calgary goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff is 1-1-1 with a 1.63 goals against average and .947 save percentage and Sharks netminder Antti Niemi is 2-1-0 with a 1.64 GAA and .944 save percentage in the season series.
3. Flames forward Matt Stajan has a goal and three assists in three games since being promoted to the top line with captain Jarome Iginla.