O'Regan's first NHL goal lifts Sharks
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Daniel O'Regan scored his first NHL goal to lead the Sharks to a 3-1 victory over the Calgary Flames in a battle of two playoff-bound teams who rested a number of regulars Saturday night.
The Sharks will have to wait until Sunday's final day of the regular season is complete to learn whether their first-round opponent is Edmonton or Anaheim. What is for sure is San Jose will open on the road.
Only if the Oilers beat the Canucks and the Ducks lose in regulation to the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday will the Sharks oppose rival Anaheim. Any other possible result renders the Ducks as Pacific Division champions and Edmonton runners-up.
Calgary faces Edmonton or Anaheim after having secured the first wild card spot as a result of Nashville losing earlier Saturday.
O'Regan scored in his third NHL game at 11:25 of the third period by redirecting a Marc-Edouard Vlasic wrist shot past rookie Flames goalie David Rittich, who replaced starter Brian Elliott to start the final period.
Sharks defenseman Brent Burns earned a second assist for his career-high 76th point, which broke the franchise record he set last year with 75.
Following a scoreless opening period in which Calgary outshot San Jose 6-5, the hosts broke through for two goals before the Flames tallied inside the final minute of the second period.
Jannik Hansen picked off a clearing attempt by Calgary's Sean Monahan, drove the left circle and just as he hit the goal line, nudged a back-pass to a crashing Chris Tierney.
With position on Monahan, Tierney tapped the Hansen feed past Elliott for his 11th goal of the season at 4:38.
Tierney was the set-up man at 18:07 when he saucered a pass through the goal crease to Boedker, who waited out Elliott to deposit his 10th goal of the season into an empty net.
But the Flames struck back as with 5.2 seconds remaining Curtis Lazar scored his first goal of the season by filling San Jose goalie Aaron Dell's five hole. Lazar, who was without a goal in 33 games with Ottawa, was appearing in just his fourth game with the Flames since acquired at the trade deadline.
NOTES: Calgary D Mark Giordano, Deryk Englland and C Mikael Backlund all missed their first games of the season to be rested for the start of the playoffs. F Kris Versteeg was scratched for the first time since Dec. 10. F Freddie Hamilton and Curtis Lazar replaced Backlund and Versteeg. Rookie D Rasmus Andersson made his NHL debut, and D Michael Stone returned after being a healthy scratch Thursday in Los Angeles. ... The Sharks' lineup was even more depleted -- by injury and resting regulars -- as San Jose played without regulars C Joe Thornton, C Logan Couture (both hurt), C Joe Pavelski, C Tomas Hertl, RW Joel Ward and D Justin Braun. Pavelski's ironman streak of 495 consecutive games played was snapped. D Dylan DeMelo played in place of Braun, who rested for the first time this season. ... G Aaron Dell made his 17th start of the season after Sharks' starter Martin Jones had started the previous seven in a row. ... Thornton (knee) and Couture (mouth) missed their third and seventh straight games, respectively.