Post-Game: Flames beat Sharks, clinch everything

The Calgary Flames took care of their own business on Sunday evening at the SAP Center. Needing a win to clinch first in the Pacific Division and Western Conference, the Flames were full marks in a thorough 5-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks.

The Flames were fairly flat early, bobbling the puck here and there in all three zones. That tendency led to a Dalton Prout turnover midway through the first period and a Sharks goal, as the home side recovered Prout’s gaffe and a few passes later Timo Meier beat Mike Smith with a quick shot to make it 1-0 Sharks.

But just as it looked like this game might become a bit of a grinding affair, the Flames did Flames things and scored three goals in the span of 75 seconds.

The Sharks tried to clear out a Flames dump-in, but Mark Giordano halted the puck. The Sharks tried to go around the side of the zone, but Johnny Gaudreau stole the puck (after Rasmus Andersson induced a turnover) and fed it between a defenders legs to Sean Monahan for the tap-in to tie the game at 1-1.

Roughly 30 seconds later, off the rush James Neal and Mark Jankowski combined on a bit of a scrambley give-and-go play in the slot. Jankowski finished it off with a low shot that beat Aaron Dell inside the post to make it 2-1 Flames.

And roughly 40 seconds after that goal, Andrew Mangiapane drove the net but couldn’t get a shot off. So he fed a pinching Dalton Prout, who tucked the puck past Dell to make it 3-1 Flames.

Shots were 11-6 Flames and scoring chances 12-10 Flames in the first period.

The Flames added to their lead in the second period, with a bit of a weird one: Noah Hanifin put a puck on net for Mikael Backlund – screening Dell and going for the tip – and Backlund’s tip redirected the puck to the top of the crease, where it deflected off Joakim Ryan’s stick and into the net. That gave the Flames a 4-1 edge.

Shots were 14-3 Flames and scoring chances 10-2 Flames in the second period.

Logan Couture finished off a really nice passing play early in the third period to cut the Flames’ lead to 4-2, but Michael Frolik scored a couple minutes later to extend Calgary’s edge to 5-2.

Kevin Labanc deflected a puck off Prout’s pants and past Smith to make it a 5-3 game late in the third, but that was as close as the Sharks got.

Shots were 6-3 Sharks and chances 5-2 Sharks in the third period.

The Flames were a bit tentative for the first 10 or so minutes of this game. But following Meier’s goal, the Flames were just flat-out better than the Sharks. You could criticize their power plays for not generating more scoring chances, but this was a game in which every single forward line scored a goal. In a situation where the Flames could seal their own fate, they stepped up and they did so.

Let’s go with Backlund. In a tough game in another team’s rink, Backlund consistently won faceoffs, generated pressure and scoring chances, and added a goal.

But lots of Flames played well, including Prout getting his first goal with the team and Neal crashing and banging for much of the game.

The Flames were down 1-0, then scored three goals in 75 seconds. The game was not close from that point onward, as the flurry of offense overwhelmed the Sharks and left them adrift for the remainder of the evening.

The victory is the Flames’ 23rd road win of the year, setting a new single season franchise record.

The Flames (49-23-7) head south tonight. They visit the Los Angeles Kings tomorrow evening.