<p><em>Be sure to check out <a href="https://betway.com/en/sports/grp/ice-hockey/north-america/nhl">NHL betting</a> site Betway for the latest Flames game day odds!</em></p>
<p>Through two periods, the Calgary Flames were in the midst of a surprisingly tight, low-scoring game against the San Jose Sharks. But the Flames, who had many chances earlier that they couldn&#8217;t bury, became opportunistic early in the third period and blew the game wide-open.</p>
<p>The Flames never trailed en route to a 5-2 road victory over the Sharks.</p>
<p></p>
<h2><strong>The rundown</strong></h2>
<p>The Flames were all over the Sharks offensively in the opening frame, but some nice goaltending (and some bad execution in the Sharks zone) kept things close. Thankfully for the Flames, the Sharks suffered from some poor execution in the Sharks zone, which led to the Flames&#8217; opening goal.</p>
<p>Nico Sturm threw a pass from the neutral zone back to Jaycob Megna in the Sharks zone, which caught Megna off-guard. Megna threw an even sloppier pass towards Sturm, which Sturm couldn&#8217;t handle. Tyler Toffoli intercepted the errant pass and beat Kaapo Kahkonen glove-side to give the Flames a 1-0 lead.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tyler Toffoli takes advantage of a bad San Jose turnover. </p>
<p>1-0 Calgary <a href="https://t.co/59HuH38doA">pic.twitter.com/59HuH38doA</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) <a href="https://twitter.com/RingOfFireCGY/status/1604679166657728512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 19, 2022</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Adam Ruzicka took a tripping penalty later in the period and off a quick passing sequence following the Sharks face-off win, Erik Karlsson fed Timo Meier for a one-timer that beat Jacob Markstrom. That tied the game up at 1-1.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Amazing pass by Erik Karlsson. He finds Meier for the PP goal. </p>
<p>1-1 <a href="https://t.co/Kq2BLJcy5A">pic.twitter.com/Kq2BLJcy5A</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) <a href="https://twitter.com/RingOfFireCGY/status/1604681236412510208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 19, 2022</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>First period shots were 10-3 Flames (10-2 Flames at five-on-five) and five-on-five scoring chances were 10-2 Flames (high-dangers were 4-1 Flames).</p>
<p>The Flames took a lead in the second period off a nice cycling play by the fourth line, complete with some traffic in front of Kahkonen. Milan Lucic fired a shot from the high slot, which deflected off Karlsson (battling with Trevor Lewis out front) and into the Sharks net. It was announced as Lewis&#8217; goal but eventually changed to Lucic, standing as his first goal in 62 games (51 regular season and 11 playoff). That gave the Flames a 2-1 edge.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Milan Lucic gets his first goal of the season! Trevor Lewis got credit in the building. But it looked like it went off Erik Karlsson, not Lewis. </p>
<p>2-1 Flames 🔥🔥🔥 <a href="https://t.co/IXGvrD7ZXQ">pic.twitter.com/IXGvrD7ZXQ</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) <a href="https://twitter.com/RingOfFireCGY/status/1604692091082510336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 19, 2022</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Second period shots were 13-7 Sharks (8-6 Sharks at five-on-five) and five-on-five scoring chances were 7-7 (high-dangers were 3-3).</p>
<p>The Flames blew the game wide-open to begin the third period.</p>
<p>With Jonathan Huberdeau serving the tail-end of a penalty, Elias Lindholm drew a penalty off the opening face-off, giving the Flames a brief spell of four-on-four. The Flames won the face-off, Huberdeau exited the penalty box and joined the power play, and a quick passing sequence ended with Lindholm burying a pass from Huberdeau to make it a 3-1 Flames lead.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Jonathan Huberdeau with a beautiful feed to Elias Lindholm. Great goal. </p>
<p>3-1 Flames <a href="https://t.co/Cs3SbWSz3T">pic.twitter.com/Cs3SbWSz3T</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) <a href="https://twitter.com/RingOfFireCGY/status/1604705369418530816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 19, 2022</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>19 seconds later, Rasmus Andersson jumped into the rush and found Lindholm (again) in the slot, where Lindholm (again) buried the feed to give the Flames a 4-1 lead.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">What a shot by Elias Lindholm! </p>
<p>4-1 Flames <a href="https://t.co/Pzy0bAyAsz">pic.twitter.com/Pzy0bAyAsz</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) <a href="https://twitter.com/RingOfFireCGY/status/1604705897926000646?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 19, 2022</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Slightly later still, Nazem Kadri&#8217;s jump-in shot on Kahkonen took a weird bounce and seemed to surprise the netminder. An alert Dillon Dube chased down the loose rebound and fired it past Kahkonen from a sharp angle to give the Flames a 5-1 lead.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Dillon Dube scores from a bad angle. Nice skill shown by Dube to finish that chance. </p>
<p>5-1 Flames! <a href="https://t.co/2UAteW8QhA">pic.twitter.com/2UAteW8QhA</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) <a href="https://twitter.com/RingOfFireCGY/status/1604706639885774848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 19, 2022</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>The Sharks got one back later in the period, off another smart passing play on a power play after a face-off win. This time, Tomas Hertl jammed a puck past a sprawling Markstrom to cut the Calgary lead to 5-2.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="cs" dir="ltr">Tomáš Hertl scores on the power play.</p>
<p>5-2 Flames <a href="https://t.co/eyEs5DFUAZ">pic.twitter.com/eyEs5DFUAZ</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) <a href="https://twitter.com/RingOfFireCGY/status/1604709194384683009?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 19, 2022</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>But that&#8217;s as close as the home side got. The Flames held on for a 5-2 victory.</p>
<p>Third period shots were 10-8 Sharks (6-4 Flames at five-on-five) and five-on-five scoring chances were 10-7 Flames (high-dangers were 6-3 Sharks).</p>
<h2><strong>Why the Flames won<br />
</strong></h2>
<p>First off, this was a scheduled win, as the Sharks played on Saturday in Los Angeles and then flew home to play Calgary. The schedule was against them.</p>
<p>But give the visitors credit: they were all over the Sharks in the first period and for big swaths of the third period – 5v5 scoring chances were 27-16 for the visitors. They deserved the goals that they got, and the goals they gave up (both on Sharks power plays) were the product of really smart plays by the Sharks&#8217; special teams units.</p>
<p>This wasn&#8217;t a dominant Flames win, but they did many good things and despite getting into some penalty trouble in the third period, they played a composed, structured-enough game that the Sharks couldn&#8217;t get back into it once the Flames got their lead.</p>
<h2><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-101226" src="https://publish.flamesnation.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/10/Betway_Rhomboid_doubleSided_EvenSpacing-svg.jpg" alt="" width="740" height="222" srcset="https://publish.flamesnation.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/10/Betway_Rhomboid_doubleSided_EvenSpacing-svg.jpg 740w, https://publish.flamesnation.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/10/Betway_Rhomboid_doubleSided_EvenSpacing-svg-300x90.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /></h2>
<h2><strong>Red Warrior</strong></h2>
<p>Lindholm scored twice and had three points, so let&#8217;s give him the nod.</p>
<p>But Markstrom was really solid, and Toffoli and Kadri both had multi-point evenings.</p>
<h2><strong>Turning point</strong></h2>
<p>The Flames scored three goals on four shots in the first 2:10 of the third period to grab hold of this game.</p>
<h2><strong>This and that</strong></h2>
<p>The Flames went with 11 forwards and seven defencemen in this game. Jonathan Huberdeau made his 700th NHL appearance, while Jacob Markstrom played in his 400th NHL game.</p>
<p>Dennis Gilbert fought with San Jose&#8217;s Jonah Gadjovich in the second period, Gilbert&#8217;s fourth fight in eight games this season in the NHL. Gilbert got walloped by Gadjovich at the end of the fight and didn&#8217;t return to the game. (Nikita Zadorov also left the game in the third period after blocking a shot with his hand or wrist.)</p>
<h2><strong>Up next</strong></h2>
<p>The Flames (14-12-6) play the Sharks (again) on Tuesday night.</p>

<em>Be sure to check out <a href="https://betway.com/en/sports/grp/ice-hockey/north-america/nhl">NHL betting</a> site Betway for the latest Flames game day odds!</em>

Through two periods, the Calgary Flames were in the midst of a surprisingly tight, low-scoring game against the San Jose Sharks. But the Flames, who had many chances earlier that they couldn't bury, became opportunistic early in the third period and blew the game wide-open.

The Flames never trailed en route to a 5-2 road victory over the Sharks.


<h2><strong>The rundown</strong></h2>
The Flames were all over the Sharks offensively in the opening frame, but some nice goaltending (and some bad execution in the Sharks zone) kept things close. Thankfully for the Flames, the Sharks suffered from some poor execution in the Sharks zone, which led to the Flames' opening goal.

Nico Sturm threw a pass from the neutral zone back to Jaycob Megna in the Sharks zone, which caught Megna off-guard. Megna threw an even sloppier pass towards Sturm, which Sturm couldn't handle. Tyler Toffoli intercepted the errant pass and beat Kaapo Kahkonen glove-side to give the Flames a 1-0 lead.

https://twitter.com/RingOfFireCGY/status/1604679166657728512

Adam Ruzicka took a tripping penalty later in the period and off a quick passing sequence following the Sharks face-off win, Erik Karlsson fed Timo Meier for a one-timer that beat Jacob Markstrom. That tied the game up at 1-1.

https://twitter.com/RingOfFireCGY/status/1604681236412510208

First period shots were 10-3 Flames (10-2 Flames at five-on-five) and five-on-five scoring chances were 10-2 Flames (high-dangers were 4-1 Flames).

The Flames took a lead in the second period off a nice cycling play by the fourth line, complete with some traffic in front of Kahkonen. Milan Lucic fired a shot from the high slot, which deflected off Karlsson (battling with Trevor Lewis out front) and into the Sharks net. It was announced as Lewis' goal but eventually changed to Lucic, standing as his first goal in 62 games (51 regular season and 11 playoff). That gave the Flames a 2-1 edge.

https://twitter.com/RingOfFireCGY/status/1604692091082510336

Second period shots were 13-7 Sharks (8-6 Sharks at five-on-five) and five-on-five scoring chances were 7-7 (high-dangers were 3-3).

The Flames blew the game wide-open to begin the third period.

With Jonathan Huberdeau serving the tail-end of a penalty, Elias Lindholm drew a penalty off the opening face-off, giving the Flames a brief spell of four-on-four. The Flames won the face-off, Huberdeau exited the penalty box and joined the power play, and a quick passing sequence ended with Lindholm burying a pass from Huberdeau to make it a 3-1 Flames lead.

https://twitter.com/RingOfFireCGY/status/1604705369418530816

19 seconds later, Rasmus Andersson jumped into the rush and found Lindholm (again) in the slot, where Lindholm (again) buried the feed to give the Flames a 4-1 lead.

https://twitter.com/RingOfFireCGY/status/1604705897926000646

Slightly later still, Nazem Kadri's jump-in shot on Kahkonen took a weird bounce and seemed to surprise the netminder. An alert Dillon Dube chased down the loose rebound and fired it past Kahkonen from a sharp angle to give the Flames a 5-1 lead.

https://twitter.com/RingOfFireCGY/status/1604706639885774848

The Sharks got one back later in the period, off another smart passing play on a power play after a face-off win. This time, Tomas Hertl jammed a puck past a sprawling Markstrom to cut the Calgary lead to 5-2.

https://twitter.com/RingOfFireCGY/status/1604709194384683009

But that's as close as the home side got. The Flames held on for a 5-2 victory.

Third period shots were 10-8 Sharks (6-4 Flames at five-on-five) and five-on-five scoring chances were 10-7 Flames (high-dangers were 6-3 Sharks).
<h2><strong>Why the Flames won
</strong></h2>
First off, this was a scheduled win, as the Sharks played on Saturday in Los Angeles and then flew home to play Calgary. The schedule was against them.

But give the visitors credit: they were all over the Sharks in the first period and for big swaths of the third period – 5v5 scoring chances were 27-16 for the visitors. They deserved the goals that they got, and the goals they gave up (both on Sharks power plays) were the product of really smart plays by the Sharks' special teams units.

This wasn't a dominant Flames win, but they did many good things and despite getting into some penalty trouble in the third period, they played a composed, structured-enough game that the Sharks couldn't get back into it once the Flames got their lead.
<h2><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-101226" src="https://publish.flamesnation.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/10/Betway_Rhomboid_doubleSided_EvenSpacing-svg.jpg" alt="" width="740" height="222" /></h2>
<h2><strong>Red Warrior</strong></h2>
Lindholm scored twice and had three points, so let's give him the nod.

But Markstrom was really solid, and Toffoli and Kadri both had multi-point evenings.
<h2><strong>Turning point</strong></h2>
The Flames scored three goals on four shots in the first 2:10 of the third period to grab hold of this game.
<h2><strong>This and that</strong></h2>
The Flames went with 11 forwards and seven defencemen in this game. Jonathan Huberdeau made his 700th NHL appearance, while Jacob Markstrom played in his 400th NHL game.

Dennis Gilbert fought with San Jose's Jonah Gadjovich in the second period, Gilbert's fourth fight in eight games this season in the NHL. Gilbert got walloped by Gadjovich at the end of the fight and didn't return to the game. (Nikita Zadorov also left the game in the third period after blocking a shot with his hand or wrist.)
<h2><strong>Up next</strong></h2>
The Flames (14-12-6) play the Sharks (again) on Tuesday night.

Calgary Flames Post-Game: Flames devour defensively-challenged Sharks

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