Welcome to Instant Reaction, where we give you our instant reaction to tonight’s Calgary Flames game and ask our readers to do the same in the comments section below!
Sunday evening’s game between the Calgary Flames and San Jose Sharks was not a pristine example of the majesty of the game of hockey. In fact, at times it was a bit of a slog. Both teams looked like they were shaking the rust off after the 4 Nations Face-Off break.
The Flames grinded out a 3-2 victory in a back-and-forth three periods of hockey against the Sharks.

The rundown

The Sharks opened the scoring 3:41 into the first period off a nice bit of passing by the visitors. Jake Walman threw the puck from the point down to Tyler Toffoli behind the Flames’ net. Toffoli then promptly threw the puck into the slot area, where Macklin Celebrini had position on Jake Bean, received the pass and fired the puck past Dustin Wolf to make it 1-0 Sharks.
Roughly four minutes later, though, the Flames scored on a power play. They won the face-off, made a few passes, and then a Nazem Kadri shot seemed to wobble off Walman’s backside and into the Sharks net to make it a 1-1 game.
First period shots were 14-8 Flames. Via Natural Stat Trick, five-on-five scoring chances were 7-4 Flames (high-danger chances were 4-2 Flames).
Early in the second period, the Flames took the lead off a nice bit of battling and passing from the fourth line. Martin Pospisil won a battle along the wall, giving space for Ryan Lomberg to make a pass to Kevin Rooney. Rooney chipped the puck past Georgiev to make it 2-1 Flames.
Second period shots were 13-13.
Early in the third period, the Sharks tied it up. William Eklund made a nice pass to Toffoli in front of the Flames net. Toffoli’s initial shot was stopped by Wolf, but Toffoli batted in his own rebound to make it a 2-2 hockey game.
But as the clock began to wind down, the Flames made a nice bit of passing in the San Jose end and were rewarded for it. Joel Hanley pinched, received a pass from Jonathan Huberdeau after his own initial shot was blocked, and fired the puck past Georgiev to give the Flames a 3-2 lead.
The Flames held on for the victory.
Third period shots were 9-8 Flames. Five-on-five scoring chances were 5-4 Flames (high-danger chances were 3-2 Sharks).

Why the Flames won

The Flames… were fine! Were they especially good? Nope! Were they especially bad? Nope. They were too leaky defensively for anyone’s comfort, but they got the saves they needed and the goals they needed to eke out a win against one of the NHL’s lowest-ranked clubs.

Red Warrior

Y’know what? We’ve given the fourth line guff this season for their performances, but Lomberg, Rooney and Pospisil had a pretty good outing. We’ll give them the collective nod.

Turning point

It’s gotta be Hanley’s game-winning goal. It was his first of the season and it was the goal the Flames absolutely needed.

This and that

The special teams units for the Flames looked like this:
  • PP1: Weegar, Kadri, Huberdeau, Coronato and Frost
  • PP2: Andersson, Zary, Coleman, Sharangovich and Farabee/Backlund
  • PK1: Andersson, Solovyov, Backlund and Coleman
  • PK2: Weegar, Pachal, Huberdeau and Rooney
  • PK3: rotating defenders, Farabee and Sharangovich
Connor Zary returned to the lineup. Kevin Bahl missed the game due to illness.

Up next

The Flames (27-21-8) are headed on the road for a six game trip. First up? The Washington Capitals on Tuesday night.

This article is brought to you by Platinum Mitsubishi

This article is a Presentation of Platinum Mitsubishi, family owned and operated by lifelong Calgarians. Home of the best warranty in the business with ten year warranties available. Check out the showroom at 2720 Barlow Trail NE or online at www.mitsu.ca