Sharks Can’t Stop Flames’ Playoff Drive, Lose 5-2

The San Jose Sharks visit the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome.

Tyler Toffoli and Jan Rutta scored, but the Sharks lost 5-2.

Period 1

Toffoli goal: Dellandrea does a great job engaging Bahl in front, distracting him, the rest of the Flames puck-watching, and Toffoli swoops in for the rebound.

5 in: Bordeleau on the wall has a chance to lob it out, doesn’t. Be watching him, Ostapchuk, and Kovalenko most closely tonight.

6 in: Like that from Dellandrea, corner to corner, erases Brayden Pachdal, takes puck from him. He’s got that potential to do that on a nightly basis.

Weegar goal: Both Smith and Kovalenko had chances to get it out. Smith couldn’t get to the puck, Kovalenko got to it but was competing with another Flame. Kovalenko bats it to Weegar, who walks down. Celebrini a little late switching on Weegar, credit to Klapka, who set a soft pick on him. San Jose Sharks need to learn to do little stuff like that more, those are the kind of things the young skill guys can learn to do more, including this line.

7 left: As Drew and Randy note, under duress, Vlasic makes a great play up. Kovalenko shows good physicality as F1 on forecheck.

Klapka goal: Oh boy, that’s ugly. Thrun misses Kadri along the wall, Liljegren doesn’t block 2-on-1 pass to Klapka, Dellandrea doesn’t lock up Klapka. San Jose Sharks up 14-6 shots, but that doesn’t matter when you can’t execute basic hockey.

6 left: Bordeleau DZ pass to Ostapchuk, Ostapchuk not quite ready for it, evades him. Ostapchuk just seizes it from Frost though, love that.

Period 2

1 in: Good forecheck effort by Celebrini on Weegar, though earlier in shift, did make a couple ill-advised NZ passes.

Rutta goal: Whoa aggressive read by Rutta. I think he knew that he broke Coleman’s stick, so it was a little bit of an outnumbered situation that he could take advantage of. Works out perfectly, he broke Coleman’s stick high, didn’t get called, crashed net, great Eklund pass right on his stick to beat Wolf. Smart veteran read, brilliant set-up. You gotta re-watch to see how good a pass that is.

Had to slow this down so we can truly appreciate how insane this pass was from William Eklund. 🥵😮‍💨#SlipperyPete #TheFutureIsTeal pic.twitter.com/n3yhr7JtV3

— SnipeCity420  (@SnipeCity420) April 14, 2025

7 in: Like that from Ostapchuk, he and Thrun combine on Kadri attacking to take the puck, then one-on-one, just snatches it from Farabee in the middle of the ice. Defensively, he’s a load to play against. Reach, strength, and skating, he’s really tough to beat one on one.

7 left: Rutta just erases Coronato one-on-one. Really good example of where he’s still effective, able to overpower the forward in front of his goalie without taking a penalty. Flames had a good chance off a Smith turnover high in OZ, trying to hit Celebrini with the pass. Don’t think Smith has been particularly sharp tonight.

4 left: Smith does a nice job on the forecheck, maybe takes it from Weegar? He got tripped too? But no call.

3 left: Bordeleau can’t escape DZ corner, without any pass options, he’s erased and loses the puck. Doesn’t have the size and quite the skating to navigate his way out of the corner, that’s one of the NHL challenges for him.

1 left: Big back-to-back saves by Romanov in tight.

Period 3

Sharangovich goal: Kind of a bad bounce, and Sharangovich ends up one-on-one versus Romanov, just beats him.

3 in: Eklund’s spin-o-rama move seems to be more effective these days, giving him real time and space.

Coleman penalty: Definitely a slash, but he’s probably aggrieved because Rutta got away with it earlier on his stick. Carlsson-Celebrini-Eklund-Toffoli-Wennberg is PP1. Liljegren-Bordeleau-Smith-Kovalenko-Goodrow is PP2.

5 in: Bad bounce for Flames, Toffoli has a wide-open net. Toffoli decides for the quick shot instead of dusting it off, can’t blame him for it. Good Celebrini trackback too, as Remenda notes, 200 feet.

7 in: Kovalenko gets bullied a little bit off the puck just outside blueline, that’s a puck that needs to go in.

Coronato goal: Not just Kovalenko’s fault, a lot going on off DZ draw loss, but that defensive firmness is lacking there in a one-on-one situation. Not an easy play and you don’t want to take the penalty there, but it’s not a firm play. That’s why I say the offense has to make up for the defense.

2 left: Would love to be a fly on the wall for that conversation between ex-Tampa Bay Lightning Stanley Cup-winning linemates Goodrow and Coleman.