Sharks Embarrassed by Flames 5-2

The San Jose Sharks welcome the Calgary Flames to SAP Center for a rare home back-to-back. Erik Karlsson made history, but the Sharks were embarrassed 5-2.

Period 1

Toffoli goal: Wow, that’s a bad Megna turnover. Just a poor decision. Megna seems to want to go up the middle so bad, but doesn’t read forecheck on top of him.

Meier goal: Absurd pass from Karlsson, and he’s the one who drew the penalty in the first place.

3 left: Hanifin mishandles on PP for a sec, Couture takes the body, takes the puck. That’s a good, alert PK, taking advantage of a moment’s hesitation.

Good to see Kahkonen come up with a bounceback period, though San Jose Sharks need to help him a lot more. Sharks just awful: Down 4-0 Slot Shots, 5-1 Rush Chances, 4-0 Odd-Man Rushes.

Period 2

Lucic goal: Lucic’s 1st of the year. Basic hockey, grind, get to the point. Flames get a bounce, goes off Karlsson.

Sharks finding some energy. Last 6 shots and Gadjovich knocks down Gilbert, Gilbert goes right off to get checked out

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 19, 2022

Gadjovich got an audible “Ooh!” from the press box when he buckled Gilbert. Hopefully, Gilbert OK.

9 left: Bad guess pass (or miss) by Barabanov barely into NZ.  Sharks have momentum, that’s a way to lose it. Get caught up in the moment, Gadjovich and crowd energy, make an unforced error. Small things: But Flames have just racked up last 4 shots.

Looks like Nieto and Labanc have flip-flopped places on lines

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 19, 2022

7 left: Good forecheck from Nieto, Hertl, and Meier, but started with an errant Nieto NZ pass that didn’t go awry, luckily.

4 left: That’s an extra-long shift from Meier, 2 whole shifts.

PP2 looks like Bonino, Svechnikov, Labanc, and Sturm.

San Jose Sharks pushing back, competitive period, but they deserve to be down.

Period 3

Lindholm goal: A typical to this year turn of events for the San Jose Sharks. Sharks start the period with seconds of a PP left, whatever. But off draw, Hertl looks like he pops Lindholm in the mouth, accidental or not, high sticking. It’s 4-on-4 but Flames get on PP quickly, and they find the open man.

Lindholm goal: San Jose Sharks lose script, Lindholm all alone for royal road. Couture had a man, maybe it was Simek’s, but either way, two Sharks are net front, Lindholm is wide-open.

Dube goal: Wow. Hopefully Kahkonen can get his head together. Sharks have hung him out to dry tonight, really, even if not a lot of shot surrendered. But that’s on him. Benning a step slow reacting. Sharks just in a haze.

Quinn calls a timeout, probably begging them to play with some pride.

6 in: That ain’t it. Back-to-back guess passes by Barabanov and Karlsson. Turnovers. Ugly.