San Jose Sharks goalie Kaapo Kahkonen, right, takes a drink as Calgary Flames players celebrate a goal during first period NHL hockey action in Calgary, Alta., Saturday, March 25, 2023.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
CALGARY – Tyler Toffoli scored two goals and the Calgary Flames kept their playoff hopes alive with a big 5-3 win over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.
MacKenzie Weegar, Walker Duehr and Nazem Kadri added the others for Calgary (33-26-15), which won for just the second time in its last nine games at the Saddledome (2-5-2).
Jacob Markstrom made 28 saves.
With the victory, the Flames climbed back to within four points of the Winnipeg Jets, who occupy the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
Logan Couture, Nico Sturm and Martin Kaut replied for San Jose (19-39-15), which had its winless skid extended to nine games (0-6-3). Kaapo Kahkonen had 25 stops.
Erik Karlsson’s two assists helped him reach 68 on the year to surpass his previous career-high of 66 in 2015-16 and break the Sharks record for helpers by a defenceman. Brent Burns previously held it with 67 in 2018-19.
Tied at 3-3, Kadri scored the go-ahead goal 5:45 into the third period. He banged in a rebound from the side of the net after Kahkonen stopped Milan Lucic and Duehr. It was Kadri’s second goal in as many games after a 16-game goal drought.
Toffoli put the game away scoring his team-leading 31st of the season into an empty-net with 1:10 remaining.
The Flames saw their 2-1 lead entering the second period disappear after surrendering two goals from the visitors.
Sturm drove hard to the net, got his outstretched stick on the end of a hard centring pass from Noah Gregor and neatly deflected it in at 4:52.
Twenty-two seconds later, Steven Lorentz ripped a shot off the goalpost and Kaut knocked in the rebound, getting just enough on the puck to get it under the sliding Markstrom.
The lead was short-lived, though, with Duehr answering back for Calgary 25 seconds later. He buried a one-timer on a dish from Trevor Lewis.
The Flames opened the game with a bang, grabbing a 2-0 lead before the Sharks even got a shot on net.
Weegar got things going at 4:09 when a puck deflected off a Sharks stick into the slot and he fired it inside the goalpost.
Toffoli doubled the lead at 7:13, finishing off a pretty tick-tack-toe passing sequence with Jonathan Huberdeau and Elias Lindholm.
San Jose woke up by then, taking the play to the home side the rest of the period. Couture cut into the deficit at 14:27 when he went hard to the net and was set up for a tap-in thanks to a slick pass from Karlsson.
MILESTONE FOR BACKLUND
Mikael Backlund played in his 900th career game Saturday. A first-round pick by the Flames in 2007, the 34-year-old centre is third on the franchise’s all-time games played list behind Jarome Iginla (1,219) and Mark Giordano (949).
BLUELINE SHUFFLE
The Sharks made two changes on the blue line welcoming back Matt Benning (undisclosed) and Jacob MacDonald (upper body) from injuries that had sidelined them for one and nine games, respectively.
UP NEXT
Flames: Conclude their home stand on Tuesday against the Kings.
Sharks: Return home to play host to Winnipeg on Tuesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 25, 2023.
