Late goal sinks Sharks in frustrating loss to Flames to start road trip

Curtis Pashelka, The Mercury News on Feb 23, 2025

Published in Hockey

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The San Jose Sharks allowed a go-ahead goal to Joel Hanley at the 13:28 mark of the third period in a 3-2 loss to the Calgary Flames on Sunday at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

With the teams playing 4-on-4, Hanley took a pass from Jonathan Huberdeau and beat Sharks goalie Alexandar Georgiev low to the blocker side for his first goal of the season, breaking a 2-2 tie.

Just 39 seconds before Hanley’s goal, both Sharks forward Ty Dellandrea and Mikael Granlund were sent off with minor penalties. Dellandrea then had to be removed from the game due to concussion protocol after he was punched in the head by Flames forward Connor Zary, although officials did not see that play.

Macklin Celebrini and Tyler Toffoli scored, and Georgiev finished with 33 saves, but it wasn’t enough as the Sharks opened a seven-game road trip with their 11th loss in their last 12 games.

Flames goalie Dustin Wolf, a Gilroy native, finished with 26 saves.

The Sharks fell behind 2-1 at the 3:35 mark of the second period, as Kevin Rooney crashed the net and put a rebound past Georgiev for his fourth goal of the season.

The Sharks then tied the game at the 1:54 mark of the third, as Toffoli went to the net and scored his 21st goal of the season.

The Sharks and Flames traded goals in the first period.

With the puck in the Flames zone, Jake Walman sent a puck behind the net to Tyler Toffoli. Celebrini then broke toward the slot, took the pass from Toffoli and beat Flames goalie Dustin Wolf for his 18th goal of the season at the 3:41 mark of the first period. Celebrini’s 18 goals puts him one ahead of Philadelphia Flyers winger for the lead among all NHL rookies.

The Flames got that goal back at the 7:27 mark. With Henry Thrun in the box for holding, Nazem Kadri took a pass from Morgan Frost and fired a shot that glanced off Walman before it got past Sharks goalie Alexandar Georgiev.

Georgiev had 13 saves in the first period as he was making his first start since Feb. 4. He was also looking for his first victory since Jan. 14, which happened to be the last time the Sharks won a game on the road, as they beat the Detroit Red Wings 6-3 at Little Caesars Arena.

Since that game, the Sharks, before Sunday, were 0-5-0 away from home.

The Sharks were hoping a nine-day break, four practices this week, and the return of veteran centers Alexander Wennberg and Nico Sturm would lead to a positive start to this 12-day road trip, which continues Monday with a game against the Western Conference-leading Winnipeg Jets.

Since that win in Detroit, the Sharks’ record has been 1-9-1, and they were at the bottom of the NHL standings before Sunday.

“Coming off the break, we needed the reset, mentally and physically,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said Sunday morning. “This is a big one. We’ve had some really good energy in practice. I really liked our practices this last week, and hopefully we can take a step in the right direction.”

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