Dion Phaneuf scored on a deflected shot with 3:57 to play, and
the Calgary Flames handed the San Jose Sharks their first
regulation home loss in 11 months, 3-2
SAN JOSE
Dion Phaneuf scored on a deflected shot with 3:57 to play, and the Calgary Flames handed the San Jose Sharks their first regulation home loss in 11 months, 3-2 Thursday night.
Daymond Langkow scored an early goal, and the veteran forward also kept the puck in San Jose’s end to set up the winning score. Langkow eventually got the puck to Phaneuf, and his shot glanced off Marc-Edouard Vlasic’s stick for the star defenseman’s first goal in 26 games since Nov. 11.
Ryane Clowe and Joe Thornton scored for the Sharks, who hadn’t lost at home in regulation since last Feb. 14, a span of 31 games (28-0-3). The streak matched the second-longest in NHL history.
Craig Conroy also scored, and Miikka Kiprusoff made 33 saves for the Flames, who won the meeting of division leaders with a superior third period and a bit of luck on Phaneuf’s winner. Calgary has won 11 of 13 overall while taking charge of the Northwest Division.
Evgeni Nabokov stopped 28 shots for San Jose, which was 20-0-2 at the Shark Tank this season. The loss dropped the Sharks a point behind Boston in the overall NHL standings.
San Jose also lost veteran defenseman Rob Blake in the first period when a shot deflected up his stick and hit him in the face, coach Todd McLellan said after the game. The Sharks had just five defensemen left, and Calgary capitalized on their weariness by dominating puck possession through much of the final two periods.
Blake went to a hospital as a precaution, McLellan said.
The Sharks hadn’t lost at home in regulation since last Valentine’s Day, when Edmonton beat them before San Jose headed out on a lengthy road trip. Since then, the Sharks had lost only a shootout to the Oilers on March 16 and two overtime games against Edmonton and Nashville this season.
Of course, San Jose also lost three home playoff games last spring during their second-round burnout, prompting coach Ron Wilson’s departure and McLellan’s arrival. McLellan’s club has been more disciplined and consistent than last season’s team, but the Sharks didn’t capitalize on their rare chances while getting shut out in the final 33 minutes against Calgary.
While San Jose never established an offensive flow, the Flames built on last week’s 5-2 victory over the Sharks in Calgary, an embarrassment that prompted San Jose coach Todd McLellan to put his club through a brutal practice early the next morning.
Clowe scored just 60 seconds into the rematch when Dan Boyle, the Sharks’ aggressive All-Star defenseman, circled behind the net and found the power forward for his 19th goal. Thornton put the Sharks up 2-1 with a slick goal from the slot in the second period, but Langkow tied it 8 seconds into a Calgary power play with a tricky deflection when he was left alone at the net.
Thornton ripped a shot that ricocheted off both posts of Kiprusoff’s net during a power play just a few moments before Phaneuf’s goal.
Notes:
San Jose routed Calgary 6-1 in November in the Flames’ first visit to the Shark Tank this season. … The Sharks scratched D Alexei Semenov and used youngster Derek Joslin, who played in his fifth career game. … Calgary RW Todd Bertuzzi missed his third straight game with a hip injury.
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Story by Greg Beacham, AP Sports Writer
