Miikka Kiprusoff earned his 300th career win and Olli Jokinen
produced a hat trick Wednesday night as the Calgary Flames edged
the San Jose Sharks 4-3 at sold-out HP Pavilion. The Sharks host
the Chicago Blackhawks Friday night before leaving for a nine-game
roadtrip. San Jose will return to home ice on Feb. 28 against the
Philadelphia Flyers.
Miikka Kiprusoff earned his 300th career win and Olli Jokinen produced a hat trick Wednesday night as the Calgary Flames edged the San Jose Sharks 4-3 at sold-out HP Pavilion.
The Sharks host the Chicago Blackhawks Friday night before leaving for a nine-game roadtrip. San Jose will return to home ice on Feb. 28 against the Philadelphia Flyers.
San Jose is first in the Pacific Division with 64 points. Los Angeles is second in the division at 62, while Phoenix is ninth in the Western Conference with 58 points.
Michal Handzus scored his sixth goal of the season 49 seconds into the third period to lift the Sharks into a 3-3 tie. Calgary responded with Jokinen’s third goal of the game at the 3:25 mark off a pass from Alex Tanguay. The Flames improved to 17-0-3 when leading after two periods.
The Sharks scored two goals in the second period to pull into a 2-2 tie, only to see the Flames regain the lead on Jarome Iginla’s 21st goal of the season.
Calgary took care of the first period scoring when Jokinen’s 14th goal of the season slipped by goaltender Antti Niemi. Defenseman Chris Butler took an Iginla pass at the top of the slot and fired a low shot toward the right post that deflected off Jokinen’s leg and into the net.
Jokinen, on the way to a four-point game, was at the right spot to give the Flames the 2-0 lead at 2:36 of the second period. Tanguay’s blast from the right point on a Calgary power play went wide right of the net, but the puck bounded back to the edge of the net. Jokinen was able to pull the puck away from defenseman Colin White and shove the puck past Niemi’s left pad.
San Jose produced two goals in a span of 83 seconds to erase the deficit.
The Sharks used 15 seconds of delayed penalty time to set up Logan Couture for a 30-footer past Kiprusoff at the 6:29 mark. Ryane Clowe and Joe Thornton assisted on the play.
Thornton had the primary assist on the tying goal at 7:52. Parked behind the Flames goal, Thornton received a pass from Patrick Marleau, then found Joe Pavelski open in the low slot for a one-timer past Kiprusoff. Pavelski, playing in his 400th career NHL game, became the third Shark to reach the 20-goal plateau this year.
Iginla’s goal came at the end of a two-on-two rush with 11:15 gone in the second period. Jokinen, paired with Iginla on the successful rush, netted his team-high 29th assist.
