Game Over: Flames Feast on Sharks, Win 5-2 in San Jose

For a while during that second intermission, you had to wonder whether the Calgary Flames would be patient enough to pull off a win over the San Jose Sharks on Sunday. 

They had outplayed them for most of the first two periods but couldn't pull away on the scoresheet. Then Elias Lindholm broke it wide open with two quick goals early in the third period. It sparked a 5-2 win over the Sharks in the first of four games on the road before Christmas.

It was certainly closer than the final score indicated. At least until the Lindholm goals. The Flames got a 1-0 lead when Jaycob Megna gave the puck away with an errant pass that landed right on a hard-charging Tyler Toffoli. The Flames veteran busted in on Sharks goalie Kappo Kahkonen and sniped high glove for what feels like a rare Calgary Flames lead. 

But it was short-lived with Timo Meier — a noted Flames snuffer — scoring the equalizer on a San Jose Sharks powerplay just a few minutes later. 

Milan Lucic gave the Flames another lead early in the second frame with his first goal of the season. Yes, he finally scored one that counted. The fluttering shot hit Sharks defenceman Erik Karlsson and went in past Flames forward Trevor Lewis. Initially, the ref was yelling "22, 22" which forced Lucic into a little sales pitch to ensure he got credit for the tally.

"When the ref was saying '22, 22,' I thought he was saying goaltending interference and thought, 'here we go,'" Lucic said on the Sportsnet post-game broadcast. 

“It’s always nice to contribute offensively and finally get one. Its’s been a tough year as far as bounces go. It’s a 1-1 game and so it’s nice to get the go-ahead one there."

With two goals just 19 seconds apart barely half a minute into the final frame, Lindholm's pair, his 10th and 11th of the year, broke the game open. 

His first was a powerplay maker set up by Jonathan Huberdeau. The second was an equally pretty cross-ice feed from Rasmus Andersson at the 35-second mark. 

Dillon Dube made it 5-1 at the 2:10 mark with a great shot from a horrible angle. 

Tomas Hertl scored a powerplay goal later in the period but the game would never get closer. 

Jacob Markstrom made 24 saves to earn his first win since Nov. 21 in Philly. 

It snapped a five-game losing streak. And the Calgary Flames hope to make it two in a row with another contest in San Jose on Tuesday night.