San Jose Sharks @ Calgary Flames 1-3 - 02/14

The Calgary Flames continue to climb in the Western Conference. The Flames got second-period goals from three different players and Jonas Hiller made 28 saves in a 3-1 victory against the San Jose Sharks at Scotiabank Saddledome on Wednesday. Kris Russell, Jiri Hudler and Mason Raymond scored goals for the Flames (29-20-3), who jumped the Sharks into second place in the Pacific Division by winning for the eighth time in 10 games. Calgary is 4-1-0 on a six-game homestand that ends Friday against the Pittsburgh Penguins. John Scott had a third-period goal for San Jose (27-18-7), which will try to end a two-game losing skid Thursday against the Vancouver Canucks in the second of a back-to-back set on the road. The third-place Sharks are two points ahead of the Canucks in the Pacific Division. Russell put Calgary on the board first at 9:28 of the second period when he took a drop pass from Paul Byron and stepped into a slap shot that slipped under the pad of Sharks goaltender Alex Stalock. The goal, his first of the season, came in Russell's 50th game. The Flames didn't need long to get their second goal. With Tomas Hertl in the penalty box for holding, Johnny Gaudreau circled behind the San Jose net before spotting Hudler at the edge of the crease. Hudler fluttered his tap-in past Stalock at 11:55. The Sharks came close to responding with 4:37 remaining in the period, but Joe Pavelski hit the post with Hiller out of position and Mark Giordano draped over his back. On the ensuing holding penalty to Giordano, Patrick Marleau had two chances to stuff the puck through Hiller but was denied. Raymond then extended the Flames' lead by one-timing a pass from Joe Colborne over Stalock's shoulder with 1:57 remaining in the period to put Calgary up 3-0. The Flames entered Wednesday with a 12-0-0 record when leading after two periods. They stayed perfect when taking a lead into the final 20 minutes, though not before San Jose pulled within two goals. Chris Tierney's centering pass skipped off Calgary defenseman Raphael Diaz and onto the stick of Scott, who beat an out-of-position Hiller for his second of the season at 2:48 to cut the Flames' lead to 3-1. But Hiller stood his ground from there, denying a pair of attempts from Marleau and getting plenty of help from his teammates.

Sharks Quotes

John Scott: "Every game, they're huge games. It was a big two points we kind of let go there. We've just got to regroup and get to tomorrow. It's going to be tough, every game against every team in our division. We got that one early in the third. I thought it was going to spark some offense. We played well in the third and had some chances. It was good, we just couldn't pull it off."