Filip Zadina's four point night leads San Jose Sharks to Victory over Calgary Flames

The San Jose Sharks had an offensive explosion as they were able to put 6 past the Flames and take a 6-3 win out of Calgary. They now have points in 8 of the last 12 since the conslusion of the 12 game losing streak. It's been a tough season, but now there's some reasons to believe that it is going to get easier for the Sharks faithful.

After the Sharks couldn't get the puck in deep, Martin Pospisil took it and drove the Flames up the ice. He got into the Sharks' defensive zone and fired it at Mackenzie Blackwood, who had no problems kicking the puck away. However, while driving through the slot, Nazem Kadri deflected it home off the skate of Nazem Kadri as he tried to stop. There was nothing Blackwood could do there, and the Flames took an early lead.

San Jose would get it back when Filip Zadina could force a turnover. Zadina dropped the puck for Granlund, who came on off a change, and it created a situation in which young netminder Dustin Wolf had to make a decision. A backdoor feed to Zetterlund was a possibility, so he didn't commit to the shot from Granny, and when the Finn fired at the net, it took Wolf by surprise. This saw him lose an edge, and he wasn't able to recover to stop the puck. Granlund's 6th of the season makes it a tie game.

San Jose's fourth line would combine to put up a rare goal. Mackenzie Weegar threw the puck up the ice, but Justin Bailey knocked it down. Bailey took it down and got it over to Filip Zadina, forcing the young netminder to respect his shot again, but Zadina gave it back to Bailey at the back post, and it was a simple finish for the Shark's second goal of the game. With the Sharks now leading, the Flames knew they would have to come hard for the rest of this game.

A slice of good luck would allow the situation room in Toronto to find an angle where the puck crossed the goal line. As any good forward does, Luke Kunin put the puck on the net and followed it towards the goal. Chris Tanev and Dustin Wolf get slightly tangled up as both try to deal with the bouncing puck. Tanev put it in, trying to clear it as Wolf couldn't respond in time, and it was 3-1 Sharks.

Jan Rutta would get hurt with what I think is a stinger, but I'm not a doctor. Mario Ferraro bumps Walker Duehr, and it sends him into Rutta. Duehr grabs Rutta, which gets him twisted up and sees him land on his tailbone. It's a sore one, as anyone who's been ice skating knows, and the team will obviously give him all the medical attention he needs, but it's not as scary as some injuries in this sport. He returned for the start of the third period, so hopefully, he's okay.

Calgary would get the puck past Blackwood again late in the second. Mikael Backlund shot the puck into the general vicinity of the net. It deflected off Calen Addison and past Blackwood. Andrew Mangiapane pushed Addison into Blackwood, so San Jose challenged this play. After a lengthy review, the referees determined that there was no goaltender interference, which means the Sharks were going onto the penalty kill.

San Jose's fourth line would strike again early in the third, as the Sharks were able to create a rush. Zadina entered the zone and dished it over to Nico Sturm. Sturm fired it at the net, and Zadina got a beautiful deflection that saw the puck loop up and over Dustin Wolf in the Calgary net, dropping just under the bar to restore the Sharks' two-goal lead—a three-point night for Zadina.

He wasn't done there though as he would strike again soon after to make it a 5-2 lead. Justin Bailey plays a good stretch pass to Zadina in the high slot. Rasmus Andersson was in his face, but the Czech forward was able to open up enough space to get the shot off. It beat Wolf's glove, and the Sharks were now up by three in the third with all the momentum after two Zadina goals in 36 seconds.

San Jose would add another one as Calgary continues to make errors. Blake Coleman tries to dance around Luke Kunin in his own zone, and Kunin has none of it. He skates in all alone on Wolf and roofs it as the young netminder had no chance. His second of the game and the second Shark with two goals in this one, and the team looked set to take two points from this one after being shut out last night in Winnipeg.

Calgary would grab another one with 3:20 to go in the game. Andrei Kuzmenko got his third as a flame as the Sharks turned the puck over in their zone. They worked it back to Chris Tanev at the point, and Andrei Kuzmenko could deflect a shot from the defenseman home. It made it a 6-3 game with 3 minutes left, and the Sharks were still pretty comfortable, but you never want to give up a goal if you don't have to.

At the final horn, Coleman took down Zadina, and some chaos ensured. It was too late for the Flames to change the outcome of this game, and it just created some bad blood. Two more points in the standings, and that feel-good feeling with the wins returns. Without Couture or Hertl, the Sharks beat the Flames anyway. A great way to increase some players values before the deadline.