San Jose Sharks final game of the 2023-24 season sees them defeated in Calgary
By Conor Power
Your San Jose Sharks played their final game of the season, losing 5-1 to the Calgary Flames. This gives the Sharks a record of 18-54-9 to end the season. Forty-seven points are not great, but it's the Sharks' total for this season. Five points behind the Chicago Blackhawks, the Sharks are the worst team in the NHL this season. This shouldn't be surprising, given how often they got thumped at home, but it is now official.
This game started with a Calgary goal with eight minutes to go in the first period. San Jose turned the puck over in the defensive zone, and Adam Klapka was able to pick it up in the slot. Whiffing on his first shot, he was able to regather the puck and fire it home from the high slot for his first goal in the NHL, which was the Flames' first of the night.
Another Flames goal came when the Flames' powerplay was ending. Connor Zary was able to fire the puck to the post as it expired, and Vlasic rejoined the ice. However, Blake Coleman was there to put the puck home for his 30th goal of the season, and the Sharks were in a hole early. This didn't quite have the feel of the Edmonton Oilers game a few days earlier, but it still needed to improve.
In the second, the Flames would tally again when Oliver Kylington fired the puck from the point. It fluttered through everything to find its way into the top corner over Devin Cooley's head. It may have deflected from Andrew Mangiapane in front but found the twine behind him. That's the critical moment here as the Flames continue to put the Sharks through the wringer, and it's now a three-goal lead for the Flames early.
Calgary would grab a fourth when Martin Pospisil found Kevin Rooney in the high slot. His shot found its way past Devin Cooley, who was being left to dry, and the Sharks were imploding again. While Calgary was not blasting the Sharks as the Oilers had, the Flames were still building the pressure on the Sharks makeshift roster, and the defense was giving out. Cooley was helpless again.
It would be the Flames' fifth that saw Devin Cooley's season come to an end. Mackenzie Weegar threw one on from the point, and it found its way through a bevy of humanity out in front of the Sharks netminder. Georgi Romanov would come in to relieve the local lad thrown to the wolves on the night, and the battle of Bay Area netminders ended rather quickly.
In the third, the Sharks would get a consolation goal with less than ten seconds left to give the Sharks something to smile about going into the summer months. Mikael Granlund fed the puck over to Fabian Zetterlund, who lashed one into the top corner on the powerplay to break Dustin Wolf's shutout bid, and the Sharks season concluded in Alberta.