CALGARY FLAMES NOTES:
FLAMES LAST GAME RECAP
DECEMBER 18, 2022 – CALGARY FLAMES [5] vs. SAN JOSE SHARKS [2]
The Calgary Flames begun a four-game California road trip with their first of two stops in San Jose on Sunday Night. The Flames opened the scoring with Tyler Toffoli picking up his 11th on the season and first goal in San Jose since October 12th of 2016. The Sharks would equal things later in the frame with a Timo Meier power play goal to square the game at one and it would remain that way through 20 minutes of play. The lone tally in the second would come off the stick of Milan Lucic who scored his first of the year to restore the Flames lead heading into the final stanza. The Flames came out of the gates in the third firing on all cylinders with Elias Lindholm scoring 0:16 seconds in, followed by his second of the night just 19 seconds later and 0:35 seconds into the final frame it was 4-1 Calgary. Dillon Dube would join in on the scoring parade for Calgary picking up his sixth 2:10 into the period and the Flames scored the third fastest three goals to open a period in franchise history. Tomas Hertl would get one back for the Sharks later, but the Flames prevailed 5-2.
CGY GOAL SCORERS: Toffoli (11), Lucic (1), Lindholm (10,11), Dube (6)
GOALIE: Markstrom (24/26, .923 Sv%)
PP: 1/4 (25%)
PK: 5/7 (71.4%)
FLAMES LAST FIVE RESULTS, RECORD: 1-2-2
DATE RESULT GWG CGY GOALIE OPP. GOALIE
December 18, 2022 CGY [5] at SJS [2] Lindholm Markstrom Kahkonen
December 16, 2022 STL [5] vs. CGY [2] Buchnevich Markstrom Greiss
December 14, 2022 VAN [4] vs. CGY 3 Kuzmenko* Markstrom Martin
December 12, 2022 CGY [1] at MTL 2 Dach* Markstrom Allen
December 10, 2022 CGY [4] at TOR 5 Marner Vladar Murray
*shootout winning goal
FLAMES UPCOMING SCHEDULE:
DATE TIME
(MST) OPPONENT VENUE
December 20, 2022 8:30pm at San Jose Sharks SAP Center
December 22, 2022 8:30pm at Los Angeles Kings Cryto.com Arena
December 23, 2022 8:30pm at Anaheim Ducks Honda Center
December 27, 2022 7:00pm vs. Edmonton Oilers Scotiabank Saddledome
December 28, 2022 8:00pm at Seattle Kraken Climate Pledge Arena
TONIGHTS STORYLINES & STATS
This is the second of four matchups this season between the Flames and Sharks. The Flames won their opening game against the Sharks on Sunday night by a score of 5-2. This is a Pacific Division Matchup; The Flames have an overall record of 4-2-1 against Pacific Division opponents this season and a record of 8-4-1 against Western Conference opponents.
MAGNIFICENT MARKSTROM:
Jacob Markstrom played in his 400th NHL game on Sunday night in San Jose and celebrated it with a 5-2 win. Markstrom turned aside 26 of the 28 shots he faced at the SAP Center and is currently second in wins among all goalies from the 2008 NHL draft, trailing only Braden Holtby. Markstrom was a second-round pick by Florida and spent parts of four seasons with the Panthers. He was then traded to Vancouver where he spent seven seasons and earned his first All-Star Game nod with the Canucks in 2020. He signed with the Flames as a free agent during the 2020 off-season and has played in 128 games with Calgary.
HUBERDEAU 700:
Flames forward Jonathan Huberdeau skated in his 700th career game in the NHL on Sunday night in San Jose. The SaintJerome, QC native notched the primary assist on Elias Lindholm’s game-winning goal and skated in 16:42 of ice-time in game 700. Huberdeau was drafted third overall in 2011 by the Florida Panthers and skated in a franchise leading 671 games with the Panthers. He also leads the Florida Panthers franchise in assists (415), points (613) and even strength goals (150). Since being acquired by Calgary, Huberdeau has five goals and 14 assists for 19 points so far this season and his 429 career assists currently lead all skaters from the 2011 NHL draft.
LETHAL ELIAS:
Elias Lindholm set a Flames franchise record with the fastest two goals to start a period by one player with his pair of tallies coming just 0:35 seconds into the third period on Sunday night in San Jose. Lindholm is now tied for the eighth-fastest two goals by one player to start a period in NHL history. The last skater to score two faster period-opening tallies was Mike Knuble who scored a pair of goals 0:27 into the opening period on Feb. 14, 2003 while he was a member of the Bruins. With the pair of goals, Lindholm is now 9th in multi-goal games by a centre in Flames franchise history with 16 multi-goal efforts as well as moving into second in career game winning goals by a European player in franchise history with 26, only trailing Mikael Backlund’s 32 GWG’s.
POSITIVE PLAY:
Defenseman Rasmus Andersson and Noah Hanifin were both a season-high +4 on Sunday night in San Jose. That is the highest plus/minus rating of any skater on the Flames so far this season and for Rasmus Andersson the third time he has been a +4 in his career. As for Noah Hanifin, he has been a +4 or higher four times in his career and the pair both recorded an assist in the 5-2 win.
GAME INFO:
Calgary Flames vs. San Jose Sharks
7:30pm PT
SAP Center
TV: Sportsnet West
Radio: Sportsnet Fan 960
2022-23 Season Series: 1-0-0 (Home: 0-0-0, Road 1-0-0)
Dec. 18, 2022 – CGY [5] at SJS [2]
Dec. 20, 2022 – CGY at SJS
Mar. 25, 2023 – SJS at CGY
Apr. 12, 2023 – SJS at CGY
2021-22 Season Record vs. SJS: 1-3-0 (Home: 0-2-0, Road: 1-1-0)
Last Home Win vs. SJS: December 31, 2018 – San Jose [5] vs. Calgary [8]
Last Road Win @ SJS: December 18, 2022 – Calgary [5] at San Jose [1]
Last Home Loss vs. SJS: March 22, 2022 – San Jose [4] vs. Calgary [3]
Last Road Loss @ SJS: December 7, 2021 – Calgary [3] at San Jose [5]
2022-23 CALGARY FLAMES
FLAMES RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
Nov. 27 – reassigned Dennis Gilbert (D) to Calgary (AHL)
Dec. 8 – placed Kevin Rooney (F) on waivers; cleared waivers
Dec. 8 – recalled Matthew Phillips (F) from Calgary (AHL)
Dec. 9 – recalled Radim Zohorna (F) from Calgary (AHL)
Dec. 18 – recalled Dennis Gilbert (D) from Calgary (AHL); placed Chris Tanev (D) on IR (retroactive)
FLAMES RECENT INJURIES (Total man games lost – 26)
Noah Hanifin – illness (1 game: Oct. 21)
Chris Tanev – upper-body (5 games: Nov. 3 – Nov. 10)
Jonathan Huberdeau – upper-body (3 games: Nov. 8 – Nov. 12)
Michael Stone – lower-body (11 games: Nov. 7 – Nov. 25)
MacKenzie Weegar – non-COVID illness (1 game: Dec. 12)
Elias Lindholm – upper-body injury (1 game: Dec. 12)
Chris Tanev – upper-body injury (3 games: Dec. 14 – Dec. 18)
Radim Zohorna – non-COVID illness (1 game: Dec. 18)
GAME INFO:
Calgary Flames vs. San Jose Sharks
7:30pm PT
SAP Center
TV: Sportsnet West
Radio: Sportsnet Fan 960
2022-23 Season Series: 1-0-0 (Home: 0-0-0, Road 1-0-0)
Dec. 18, 2022 – CGY [5] at SJS [2]
Dec. 20, 2022 – CGY at SJS
Mar. 25, 2023 – SJS at CGY
Apr. 12, 2023 – SJS at CGY
2021-22 Season Record vs. SJS: 1-3-0 (Home: 0-2-0, Road: 1-1-0)
Last Home Win vs. SJS: December 31, 2018 – San Jose [5] vs. Calgary [8]
Last Road Win @ SJS: December 18, 2022 – Calgary [5] at San Jose [1]
Last Home Loss vs. SJS: March 22, 2022 – San Jose [4] vs. Calgary [3]
Last Road Loss @ SJS: December 7, 2021 – Calgary [3] at San Jose [5]
2022-23 CALGARY FLAMES
FLAMES RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
Nov. 27 – reassigned Dennis Gilbert (D) to Calgary (AHL)
Dec. 8 – placed Kevin Rooney (F) on waivers; cleared waivers
Dec. 8 – recalled Matthew Phillips (F) from Calgary (AHL)
Dec. 9 – recalled Radim Zohorna (F) from Calgary (AHL)
Dec. 18 – recalled Dennis Gilbert (D) from Calgary (AHL); placed Chris Tanev (D) on IR (retroactive)
FLAMES RECENT INJURIES (Total man games lost – 26)
Noah Hanifin – illness (1 game: Oct. 21)
Chris Tanev – upper-body (5 games: Nov. 3 – Nov. 10)
Jonathan Huberdeau – upper-body (3 games: Nov. 8 – Nov. 12)
Michael Stone – lower-body (11 games: Nov. 7 – Nov. 25)
MacKenzie Weegar – non-COVID illness (1 game: Dec. 12)
Elias Lindholm – upper-body injury (1 game: Dec. 12)
Chris Tanev – upper-body injury (3 games: Dec. 14 – Dec. 18)
Radim Zohorna – non-COVID illness (1 game: Dec. 18)
SAN JOSE SHARKS NOTES:
LAST GAME
Game 33 – 12/18 – SJS 2 vs CGY 5…San Jose was unable to mount a comeback after allowing three goals within the first 2:10 of the third period. Erik Karlsson (0g, 2a) tallied his 700th NHL point with a first period assist, becoming the 12th fastest defenseman in NHL history to the mark. Timo Meier (1g, 0a) scored his team-leading 16th goal of the season.
SJ Goals: Meier (16 pp), Hertl (11 pp)
SF: 26
SA: 25
SJ PP: 2/7
SJ PK: 3/4
W: Markstrom
L: Kahkonen
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
12/18 Assigned D Nick Cicek and F C.J. Suess to the San Jose Barracuda
12/17 Placed F Luke Kunin on IR; activated F Matt Nieto off IR
12/12 Activated G James Reimer off IR; Assigned G Eetu Makiniemi to the San Jose Barracuda
12/7 Activated F Nico Sturm off IR
12/6 Placed F Matt Nieto on IR; recalled F C.J. Suess from the San Jose Barracuda
12/6 Assigned G Aaron Dell to the San Jose Barracuda; recalled G Eetu Makiniemi from the San Jose Barracuda
12/1 Assigned F Jeff Viel to the San Jose Barracuda
TONIGHT’S OPPONENT
San Jose and Calgary are playing at SAP Center at San Jose for the second time in the last three days. The Sharks fell in game one of the mini-series, 5-2, on Sunday as the Flames scored three goals within the first 2:10 of the second period, including a pair of strikes by leading-scorer Elias Lindholm. Matt Benning and Matt Nieto can play in their 400th and 600th NHL games, respectively, with appearances tonight. San Jose will close out pre-Holiday break play with a home contest against Minnesota on Dec. 22 while the Flames will visit Los Angeles and Anaheim on back-to-back nights on Dec. 22 and 23 before their four-day break begins. San Jose earned a 3-1-0 record against the Flames last season and were led in scoring by Logan Couture (4g, 2a, three-point night on Dec. 7). Toma Hertl (4g, 1a) registered the Sharks first hat trick of the 2021-22 campaign in a Dec. 7 home tilt against the Flames. Calgary’s two leading scorers against the Sharks last season are no longer with the club, with Matthew Tkachuk (1g, 5a) having been traded to Florida and Johnny Gaudreau (2g, 3a) signing with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
STORYLINES
EK65…Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson continues to lead NHL defensemen in goals and points and was the first defenseman this season to hit the 10-goal and 40-point marks. With a pair of assists on Dec. 18 against Calgary, Erik Karlsson crossed the 40-point threshold, becoming the fastest defenseman to reach 40 points in a season in franchise history. He needed eight fewer games than Brent Burns, who reached 40 points in 41 games on three separate occasions (2015-16, 2016-17, 2018-19). It was also the fewest games Karlsson has needed to reach 40 points in a season in his career.
His first assist of the evening also marked his 700th NHL point. Per NHL PR, he became the 12th fastest defenseman to reach 700 career points, and fastest since Brian Leetch, who achieved the mark in 725 games on April 18, 1998. Karlsson is the third Swedish-born defenseman to cross the 700-point threshold (Nicklas Lidstrom and Borje Salming) and he leads all defensemen in assists and points since debuting in 2009. In November, Karlsson became the first Sharks defenseman to reach 20 points in a calendar month with a position-leading 21 points (6g, 15a) in just 15 games. He has factored into 41 of 99 goals scored for San Jose this season (41.4%). Per NHL PR, the highest-ever rate in the NHL’s modern era (since the 1943-44 season) at which a defenseman factored into team goals for a season was Bobby Orr at 43.3% in 1969-70.
A BENNING BONANZA…With a pair of assists on Nov. 21 against Ottawa, Matt Benning began a career-best hot streak, earning nine assists in a 10-game stretch thru Dec. 9 against Anaheim. This marked the most points Benning had recorded in a 10-game stretch in his career, with his previous most being five points (multiple times). The defenseman matched the longest point streak of his career with a point in three straight contests from Dec. 4 thru Dec. 9 (0g, 4a). He ranks second among Sharks defensemen in assists and points and is on pace to set career highs in assists, points and time on ice.
HERTL HEATING UP…Tomas Hertl has been hot offensively as of late, with seven points (2g, 5a) in his last five games and 26 points (10g, 16) since the beginning of November. The forward has now found the scoresheet in 16 of those 24 games with nine multi-point efforts and a team-leading +7 rating in that span. He recorded at least one point in six straight contests from Nov. 15 to Nov. 25 (1g, 6a), which was tied for the fourth-longest point streak of his career. He notched his 400th career NHL point on Nov. 11 with an assist and played in his 600th NHL game on Nov. 10. His .97 point-per-game pace (32 in 34) this season is the highest single-season pace of his career (above 2018-19, 74 in 77, .96 ppg)
IT’S TIMO TIME…Timo Meier ranks third on the Sharks with 30 points and is eighth in the League with 15 goals since Nov. 1. The winger took sole possession of 10th on the Sharks all-time list in goals with a strike on Nov. 10 and took sole possession of 10th on the Sharks all-time points list with a goal on Dec. 17. He logged a five-game goal-scoring streak (Nov. 1 thru Nov. 11, 6g) and found the back of the net in eight of 15 November games. With a power play goal against Calgary on Dec. 18, Meier is now on pace to set career highs in goals and power-play goals. He is just four power-play goals shy of his total (12) from last season, which he achieved in 77 games and marks the most power-play goals by a Swiss-born forward in a single season. The Herisau, Switzerland native currently ranks second in the NHL with 152 shots on goal. Last season, Meier rifled off 326 shots on net, the most by any Sharks forward (third most by a Sharks player) in a single season.
CAPTAIN COUTURE…Logan Couture ranks second on the Sharks in goal scoring after a second-period marker against Vancouver on Dec. 7. Couture’s goal was the Sharks first shorthanded tally this season and moved Couture into a tie with Owen Nolan and Marco Sturm (14) for second most shorthanded goals in franchise history. Since debuting in the 2009-10 season, the center ranks T-14th in shorthanded goals and T-15th in shorthanded points among League skaters. The captain posted a career-long five-game goal streak which ended on Nov. 27, finishing one game behind San Jose’s team record of six games. Couture has lit the lamp in 10 of the past 19 contests dating back to Nov. 10 with six multi-point efforts and 19 points (10g, 9a) in that span. He totaled 16 points (9g, 7a) in 14 November contests.
SUPREME SPECIAL TEAMS…The Sharks’ power play has been hot as of late, cashing in on 18 of 65 (27.7%) trips to the man-advantage since the start of a six-game home stand on Oct. 25, good for seventh in the NHL in that span. San Jose has gone empty in just nine games in that stretch, including Nov. 10 at St. Louis and Nov. 30 at Toronto when the team had zero power play opportunities and Nov. 17 against Detroit and Nov. 19 against the New York Rangers when they had just one each. The Sharks scored a pair of power-play goals on Dec. 19 against Calgary, pushing their power play percentage up to 22.2% this season, good for 16th in the NHL. The Sharks penalty kill has struggled as of late, allowing multiple goals in three consecutive games from Dec. 3 thru Dec. 7, but still enters tonight’s contest as the league’s second-best unit this season at 83.8%. The Sharks posted stout 6-for-6 and 3-for-3 efforts against Montreal on Nov. 29 and Toronto on Nov. 30, respectively. The Maple Leafs had a scorching 28.3% power play at home this season entering Nov. 30’s game. San Jose’s penalty kill killed off its first 22 penalties of the season before finally allowing a power play goal on Oct. 22 at New Jersey.
COMEBACK KIDS…The Sharks overcame a two-goal deficit en route to a 3-2 shootout victory on November 13 at Minnesota, the team’s first multi-goal comeback win of the season and first since 4/24/22 at Vegas, a 5-4 shootout decision. San Jose has come from behind in four of 10 wins on the year, including each contest of a three-game win streak Friday (Nov. 11) at Dallas (trailed 1-0), Sunday (Nov. 13) at Minnesota (trailed 2-0) and Tuesday (Nov. 15) at Vegas (trailed 1-0 and 2-1). San Jose was the first team to earn a win over Vegas when trailing after two periods on the year (the Knights had been 7-0-0). Per NHL PR, the three-game road trip was the first time since March 14 thru 17, 2018 that the Sharks earned three consecutive come-from-behind wins in one road stint.
REIM TIME…Sharks goaltender James Reimer returned from injury on Dec. 13 and promptly posted his 198th win of his career, having made 20 saves on 22 shots against Arizona. He earned his first shutout of the season on Oct. 23 with a 30-save performance at Philadelphia. Reimer’s shutout, his fifth as a Shark, moved him into a tie with Aaron Dell for eighth on the franchise’s all-time shutouts list. He recorded his third 41-save effort of the season on Saturday (11/19) against the New York Rangers, including saves on the first 40 shots he faced in the game. Reimer also owns a .932 shorthanded save percentage since joining the Sharks at the start of the 2021-22 season, the best in the NHL in that span (min. 10 games played) and the second best two-season stretch by a goaltender since the NHL began tracking the statistic in 1997-98 (min. 30 games played, best is Cory Schneider from 2010-12 with a .936 SV% in 58 GP).
GRIER’S GAMEPLAN…On July 5, Sharks president Jonathan Becher and Assistant General Manager Joe Will introduced Mike Grier as the team’s fifth General Manager and first black general manager in NHL history. The 47-year-old appeared in 221 games with the Sharks from 2006 through 2008 as part of a 14-season, 1,060 game NHL playing career. Just two days later, Grier was with the team as they selected center Filip Bystedt with the 27th overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. On July 13, the Sharks traded longtime defenseman Brent Burns and signed Matt Benning, Oskar Lindblom, Markus Nutivaara and Nico Sturm on the first day of free agency. A full list of players under NHL contract that have joined the organization since July 5 is below:
QUINN FOR THE WIN…On July 26, Grier introduced David Quinn as Head Coach of the Sharks and later named Scott Gordon, Ryan Warsofsky and Brian Wiseman as Assistant Coaches, Thomas Speer NHL Goaltending Coach and Nick Gialdini Video Coach. Quinn, who most recently served as head coach for Team USA at both the 2022 Winter Olympics and 2022 World Championship, spent three seasons as head coach of the New York Rangers from 2018 to 2021, earning a 96-87-25 record. In his three years, the Rangers held the league’s eighth-best power-play percentage (22.1%), ranked seventh in team blocked shots (4,195) and takeaways (2,244), and were tied for tenth in wins when trailing first (52). Adam Fox, who made his NHL debut under Quinn in 2019-20, was awarded the Norris Trophy following the 2020-21 season. Quinn’s first NHL win was a 3-2 overtime victory against the Sharks at Madison Square Garden with the Rangers on Oct. 11, 2018. His first NHL win with the Sharks was a 3-2 overtime victory against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 21, 2022. The 56- year-old recorded his 100th career NHL win on 11/11 at Dallas, a 5-4 final.
