Calgary Flames Lose To San Jose Sharks, Still In Playoffs

Dec 6, 2014; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Calgary Flames left wing Michael Ferland (79) is tripped by San Jose Sharks defenseman Justin Braun (61) during the third period at Scotiabank Saddledome. Sharks won 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports

A Calgary Flames four game winning streak that started in San Jose ended Saturday night at the hands of those very same Sharks. The final score reads 3-2 in favour of the Sharks but the Saddledome faithful knew better than to leave after the Sharks took the lead with 10:42 remaining.

Our Calgary Flames, notorious slow starters to games, came out guns a-blazing putting up four shots in the first three minutes and outshooting the Sharks 9-3 after fourteen minutes. Mark Giordano took a step closer to solidifying his early season Norris Trophy status by opening up the scoring for our Flames. Karri Ramo then made three good saves in the final forty seconds to send the Flames into the first intermission up 1-0.

The slow start Flames fans somewhat expect to games arrived in the second period. Two San Jose goals in the first 2:34 of the middle frame left many folks wondering what the heck happened during the intermission. 23 seconds after a Mark Giordano penalty expired, Johnny Gaudreau (#JohnnyFreakinGaudreau) scored a rebound goal to tie the game and send us into the third period tied at 2.

Down 3-2 in the game, the Flames took penalties 31 seconds apart to temper expectations of another comeback. The Flames successfully killed both penalties and even got a powerplay opportunity with 1:19 remaining. Naturally the Flames pulled Karri Ramo to make it a two man advantage but alas, it wasn’t meant to be tonight.

The silver lining of the failed powerplay in the final minute of play was Sean Monahan winning both face-offs. A positive sign for our favourite sophomore Flames player.

Michael Ferland played another positive game in his continued quest to score his first NHL goal.

Brian McGrattan was a last minute fill-in for Brandon Bollig. McGrattan played a game low 5:54 and the pregame Twitter hype of a McGrattan-Scott fight was never teased during the actual game.

Interesting questions leading into the next game on Tuesday in Toronto:

Do you go back to Karri Ramo in net?
Do you keep McGrattan in the lineup instead of Brandon Bollig?
Will Mason Raymond return to the lineup sending someone to the AHL?

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