In front of a sold-out crowd, the San José Sharks fell to the Calgary Flames 4-1 in their first game post-Olympic break.
The Sharks now sit at 29-25-4 on the season, while the Flames are 24-28-7.
The loss extended the Sharks’ losing streak to five games and gave them a 3-1 deficit in the season series against the Flames.
Sharks defenseman Timothy Liljegren said the Flames have been a challenge for the team.
“We’ve been struggling against Calgary a little bit,” Liljegren said. “We always wanted to get off the top of a good start here after break.”
Liljegren believes the team played a strong first two periods and played with pace, but the turnovers later became costly.
San José head coach Ryan Warsofsky emphasized on the turnovers.
“We turned over a couple of pucks that changed the momentum of the game in the second period,” Warsofsky said. “They (Flames) tied on an easy face-off execution and we failed on it.”
Calgary Flames center Nazem Kadri shined, scoring two goals that marked his third straight multipoint game and currently leads his team with 41 points.
Kadri put the Flames on the board with 4:51 remaining in the second period, tying it 1-1, with assists from center Joel Farabee and defenseman MacKenzie Weegar.
Flames center Connor Zary extended the lead, 2-1 about five minutes into the third period on a shot from the slot.
At 11:56 in the third, Kadri scored his second goal of the night after a defensive-zone turnover from Liljegren, followed later by an empty-net goal from center Mikael Backlund, securing a 4-1 win for the Flames.
Gilroy native and Flames goaltender Dustin Wolf had 34 saves with a .917 save percentage and improved 10-2-0 in his career against the Sharks.
Reflecting on the loss, Liljegren said the team must improve late in games.
“We got to learn to close games,” Liljegren said. “I thought we had a game and then we invited them (Flames) back in.”
The Sharks started off strong, attacking the net with 17 shots on goal in the first period.
San José took a 1-0 lead early in the second period with a tip-in shot from forward Tyler Toffoli, who scored his 16th goal of the season, assisted by center Michael Misa and defenseman Mario Ferraro.
Warsofsky said the team generated chances but needs to get to the tougher areas of the ice.
“Just play more on the inside,” Warsofsky said. “The way we scored the goal is the way we need to play.”
Sharks center Macklin Celebrini failed to score a point, dropping the Sharks 1-12-2 when he is scoreless in a game this season.
San José left wing Kiefer Sherwood said the team needs to be consistent on handling the pucks.
“We’ve been working on getting shots through,” Sherwood said. “Just take a little bit more poise with the puck and place it, whether it’s for a grade A and just shooting for a rebound.”
With 24 games remaining in the 2025-26 National Hockey League season, the Sharks are hoping to make the playoffs for the first time since 2019 and currently sit fifth in the Pacific Division.
Emphasizing the importance of staying connected as a group, Sherwood stressed the need for consistency.
“We just got to stick together here and continue to focus on the full 60 minutes and the team and help each other through the ups and downs,” Sherwood said. “It’s obviously gonna be part of every game we are looking forward.”
San José notched a 5-4 win against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday and a 2-1 overtime win over the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday afternoon.
The Sharks next face the Montreal Canadiens (33-17-9) on Tuesday, March 3, at 7 p.m. at the SAP Center.
