SAN JOSE — Andrei Kuzmenko scored a power-play goal 2:58 into overtime to give the Calgary Flames a 3-2 win over the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday in front of an announced crowd of 11,031. at the SAP Center.
With Mario Ferraro serving a holding penalty, Kuzmenko collected a loose puck near the Sharks’ side of the net and beat goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood for his 18th goal of the season.
The Sharks are now six points behind the Chicago Blackhawks in 31st place in the overall NHL standings. They have four games left to play.
The Sharks and Flames were tied 2-2 at the end of the second period.
The Sharks got goals from William Eklund and Jacob MacDonald, with MacDonald’s goal coming off a takedown from Mike Hoffman giving his team a 2-0 lead at 2:22 of the second period.
The Sharks were mostly outplayed by the Flames for the rest of the period and that lead disappeared.
Rasmus Andersson scored on his own rebound at 5:35 of the second after some Sharks players were stuck on the ice for more than a minute.
Then, with Marc-Edouard Vlasic serving a tripping penalty, Nazem Kadri scored his 26th of the season, collecting a pass from Yegor Sharangovich to the left of the Sharks net and beating Mackenzie Blackwood well over the glove side.
Eklund’s goal was his 16th of the season and his sixth in the last 10 games. He scored his first career hat trick Saturday against St. Louis, with his third goal in overtime as the Sharks beat the Blues 3-2.
Eklund’s goal came at 7:22 of the first period.
Eklund carried the puck beyond his own blue line before finding Mikael Granlund with a cross-court pass in the neutral zone. Granlund then found Fabian Zetterlund with a pass in the Flames zone, while Eklund beat his man to the net and went from forehand to backhand to beat Flames goaltender and Gilroy native Dustin Wolf.
Wolf, who turns 23 next week, had already made two starts against the Sharks during his career, but both came in Calgary. He earned his first NHL win against San Jose late last season, but lost to the Sharks on Feb. 15, allowing six goals on 21 shots.
This wasn’t Wolf’s first time playing at the SAP Center. During the 2021-22 season, while playing with Calgary’s AHL affiliate in Stockton, Wolf went 4-0-0 with a .953 save percentage in four games at Shark Tank. This was the Barracuda’s final season at SAP Center before moving to Tech CU Arena next to Sharks Ice in San Jose in 2022.
“I’m sure it means a lot,” Flames coach Ryan Huska told Wolf. “The good thing about him is he’s played a lot in this building over the years. He knows this area very well, so it’s good to have him back. I know he’s excited. He was one of the first guys at the rink this morning.
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