The San Jose Sharks will look to continue their best run in four years when they resume their three-game road swing on Thursday night against the struggling Calgary Flames.
Thanks to their 2-1 overtime victory over the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday, the Sharks are riding a four-game winning streak and have points in seven straight outings (6-0-1).
San Jose hadn’t won four consecutive games since the beginning of the 2021-22 season. They last won five straight in November 2019.
Not only has their spree boosted the Sharks into an early playoff position, they can feel the momentum building after several seasons of being a bottom-feeder.
The victory over Minnesota is a prime example of how far they have come. San Jose trailed 1-0 midway through the third period before Will Smith’s tally and won thanks to Collin Graf’s overtime tally.
“We just knew we needed to be better,” said Smith, who has three goals and four assists in a five-game point streak. “Every guy, starting with me and our line, we had to better.”
The Sharks have surrendered only one goal in each game during their winning streak. But the biggest difference is the belief they can erase a deficit.
“In years past, we punted this game and just moved on and took the loss,” coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “Whether it’s 2-0 or whatever it was, that’s over. We’re done punting games. We’re done saying we’re competitive. We’re trying to win hockey games.”
Rising star Macklin Celebrini collected a pair of assists against Minnesota, boosting his output to eight points (three goals, five assists) in a four-game run.
While the Sharks believe they have turned a corner as a franchise, the Flames are languishing in San Jose’s former spot. Calgary will return home Thursday at the bottom of the league standings, having lost three straight games, the latest a 3-2 defeat to the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.
“I don’t even know our record anymore, but it’s frustrating,” Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson said. “I don’t want to stand here and give the same old cliches as we’ve done in the past, but it’s time to dig in. It’s not acceptable.”
The Flames, who were shut out in the first two games of their current swoon, trailed 3-0 in St. Louis before a pair of late second-period goals pulled them close, but they could not complete the comeback.
Coming close and not winning is creating frustration for the team, which is not looking for moral victories.
“When you go a couple of games without scoring, it wears on them, for sure. There’s no doubt about that,” Calgary coach Ryan Huska said. “But I think the key thing is to make sure you stay true to how you have to play the game.”
The Flames are having plenty of trouble winning games even when they score first, but falling behind early, and by multiple goals, is becoming a nasty trend they have trouble overcoming.
“It’s tough to come from behind,” said forward Matt Coronato, whose second-period goal snapped his team’s scoring drought at more than 154 minutes. “I think we battled, but we didn’t do enough … to get it done.”
Calgary has won six straight meetings against San Jose, a Pacific Division rival.
