5 Things - Flames @ Sharks

1. California Calling

The final multi-game road trip of the season kicks off tonight when the Flames face off with the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center.

The Flames enter the night having lost three straight, but are coming off their best-of-the-bunch with a splendid effort in Saturday’s Battle of Alberta – dominating the game at 5-on-5, but were unable to cash in when it mattered most.

It goes down as a 4-2 decision in favour of the Flames’ bitter archrivals, but the score line was hardly indicative of the game’s flow.

With the team eliminated from playoff contention, some wondered what type of energy we might see from the group down the stretch.

If Saturday is any indication, this is a team that looks driven to finish up strong.

"I thought we battled hard; I thought we deserved better tonight," said Jonathan Huberdeau, who tallied an assist in the contest. "Just shows they’ve got a good powerplay, they took advantage of that. We came up short, but I thought we were the better team tonight."

Yegor Sharangovich and Nazem Kadri supplied all the offence for the homeside, as the powerplay went 2-for-6, while Jacob Markstrom returned to the net after backing up Dustin Wolf in last Thursday’s game in Winnipeg, stopping 24 of 27 in defeat.

At 5-on-5, the Flames out chanced the Oilers 30-18, including 14-5 from the high-danger areas, along with four shots that rang off the iron.

But in the end, the PK was their downfall – as it so often can be against that vaunted Edmonton powerplay.

"We made a couple of mistakes and they ended up in the back of our net," Head Coach Ryan Huska said, pointing to Evan Bouchard’s game-winning bomb after the Flames equalized in the third.

The key, now, is to bring the same effort into tonight as the Flames begin a stretch of three straight in California.

Mikael Backlund (maintenance) and Oliver Kylington (undisclosed injury) both missed Monday’s practice in Calgary. Huska deemed Kylington day-to-day, while Andrew Mangiapane (undisclosed injury) remains in that camp as well.

As a result, the Flames have recalled defenceman Ilya Solovyov from the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers.

“From everything that we're hearing, he's been our best guy with the Wranglers the last little while,” Huska said. “He's deserving of another opportunity.”

CalgaryFlames.com colleague Chris Wahl wrote on Solovyov’s return to the bigs on Monday. Click here to read.

2. Know Your Enemy

It’s been a season – largely – to forget for the Sharks, whose 11-game (0-10-1) toil out of the gate set the table for one of their worst campaigns in franchise history.

Things haven’t gone much better of late, with the team dropping a 5-2 decision to the Arizona Coyotes in their last outing, giving them only two wins in their last 14 games overall.

While the record speaks for itself, the Sharks were dealt a tough hand with captain Logan Couture missing all but six games this year due to “osteitis pubis” (an inflammation in the joint between your left and right pubic bones, causing pain and swelling in your groin or lower abdomen).

Couture, a three-time 30-goal scorer that has become of the heartbeat of the Sharks franchise, has been sorely missed, both on the ice and in the room for this young club.

The deadline trade of superstar Tomas Hertl to the Vegas Golden Knights was another tough pill – not only gutting the scoring punch among the forward ranks, but also removing another key voice from the locker-room.

But certainly, there are positives to draw on when it comes to the future of the organization. Look no further than Sunday, when 23-year-old rookie defenceman Henry Thrun had a goal and an assist to pace the Sharks offensively, while playing upwards of 22 minutes against the Coyotes – second only to veteran Mikael Granlund up front.

Meanwhile, Collin Graf – who signed with the Sharks as an undrafted free agent out of Quinnipiac University last week – picked up an assist for his first NHL point.

This is the second-last home game for the Sharks, who will entertain the Minnesota Wild on Saturday before wrapping up their season next week with a pair in Alberta - including the season finale for both themselves and the Flames on April 18 at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

3. Quick Hits

Stuck In The Middle

Connor Zary drew back into the lineup on Saturday and made his NHL debut at centre, with Jonathan Huberdeau and Dryden Hunt on his wings.

While it was only one game, the rookie’s play – both with and without the puck – left quite the impression on the coaching staff.

Zary practiced in that spot again on Monday with Huberdeau and Andrew Mangiapane on the flanks, and it’s possible we’ll see that combination – or some variation of it – again soon.

“I liked him,” Huska said of the rookie in that spot. “He was moving his feet. And I found he was competitive on and around the puck. ... We'll look to give him another opportunity there if we can based on our lineup and all that stuff that will go on here over the next little bit.”

Zary’s line controlled more than 77% of the possession (17-5) at 5-on-5, while out-chancing the Oilers 8-2, including 4-0 from the slot.

"I felt good," Zary said Monday. "It's something that I've played before - obviously, not at the NHL level - (but) I'm comfortable in that position. It felt good to get my legs under me in the centre of the ice and overall I felt good at the first opportunity playing centre."

Colts Connections

Andrew Mangiapane and Rasmus Andersson, along with Sharks winger Kevin Labanc and goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood, were all teammates on the OHL's Barrie Colts for two seasons from 2014 to 2016. The three skaters were all in the top five of Colts scoring in both seasons, with Andersson leading all Colts defenders in that span with at least 60 points in both seasons. Blackwood led the charge in the blue paint, topping all Barrie netminders in games played in both 2014-15 and 2015-16. Lebanc and Mangiapane would both break the 100-point plateau in both seasons, and in 2015-16, Mangiapane tied for second in league goal-scoring (51) with fellow NHLer Alex DeBrincat, while Kevin Lebanc led the OHL in assists (88). Mangiapane, Lebanc and Blackwood also played together in Barrie in the 2013-14 season while Andersson was a member of the Malmo Redhawks (SHL).

4. Players To Watch

Flames - Yegor Sharangovich

No, this isn’t (click) bait.

‘Sharky’ is now a 30-goal scorer in the National Hockey League.

The ascent of this dynamic young forward has been one of the great stories of the season – and after a slow start that saw him score only once in his first 10 games, and twice in the opening 16, Sharangovich has 28 of his 30 lamp-lighters in the last 60 games.

That’s a 39-goal pace over a full season.

Sharangovich, 25, has now scored the most goals in a single season by a Belarussian skater in NHL history, beating Mikhail Grabovski’s 29 during the 2010-11 campaign. With another two more points, he'll tie Grabovski for the most points in a single season, too.

Sharks – Luke Kunin

Kunin has been a real bright spot for the Sharks this year and has taken on a leadership role in Couture’s absence, and in particular, after the Hertl trade.

While the 26-year-old is likely more accustomed to a bottom-six role, he’s been elevated to the second-line centre spot due to the team’s forward depth.

He hits, fights, kills penalties, and has even chipped in a little bit offensively, recording his 10th goal of the season on Sunday, while playing north of 16 minutes and winning 56% of his faceoffs.

Most importantly, he’s developed into quite a leader and now wears an ‘A.’

“He’s an absolute team guy. I love the guy. Everybody loves him,” Granlund told The Hockey News. “What he brings, he brings that physicality. He does the right things on the ice all the time. That’s what do you need, this type of guy, this organization as well.”

5. Quotable

Ryan Huska on Sharangovich hitting the 30-goal mark:

"We knew the type of guy we were getting when we traded for him. We knew there was speed there, which was something we felt we were lacking and we needed to have. He’s got some size, but he’s also got a skill-set. Early on, we had a hard time finding a spot that worked with him, we thought it would work with Elias (Lindholm) and Huby at the beginning of the year and it didn’t for whatever reason, so we moved him around and he spent some time in that fourth-line centre role before he got himself really going.

“He scored a goal on the road, I remember, and it kind of kickstarted him where he got one the next night again, and I don’t think he’s ever looked back from that. He’s starting to play with confidence on both sides of the puck, so now he knows he can be a difference-maker on any given night, and we’ve seen that on most nights. We’re really pleased with what he’s done."