Joonas Donskoi scores twice in Sharks win

SAN JOSE -- San Jose Sharks forward Joonas Donskoi had gone 22 straight games without a goal entering their game against the Calgary Flames at SAP Center on Tuesday.
He scored twice in 1:56 in the second period to lift San Jose to a 4-1 victory.
"It felt great," Donskoi said. "That's a long time ago since I scored the last time. I didn't even remember how good it feels. So it was great to get those goals."

WATCH: All Flames vs. Sharks highlights
Playing in his 108th NHL regular-season game, it was the 24-year-old's first with two goals. He also scored twice when the Sharks clinched a victory against the Los Angeles Kings in the 2016 Western Conference First Round with a 6-3 win in Game 5.
Patrick Marleau and defenseman Paul Martin also scored in the second period for the Sharks (20-12-1), who have won five of their past six games. Martin Jones made 20 saves.
"He's such a good player," Martin said of Donskoi. "It's only a matter of time he gets his opportunity. He works so hard. Sometimes he just has to put it to the net and good things happen."

Sharks center Joe Thornton, who became the 37th player in NHL history to play at least 1,400 games, had two assists.
Sam Bennett scored in the third period for Calgary (17-16-2). Chad Johnson gave up four goals on 34 shots, losing his third straight start.
The Flames, coming off a 4-2 victory against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on Monday, lost for the third time in their past four games.
"It was a tough game all the way around," Johnson said. "We didn't start the way we wanted to. We took some penalties. In the second period, they came at us and they made plays, got deflections. They're tenacious around the net."
Marleau gave San Jose a 1-0 lead at 5:35 of the second period with his ninth goal, beating Johnson with a backhand near the crease.

Martin extended the Sharks lead to 2-0 at 9:18 when his shot from above the left faceoff circle bounced through traffic and past Johnson.
Thornton had an assist on each of San Jose's first two goals.
"We just got stronger," Thornton said. "We knew they played last night, so I think we just got stronger as the game went on, and you could just see we kind of wore them down."
Donskoi made it 3-0 at 14:23, scoring from the bottom of the left faceoff circle. Then at 16:19, Donskoi scored his fourth of the season to put San Jose ahead 4-0, this time an unassisted goal from the low slot after intercepting Mikael Backlund's attempted clearing pass.
Bennett scored at 1:19 of the third period to make it 4-1, taking a pass from Matthew Tkachuk and beating Jones from the slot.

Goal of the game

Donskoi beat Johnson with a high snap shot into the left corner of the net for his first goal. Tommy Wingels shot wide right of the crease, tracked down the puck behind the net and sent a pass to Donskoi, who was wide open in the left circle.

Save of the game

Forward Sean Monahan had a good chance to capitalize on a Sharks turnover and put the Flames ahead in the first period, but Jones made a blocker save on his snap shot from the slot at 14:52.

Unsung performance of the game

Though it did so in a loss, the Calgary penalty kill was 5-for-5 after going 5-for-5 against Arizona on Monday and has killed 11 straight penalties over three games.

Highlight of the game

Marleau scored after Flames defenseman Mark Giordano blocked Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic's shot from the point. Marleau quickly got to the loose puck and beat a sprawled Johnson with a backhand.

They said it

"You get the one goal and it kind of gets you going a little bit. Everything feels easier. I don't know why, but something opens up mentally maybe. I hope I'll get more." -- Sharks forward Joonas Donskoi on his second goal
"Our start wasn't good. They were all over us. In the second, we came out flat again. They were doing everything we should have been doing. They were getting pucks deep. They were not turning it over, and we really didn't do any of that tonight." -- Flames forward Sam Bennett

Need to know

Marleau's goal was the 490th of his NHL career, moving him into a tie for 47th with Norm Ullman on the League's all-time list. … Sharks forward Joel Ward was a healthy scratch for the second time in three games, and defenseman David Schlemko was a healthy scratch for the first time this season. ... Flames forward Lance Bouma returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch Monday.

What's next

Flames:Host the Vancouver Canucks on Friday (9 p.m. ET; SNW, SNP, NHL.TV)
Sharks: Host the Edmonton Oilers on Friday (10:30 p.m. ET; CSN-CA, SNOL, NHL.TV)