Monahan has five assists for Flames in win against Sharks

CALGARY-- Sean Monahan had five assists for the Calgary Flames in an 8-5 win against the San Jose Sharks at Scotiabank Saddledome on Monday.

"It's a long year, and anytime you play a rival like that it's an important game," Monahan said. "Tonight was exactly that."
Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk each had two goals and two assists for the Flames (24-12-4), who remained in first place in the Pacific Division. David Rittich made 28 saves.
WATCH: [All Sharks vs. Flames highlights]
"Big night for us," Gaudreau said. "Happy with the way our team played. It was going back and forth for a while there but we found a way to take it over in the third."
Joonas Donskoi scored twice, and Aaron Dell made 19 saves for the Sharks (21-13-7).
"We'll take a little bit to think about it, I think," San Jose forward Evander Kane said. "I think there's some things we can learn from, not just with the score or our play but as a team growing."

Mikael Backlund scored on the first shot at 1:10 of the first period to give Calgary a 1-0 lead. Lukas Radil tied it 1-1 at 6:53.
Backlund scored his second at 10:55 to make it 2-1, and Tkachuk scored on the power play with 2:36 left to push the lead to 3-1.
"I mean, that might've been the most bad luck I've seen in one game," Dell said. "Even their harmless shots ended up going off stuff and right in the net. Crazy all-around game."
Brent Burns scored on a one-timer on the power play to get the Sharks within 3-2 at 3:55 of the second period. Tkachuk made it 4-2 at 10:47.
Sam Bennett scored for the Flames at 16:06, but the Sharks successfully challenged for goalie interference.
Donskoi scored 2:16 later to make it 4-3, and Gaudreau set up Elias Lindholm on a 2-on-1 to make it 5-3 with 27 seconds left in the second. Lindholm's 18th goal of the season is his NHL career high.
Donskoi scored his second 48 seconds into the third period to get San Jose within 5-4.
James Neal scored his first goal since Nov. 1 (25 games) 2:12 later to put Calgary up 6-4. It was his fourth of the season.

"We score early and it's a one-goal game and it's exactly the start we wanted to the period," Kane said. "Too many turnovers, too many careless plays with the puck. Not making the hard play, especially in that third period. They got some lucky bounces to extend the lead. But we can't give up eight goals and expect to win."
Gaudreau scored his 20th of the season to make it 7-4 at 5:48, and again at 6:29 to extend the lead to 8-4.
Joe Thornton scored on the power play to make it 8-5 at 13:15.
"It was nice to have the lead most of the game," Gaudreau said. "It's a lot easier to play with the lead rather than trying to come back in the third like we have a few times this year."

They said it

"It was a tight game and then in the third it exploded. I'm impressed by the team. We found ways to score goals. Our first line is contributing and was driving the bus, but a lot of guys chipped in today and that was big for the team too." -- Flames forward Mikael Backlund

"Every time we scored they answered. Pucks were just finding ways in the net. It was one of those weird nights where everything that was kind of directed at the net found the way in. They made a couple nice plays along the way, but a lot of tips and pucks in the air finding ways in." -- Sharks captain Joe Pavelski

Need to know

Gaudreau has 10 points (six goals, four assists) in his past five games, and 35 points (15 goals, 20 assists) in his past 20 games. ... Monahan has 22 points (eight goals, 14 assists) in his past 15 games. ... Lindholm scored 17 goals in 2014-15 for the Carolina Hurricanes. ... Frolik had two assists to surpass 200 in the NHL in his 751st game. ... Thornton passed Brendan Shanahan for 17th in NHL games played (1,525). ... Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson has 16 points (one goal, 15 assists) in his 10-game point streak. ... Sharks forward Tomas Hertl has six points (four goals, two assists) in a four-game point streak.

What's next

Sharks: At the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday (9:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN)
Flames: At the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; FS-D, SNW, NHL.TV)