Walker Duehr scored one goal and assisted Nazem Kadri’s third-period game-winning marker as the host Calgary Flames kept their flickering playoff hopes alive with a 5-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.
Tyler Toffoli scored twice and Mackenzie Weegar added a single for the Flames (33-26-15, 81 points), who are four points out of the playoff spot with eight games remaining. Goaltender Jacob Markstrom made 28 saves.
Logan Couture, Nico Sturm and Martin Kaut replied for the last-place Sharks (19-39-15, 53 points), who are winless in nine games and have one victory in 15 outings. Goalie Kaapo Kahkonen stopped 25 shots.
San Jose’s Erik Karlsson collected two assists and now has 90 points in his quest to become only the sixth defenseman to reach 100 points in a season and first since 1991-92.
With the score tied 3-3 in a back-and-forth affair, Kadri broke it open with his second goal in as many games and 23rd of the season at 5:45 of the final frame. Duehr created a couple of scoring chances that ended with Kadri’s tap-in tally on a rebound.
Toffoli added an empty netter, his 31st of the season to match a career high, to round out the scoring in a game the Flames blew a 2-0 lead and then required a comeback.
Weegar opened the scoring at the 4:09 mark when he buried a top-corner shot for his fourth goal of the season, and Toffoli doubled the lead three minutes later when he buried a sharp-angled shot after a slick pass from Elias Lindholm.
The Sharks replied in a big way. Couture, whose team needed more than 10 minutes to record a shot on goal, made it a 2-1 game at 14:25 when Karlsson sent a pass that he buried as he slid into the cage for his 25th of the campaign.
Sturm equaled the score at 4:52 of the second period when he crashed to the net at the perfect time to redirect Noah Gregor’s pass for his 14th of the season. Then Kaut tied the score 22 seconds later when he was on the spot after Steven Lorentz’s shot rang off the post and deposited his third of the season into the open net.
But Duehr replied with a clutch goal 25 seconds after his team fell behind when he forced a turnover and then one-timed the pass from Trevor Lewis for his fifth of the season.
–Field Level Media
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