Toffoli scores twice as Flames defeat Sharks to continue playoff push | CBC Sports
Tyler Toffoli scored two goals and the Calgary Flames kept their playoff hopes alive with a big 5-3 win over the visiting San Jose Sharks on Saturday.
MacKenzie Weegar, Walker Duehr and Nazem Kadri added the others for Calgary (33-26-15), which won for just the second time in its last nine games at the Saddledome (2-5-2).
With the victory, the Flames climbed back to within four points of the Winnipeg Jets, who occupy the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
Logan Couture, Nico Sturm and Martin Kaut replied for San Jose (19-39-15), which had its winless skid extended to nine games (0-6-3). Kaapo Kahkonen had 25 stops.
Erik Karlsson’s two assists helped him reach 68 on the year to surpass his previous career-high of 66 in 2015-16 and break the Sharks record for helpers by a defenceman. Brent Burns previously held it with 67 in 2018-19.
Tied at 3-3, Kadri scored the go-ahead goal 5:45 into the third period. He banged in a rebound from the side of the net after Kahkonen stopped Milan Lucic and Duehr. It was Kadri’s second goal in as many games after a 16-game goal drought.
It’s him. <a href=”https://t.co/ISyhGGUJoB”>pic.twitter.com/ISyhGGUJoB</a>
—@NHLFlames
Toffoli put the game away scoring his team-leading 31st of the season into an empty-net with 1:10 remaining.
The Flames saw their 2-1 lead entering the second period disappear after surrendering two goals from the visitors.
Sturm drove hard to the net, got his outstretched stick on the end of a hard centring pass from Noah Gregor and neatly deflected it in at 4:52.
Twenty-two seconds later, Steven Lorentz ripped a shot off the goalpost and Kaut knocked in the rebound, getting just enough on the puck to get it under the sliding Markstrom.
The Flames opened the game with a bang, grabbing a 2-0 lead before the Sharks even got a shot on net.
Weegar got things going at 4:09 when a puck deflected off a Sharks stick into the slot and he fired it inside the goalpost.
Toffoli doubled the lead at 7:13, finishing off a pretty tick-tack-toe passing sequence with Jonathan Huberdeau and Elias Lindholm.
Mikael Backlund played in his 900th career game Saturday. A first-round pick by the Flames in 2007, the 34-year-old centre is third on the franchise’s all-time games played list behind Jarome Iginla (1,219) and Mark Giordano (949).
Both teams are back in action on Tuesday.
The Flames conclude their home stand against the Kings, while the Sharks return home to play host to Winnipeg.
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