Flames rally past Sharks with 3 in 3rd, gain in West wild card

SAN JOSE -- Dustin Wolf made 29 saves, and the Calgary Flames rallied past the San Jose Sharks for a 3-2 win at SAP Center on Monday.

Calgary moved to within four points of the Minnesota Wild for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference with a game in hand.

Adam Klapka, Jonathan Huberdeau and Matt Coronato scored in the third period for the Flames (37-27-13), who are 3-1-1 in their past five games.

"There's been a number of nights in a row where our starts haven't been good enough," Calgary coach Ryan Huska said. "Dustin was the reason why we were in that game."

Will Smith scored twice, and Georgi Romanov made 29 saves for the Sharks (20-47-10), who have lost six in a row. Macklin Celebrini had two assists to set the Sharks rookie record with 36, passing Pat Falloon (34 in 1991-92).

"I thought we did some good things defensively," San Jose coach Ryan Warsofsky said. "[We] took away time and space, killed some plays, which we've talked a lot about. I really liked our first [period]. Wolf made some good saves."

Smith gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead at 19:35 of the first period. Nikolai Kovalenko found a loose puck behind the net and fed Smith at the top of the crease, where his shot beat Wolf five-hole.

"I can say it was perfectly open. I like the spot behind the net," Kovalenko said. "It was an easy pass."

Klapka tied the game 1-1 at 8:12 of the third period, tapping in a rebound after Nazem Kadri's shot on a 2-on-1 defelcted to him to the left of Romanov.

"We just tried to play a simple game. Put the puck deep and get the puck to the net," Klapka said.

Huberdeau put the Flames ahead 2-1 with a power-play goal at 11:00, deflecting Morgan Frost’s shot from the left circle.

"I just got to shoot it, and better things are going to happen," Frost said. "I just tried to shoot it on the net."

Coronato made it 3-1 at 15:30, scoring on a snap shot after a turnover by Alexander Wennberg.

Smith scored his second of the game during a power play at 18:00 to make it 3-2. Timothy Liljegren's slap shot from the point caromed off the end boards to Smith, who beat Wolf glove side at the right of the net.

NOTES: Calgary earned its ninth third-period comeback victory this season, which is second in the NHL behind only the Montreal Canadiens (10). ... Celebrini has 57 points (21 goals, 36 assists), the second-most in a season by a Sharks rookie, behind Falloon (59 in 1991-92).