Sharks edge the Flames

Joonas Donskoi scored the winner late in third and had an assist to lead the San Jose Sharks to a 3-2 win over the Calgary Flames. Justin Braun began the sequence by knocking Johnny Gaudreau off the puck in the Sharks end, beginning a 3-on-2 rush up ice.

Eventually, Joe Thornton got a shot on net that Mike Smith stopped but the rebound was loose between his legs and was tapped in by Donskoi.

Chris Tierney and Timo Meier also had a goal and an assist each to round out the scoring for San Jose (17-10-3). The Sharks play again tonight in Vancouver.

Michael Frolik and Gaudreau scored for Calgary (16-13-3).

Trailing 2-1, the Flames tied it at 7:39 of the third period when Garnet Hathaway neatly set up Gaudreau on a 2-on-1 for his 13th goal.

It came after Glen Gulutzan had shaken up Calgary’s lines late in the second in an attempt to spark the offence, moving Gaudreau off the top unit and onto a line with Hathaway and rookie Mark Jankowski.

The Sharks had taken their first lead halfway through the second period on the power play.

Off a face-off win in the Flames end, the Sharks worked the puck back to Kevin Labanc. His long wrist shot was stopped by Smith, but Tierney whacked in the rebound.

Tierney’s eighth goal moves him into second on the team behind Logan Couture. In his fourth NHL season, the 23-year-old is closing in on his career high of 11 set last year.

Power plays were a key storyline in the game with the Sharks going 1for-3 while Calgary could not generate anything in going 0-for-3. That included squandering a 37 second two-man advantage early in the second period.

San Jose tied it when the line of Tierney, Donskoi and Meier combined on a nice goal.

Consecutive evasive spin moves off the side boards saw the puck get passed from Donskoi to Meier and then to Tierney, who took it to the net. The puck got knocked off his stick by Michael Stone but went right to Meier, who fired it past Smith.

Calgary opened the scoring 4:42 into the first period on a giveaway by Sharks defenceman Tim Heed.

Heed’s clearing attempt up the middle was picked off by Frolik, who took a few strides and whipped a shot through the pads of Aaron Dell.

Dell, who grew up in Airdrie, a Calgary suburb, made 32 stops to improve to 6-3-1.

Smith, who had 26 saves, falls to 13-10-3.