Sharks get revenge on Flames with 5-2 victory

CALGARY, Alberta — The much-anticipated rematch featured more talk and little action. Only this time, the Sharks did all the talking, getting their revenge on the Calgary Flames with their play instead of their words and fists.

The much-anticipated rematch featured more talk and little action. Only this time, the Sharks did all the talking, getting their revenge on the Calgary Flames with their play instead of their words and fists.

The Sharks and Flames seemed poised for another battle royale in Calgary on Thursday, a continuation of the fisticuffs that dominated their last meeting on Dec. 31 when the clubs combined for 64 penalty minutes in the game’s final 41 seconds. Instead, the Pacific Division rivals kept it peaceful and the Sharks emerged with a 5-2 win.

Evander Kane, who chastised the Flames after the last bout for declining to back up their “talk” with “action,” scored two goals in the winning effort.

With the win, the Sharks pulled to within two points of the Flames for first place in the Pacific Division, an appropriate reward for the discipline they showed in not trying to avenge Sam Bennett’s questionable hit on Radim Simek that sidelined the defenseman for two games with a concussion. Joe Pavelski called the hit “predatory.”

After the Flames took a 1-0 lead off a redirection from Mark Jankowski, the Sharks scored three unanswered first period goals. A significant character from the drama on New Year’s Eve played a hand in each goal.

Kane, who got tossed on Dec. 31 for jumping agitator Matthew Tkachuk, got the Sharks on the board at 12:39. He scored his 22nd by spinning and firing the puck past goalie David Rittich after he received a stretch pass through the neutral zone that Joe Thornton banked off the side boards.

With the assist, Thornton reached another significant milestone, recording his 1,000th point with the Sharks. He now trails Patrick Marleau by 82 points for first place on the Sharks all-time scoring list. Brent Burns also earned a point on the play.

Burns picked up his second point of the night just 1:03 later, stripping the puck from Bennett and then blocking Rittich’s clearing attempt after he left his crease to chase it down. The Sharks defenseman then shot the puck into an empty net for his 11th goal. Bennett, the villain in the Dec. 31 game, failed to protect the puck along the boards, setting the stage for Burns’ takeaway and eventual goal.

Simek got personal revenge on the Sharks third goal, firing the shot that Tomas Hertl redirected for his 23rd goal, giving the Sharks a 3-1 lead at the 14:04 mark. Joonas Donskoi snagged the secondary assist on the goal.

Kane scored his second at 16:27 of the second, firing in the rebound of his own shot after Donskoi fed him a pass in the slot. Hertl collected his second point of the night by grabbing the secondary assist.

The Flames cut the lead in half 1:15 later when T.J. Brodie scored with a shot from the point that bounced in off Sharks defenseman Justin Braun.

Martin Jones played a key role in the win, making 36 saves on 38 shots, including a brilliant toe stop on a Johnny Gaudreau wraparound attempt in the second.