The Calgary Flames (36-27-13, fourth in the Pacific
Division, four points away from the second wild-card spot) will travel to the
Bay Area to play the San Jose Sharks (20-46-10, last in the Pacific Division, 23.1%
to win first overall pick).

This will be the third of four meetings between the two
teams. Calgary won both previous matchups.

Despite being dominated offensively by the Golden Knights, the
Flames came away with one point thanks to a First-Star performance by goalie
Dustin Wolf. Calgary will now face off against a San Jose team that was the
first team eliminated from play-off contention, and are favorites to pick up
the first overall pick for the second year in a row. But this team consists of
exciting and talented first rounders like William Eklund, Will Smith
and rookie of the year favorite Macklin Celebrini, alongside veterans like
Alexander Wennberg and Tyler Toffoli. They are certainly not a bunch to take casually.

But for Calgary, with Vancouver and Utah hot on their tails
in the standings, a win will keep their playoff hopes alive as they trail the
current second wild-card spot holders Minnesota by four points. It goes
without saying: this game is a MUST WIN.

HEAD 2 HEAD

Based on both prior games this season, the Calgary Flames
have the fifth-best save percentage against the San Jose Sharks at even-strength
situations. It is expected that Wolf will make his fourth consecutive
start in net. This should be a relatively easier night compared to Saturday, as
the San Jose offense have belted just 25.5 shots on goal against the Wolf (who was goaltender
in both previous games), which is 18th against any team by San Jose this
season.

 In 4-on-5 penalty
kill situations, the Flames are 4-for-5 against the Sharks. After going 2-for-2
in the PK against the Knights, along with a string of good performances highlighted
in this article, I have no doubt the PK unit will continue their great form in
this upcoming game. It also helps that the Sharks power play is the sixth-worst
in the league.  Still, it’s probably best
not take a hungry young team, one with the Calder Trophy front-runner, lightly
considering their power play percentage of 20.0 against Calgary is a modest 16th
amongst all teams.

On the offensive end, the Flames have enjoyed showering Sharks
goalies with shots on goal, putting up 34.5 per game, the third-most against any team.

However, the Flames powerplay unit has gone 2-for-9 on the
man-advantage against San Jose.

After Saturday’s embarrassing powerplay showing, Calgary needs
a comeback, and an emphatic one at that.

TALE OF THE TAPE (SKATERS) 

TALE OF THE TAPE (GOALIES)

PLAYOFF ODDS

As San Jose has been eliminated from playoff contention, this
game has no impact on the Sharks’ playoff odds.

For the Flames, the playoff odds are as follows depending on the outcome of the game:

The Calgary Flames take on the San Jose Sharks at the SAP Center in San Jose tonight at 8:30 MDT/10:30 EDT

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