The Calgary Flames had to embrace their inner BTO and take care of business themselves against the San Jose Sharks on Sunday night. After the Sharks came back to win against the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday night, the Flames needed a victory in any matter to clinch both the Pacific Division and Western Conference. Spoiler alert if you live under rocks or already read the title.

The Flame iced the same lineup as Friday night’s destruction of the Ducks, including Mike Smith taking the net. The Sharks would counter with Airdrie’s own Aaron Dell.

The Sharks struck first on the score sheet with Timo Meier scoring his 30th goal of the season. The Sharks completely controlled play during the opening half of the period, and were finally able to break through to score. The Flames would not let that lead last long, as Johnny Gaudreau connected with Sean Monahan for his 34th goal of the season to tie the game at one.

This was where the Flames took over. Only 31 seconds later, Mark Jankowski netted his 12th goal of the season from a James Neal assist. 44 seconds after that, Dalton Prout would put on his Mark Giordano hat and emulate the captain, finishing off an absolute beauty to give the Flames a 3-1 lead. All of a sudden it was all Flames heading into the second period.

In that frame, Mikael Backlund got a lucky bounce off of a Sharks defender to net his 21st goal of the season. Outside of that, the second period wasn’t quite as eventful. The Flames held the 4-1 lead, twenty minutes away from clinching.

The third would provide a few more goals from both teams. The Sharks got goals from Logan Couture and Kevin Labanc, offset by a Michael Frolik marker in between. With a few key Sharks penalties coming in the final frame, the Flames had this contest wrapped up.

With the final sound of the horn, the Flames officially clinched the Western Conference and the Pacific Division with a 5-3 win over the Sharks.

YOU CAN PUT IT IN THE WIN COLUMN! THE CALGARY #FLAMES ARE YOUR 2019 REGULAR SEASON WESTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS! pic.twitter.com/mGI9l3lOyd — The Win Column (@wincolumnblog) April 1, 2019

Statistical Breakdown

Team Stats



All Situations 5v5 SVA 5v5 CF 53.9% 49.4% 55.4% SCF 59.3% 58.5% 64.1% HDCF 54.5% 62.5% 68.2%

5v5 Player Stats

Calgary Flames

Garnet Hathaway posted a team high CF% of 72.7%

Although he had a physical presence and earned a point streak, Neal posted a game-worst CF% of 29.4%

Monahan accounted for 3 individual HDCF

San Jose Sharks

Discount Gaudreau, aka Barclay Goodrow, posted a game high CF% of 81.8%

Joakim Ryan had a tough game. Costly penalties, a goal deflecting off his skate, and a team-worst CF% of 31.0%

Joonas Donskoi was on the ice for 5 HDCA, but 0 HDCF

Stats courtesy: Natural Stat Trick

Line Combinations

Calgary Flames

Gaudreau – Monahan – Lindholm

Tkachuk – Backlund – Frolik

Czarik – Jankowski – Neal

Hathaway – Ryan – Mangiapane

Giordano – Andersson

Hanifin – Hamonic

Prout – Brodie

Smith

Rittich

San Jose Sharks

Meier – Couture – Nyquist

Kane – Hertl – Donskoi

Sorensen – Thornton – Labanc

Gambrell – Goodrow – Haley



Vlasic – Burns

Dillon – Braun

Ryan – Heed

Dell

Jones

Stats courtesy: DailyFaceoff

Thoughts on the Game

What a game, what a season.

Although we knew it was inevitable after the Sharks’ losing streak, it is still amazing to officially see the Flames finish at the top of their division and conference. It’s been a wild season, and they deserve to celebrate, but now the real work starts.

There wasn’t really a weak spot in the Flames’ game last night, besides perhaps the power play. All four lines played extremely well, with all of them having their moments to shine.

A special shoutout to Neal, who had a very impressive game. He played extremely physical, and that was something that threw off the Sharks. In the final frame, the Sharks were going after Neal constantly, while Neal just stuck to his game plan. Adding in an assist, Neal could be finally returning to form.

Have to touch on Prout’s game last night. Let’s start off by saying how amazing his goal was. Like out-of-this-world amazing. That being said, two Sharks goals came off of his mistakes. One being a bad turnover, the other being a bit of a defensive miscommunication.

Sure it’s fun to see him get the highlight reel goal, but he was a defensive liability that can’t be there during the playoffs. Oscar Fantenberg, Oliver Kylington, and the recently recalled Juuso Valimaki would be superior options. But it’s worth repeating, Prout’s first goal as a Flame was a thing of beauty.

The Gaud, the Bad, and the Beautiful

Good: Three goals in 1:15 in the first period really put this game out of reach for the Sharks.

Bad: The Flames got a ton of help from the referees last night, but went 0/6 on the man-advantage. The old power play units came out, but there was no success. They need to figure this out soon.

Beautiful: The Flames got goals from all four lines last night. If that isn’t teamwork, I don’t know what is.

OH YEAH AND THE FLAMES CLINCHED THE DIVISION AND CONFERENCE

Next Game

Opponent: Lo Angeles Kings

Record: 29-40-9

Standings: 8th in Pacific

Season Series: 2-1-0



Photo by Brandon Magnus/NHLI via Getty Images