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Karri Ramo made 32 saves for his third career shutout and Jiri Hudler scored both goals to lead the Calgary Flames to a 2-0 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday night. |
Hudler broke a scoreless tie with a goal in the second and sealed the game with an empty-net goal on the power play late in the third as the Flames bounced back a night after losing 3-2 in Anaheim to win for just the second time in their past nine trips to San Jose.
Antti Niemi made 17 saves for the struggling Sharks, who have lost four straight. San Jose hasn’t led at any point during the skid, marking the first time since February 2013 that the Sharks have gone four straight games without a lead.
After playing a record 16 of their first 21 games on the road, the Sharks were hoping to find their stride on a six-game homestand. But they have lost the first three games in that stretch and have just two wins in eight games at the Shark Tank this season.
Ramo did his best to extend the Sharks’ misery, beating them for the third straight time. He has allowed just two goals on 94 shots in that span. He was tested a bit in the third, but Patrick Marleau couldn’t get a puck past him from the side of the net and Ramo stopped Joe Thornton on a rebound chance.
The Sharks had chances to get on the board early in the second, but Marleau hit the crossbar during a power play.
The Flames then got on the board late in the period during 4-on-4 action, taking advantage of a tired group of Sharks at the end of a long shift. Hudler started the play by taking the puck into the offensive zone and then left it for TJ Brodie. Brodie then sent it back to the slot for Hudler, who completed the pretty give-and-go with a wrist shot past Niemi to make it 1-0.
Ramo preserved the lead late in the period with a strong glove save against Tommy Wingels.
The Flames had a couple of prime scoring chances early, but Niemi robbed Johnny Gaudreau at the side of the net after a wild scramble in the opening minute and then stopped Paul Byron after a turnover by James Sheppard later in a scoreless first period.
Some of the biggest excitement was generated by a group of Edmonton Oilers fans sitting at ice level who had junior hockey star Connor McDavid’s name taped on the backs of their jerseys. They alternated cheers for the Sharks with derogatory chants about the rival Flames.
