The clock is winding down for the NHL regular season and while the San Jose Sharks don’t have much to play for, the visiting Calgary Flames have a lot on the line. The Flames are battling it out for a wild card spot in the Western Conference and while the odds of the team making it are dwindling, there’s still a chance.
As of this morning, the race is tight. With the Minnesota Wild winning last night, the Flames now need six points to catch up and take that number two spot. Eight points will help the Flames catch the St. Louis Blues, which currently hold the first wild card spot.
TeamPointsGames RemainingSt. Louis Blues934Minnesota Wild914Calgary Flames856Vancouver Canucks835Utah Hockey Club825
While the Flames would need a little help from the Wild, the Blues or both, the team still has a chance to catch up in the wild card race.
The Flames lost 3-2 in overtime to the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday night and are 6-2-2 in the team’s last ten games. Nazem Kadri leads the team with 60 points. He’s also tops with 31 goals. Jonathan Huberdeau is close behind in both categories. He’s second on the team with 58 points and 27 goals.
These two teams have played twice already this season. The Flames won 3-1 on Dec. 28, 2024 and also won 3-2 on Feb. 23. After tonight, the teams will play one more game on April 13 in Calgary.
Finally, expect to see some Dustin Wolf jerseys in the crowd tonight. The Gilroy native returns to the Bay Area one of the leading candidates for the Calder Trophy. Wolf is 25-16-7 this season with a 2.63 goals against average and .910 save percentage. While Wolf is hard-pressed to beat Lane Hutson in the Calder voting, he’s sure to garner plenty of votes and will likely be one of the three finalists for the award.
According to San Jose Hockey Now’s Sheng Peng, Tyler Toffoli is injured, which means that Nikolai Kovalenko won’t just be back in the lineup, but he’ll play along side Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith.
Georgi Romanov earned a start after coming into the game on Saturday night in relief of Alexander Georgiev.
Forwards
Nikolai Kovalenko — Macklin Celebrini — Will SmithWilliam Eklund — Alexander Wennberg — Collin GrafNoah Gregor — Ty Dellandrea — Cam Lund
Barclay Goodrow — Zack Ostapchuk — Carl Grundstrom
Defense
Mario Ferraro — Timothy LiljegrenLucas Carlsson — Jack Thompson
Marc-Edouard Vlasic — Henry Thrun
Goaltenders
Georgi Romanov
Alexandar Georgiev
ForwardsJonathan Huberdeau — Nazem Kadri — Martin PospisilYegor Sharangovich — Moragn Frost — Joel FarabeeBlake Coleman — Mikael Backlund — Matt Coronato
Ryan Lomberg — Kevin Rooney — Adam Klapka
DefenseKevin Bahl — Rasmus AnderssonJoel Hanley — MacKenzie Weegar
Jake Bean — Brayden Pachal
GoaltendersDustin Wolf
Dan Vladar
Sharks fans can see the game on NBC Sports California or listen on the Sharks Audio Network.
Flames fans can watch on Sportsnet One.
The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. PT/8:30 p.m. MT at SAP Center in San Jose.
