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Sharks edge Flames, push winning streak to five games

Apr 6, 2007 - 8:39 AM SAN JOSE, California (Ticker) -- Joe Thornton joined some impressive company.

Thornton had two assists and Milan Michalek and Mark Bell each scored goals in the second period as the San Jose Sharks posted a 4-3 victory over the Calgary Flames.

Thornton joined future Hall of Famers Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux as the only players in NHL history to have registered back-to-back 90-assist seasons.

"It is flattering," Thornton said. "You don't think about getting 90 assists per year and it just sort of comes and you have to play with the right people but it is obviously flattering to be mentioned with those guys."

"That is phenomenal," Sharks coach Ron Wilson said. "Joe is in rarified air and I hope Joe appreciates it. That is unbelievable, to throw up 90 again is unbelievable, so bravo for Joe."

Evgeni Nabokov recorded 29 stops for the Sharks, who have won five games in a row to establish a franchise record with 106 points.

Michalek and Bell opened the scoring when they tallied within 1:40 of each other past Flames goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff, who had 38 saves.

In the third period, Mike Grier and Jonathan Cheechoo gave San Jose another boost when they both tallied to extend the lead to 4-1. Cheechoo has 11 goals in his last eight outings.

All-Star Jarome Iginla tried his best to help Calgary rally in the final period with two goals. He also added an assist in the second stanza when Kristian Huselius tallied his 34th this season.

The Flames missed a chance to clinch the final playoff spot in the Western Conference when Colorado posted a 3-1 victory over Vancouver earlier Thursday.

Calgary (43-27-10) holds a three-point edge over Colorado (43-30-7) for the eighth and final spot in the Western Conference with two games remaining. The Flames face struggling Edmonton on Saturday before traveling to the Avalanche on Sunday.

"I absolutely believe in the 20 guys in this room," Iginla said. "A while back, we were in a pretty tough position. We came out and we played some of our best hockey of the year.

"We think we are going to do good things this year; we don't want to wait for anybody to lose. We want to get ourselves in by winning. Unfortunately, we didn't do it in these two games, and now we have a chance to do it at home."