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Sharks aim to stay hot against visiting Flames

Jan 20, 2014 - 4:24 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - After going 3-0 on a recent road trip, the San Jose Sharks will try to stay hot when they begin a four-game homestand in Monday's clash against the Calgary Flames.

San Jose turned in a perfect three-game swing by recording wins at Washington, Florida and Tampa Bay. The successful trek pushed the Sharks' road record this season to 15-10-3, which still pales in comparison to the club's stellar 16-2-3 mark at the SAP Center.

The Sharks earned a win in the finale of their swing on Saturday despite allowing Tampa Bay forward Martin St. Louis to score four times. Thankfully for San Jose, no other Lightning player was able to score as the Sharks picked up a 5-4 regulation victory at Tampa Bay Times Forum.

San Jose's Joe Pavelski had the game's final three goals, all coming in the second period. He scored 21 seconds apart before he was credited with a deflection with one minute remaining, giving him the first hat trick of his career.

"It was a sloppy game. A lot of turnovers that created a lot of skating up and down for no reason. It got better in the third, but after talking about it for two periods I hope it would have been better," said Sharks coach Todd McLellan.

Patrick Marleau posted a goal and two assists for San Jose. Antti Niemi made 25 saves, including six in the third period to preserve the Sharks' one-goal lead.

Calgary, meanwhile, has lost three straight, six of seven and 10 of its last 12 games. The Flames did pick up a point in Saturday's 3-2 shootout loss at Vancouver, although the game will be best remembered for what happened in the first period.

Chris Higgins netted the winner in the fifth round of the shootout for Vancouver, a quiet ending to a contentious contest which featured more than 200 minutes in penalties.

Two seconds after the drop of the puck, Calgary's Kevin Westgarth engaged Vancouver defenseman Kevin Bieksa at center ice, and eventually all 10 skaters paired off in a line brawl. Both head coaches also argued with each other from their perches on the bench. When order was restored, all 10 players were given misconducts -- eight of which forced combatants off the ice for the remainder of the game.

There were 150 penalty minutes assessed to both sides (81 to the visitors, 69 to the hosts) by the time the contest was 4 1/2 minutes old, owing to a second minor scrum a short time later.

At intermission, Canucks head coach John Tortorella attempted to reach the Flames' locker room, but Calgary players and Vancouver staff restrained him. It is expected that Tortorella will receive supplemental discipline from the NHL for his actions. He is scheduled to have an in-person disciplinary hearing with the league on Monday.

"Suddenly, I lifted my head and there he was," said Flames coach Bob Hartley of the bizarre incident involving Tortorella.

Mark Giordano and Matt Stajan scored for the Flames, and Karri Ramo also came up with 31 stops in a losing effort.

Calgary is 9-12-4 as the road club this season and has lost two straight and six of its last seven games in San Jose. The Sharks are 2-0 against the Flames so far in the 2013-14 season and have won three straight and four of the past five encounters.