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Sharks downed by Flames, suffer fifth straight home loss

Jan 4, 2008 - 10:21 AM By Ryan Leong PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

SAN JOSE, California (Ticker) -- The San Jose Sharks can't seem to take advantage of their home ice.

Jarome Iginla scored two goals, including the game-winner in overtime, as the Calgary Flames skated away with a 3-2 victory over the Sharks on Thursday night.

Despite winning 10 straight on the road, the Sharks have struggled at HP Pavilion, dropping five in a row to fall to 6-9-4 at home this season.

"Everyone has been talking about it, but we really don't have the answers," Sharks rookie center Torrey Mitchell said. "On the road, we are a little more patient and we keep things a little more simple.

"At home, we were trying to do that tonight, but we made some mistakes. We were working hard, and unfortunately in overtime, we lost."

Daymond Langkow recorded two assists for the Flames, who have won four straight.

"It really was (a big win)," Calgary coach Mike Keenan said. "I'm proud of the team and the way we had some resilience. They were coming hard at us all night. We had to kill off five power plays, and we got four of them done. It was a very intense atmosphere on ice level tonight."

"As a team, we're improving and finding ways to win close games," Iginla added. "Earlier in the year, we weren't finding ways. We were getting into third periods and we were losing those tight games, and now we're having confidence that when we're in a tight game, that we can find a way to win it somehow."

Iginla lifted the Flames to victory at 3:26 of overtime, when he took control of the puck in front of the net and flipped it past goaltender Evgeni Nabokov for the game-winner. The goal capped the Calgary captain's third two-goal effort in the last four games.

"The OT goal was kind of a scramble in front," Iginla said. "Dion (Phaneuf) caused a lot of havoc at the side of the net and (the puck) just popped out. ... We'll take the win, for sure."

With the pair of tallies, Iginla - who leads the Western Conference with 31 - eclipsed the 30-goal plateau for the seventh straight season. The 30-year-old also has six goals and three assists in his last four games against San Jose.

Calgary opened the scoring early in the first period.

The Flames caught the Sharks in a line change and moved into the offensive zone on a 2-on-1 rush. Alex Tanguay took a shot from the right faceoff circle that sneaked between Nabokov's pads, giving Calgary a 1-0 lead exactly one minute into the contest.

The Sharks answered quickly, taking advantage of a hooking penalty by Matthew Lombardi.

Jeremy Roenick fed Christian Ehrhoff at the high slot on the power play. The defenseman ripped a slap shot that was stopped by former Sharks netminder Miikka Kiprusoff, but Mitchell was there to bury the rebound at 4:03.

"I was in the right place at the right time," Mitchell said. "We had a good forecheck and (Roenick) found Christian, and Christian put a good shot on net. I got a lucky rebound."

Despite being whistled for three penalties in the opening period, Calgary ended the session with the a 2-1 lead when Kristian Huselius took control of the puck and skated in on a breakaway.

Although Huselius was dragged down to the ice, he was able to get the puck to Langkow. The Flames center the dropped a pass to Iginla, who threaded the needle by poking the puck between the legs of Marcel Goc and past the right side of Nabokov to give Calgary a one-goal advantage.

San Jose evened the game at 2-2 at 13:54 of the second period. Langkow was attempting to clear his own zone when he was checked into the boards by Roenick.

The puck trickled to defenseman Craig Rivet, who took a blast from the point. Curtis Brown fell to the ice in front of Kiprusoff, screening the goalie, and the puck found the back of the net.

Despite scoring his third goal of the season, Rivet was disappointed with the end result.

"The mistakes killed us tonight," he said. "The third goal, we definitely could have been better on that last one, that's for sure. We'll take a positive out of this by getting a point, but I think we're going to continue to work hard and get better here."