Huberdeau scores 2 goals, Flames edge Sharks

SAN JOSE -- Jonathan Huberdeau scored twice to help the Calgary Flames defeat the San Jose Sharks 3-1 at SAP Center on Saturday night.

"Good bounce. I think the first one was a good tip," Huberdeau said. "I am just playing my game, and it is going in right now, so hopefully it keeps going."

Nazem Kadri had two assists, and Mikael Backlund scored for the Flames (17-11-7), who have won three of their past five games. Dustin Wolf made 21 saves.

"It was a close game tonight. I liked our game tonight," Flames coach Ryan Huska said. "I thought we played a solid 50 minutes, and at the end, to be expected, they pushed, and we got the saves we needed."

Macklin Celebrini scored for the Sharks (11-22-6), and Yaroslav Askarov made 30 saves. San Jose has lost seven straight and is 1-9-1 in its past 11 games.

"[We] just couldn't get into the game early in the first," Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. "[Our] puck play, [we were] soft in front of our net, and then we got to going there in the third, but it's too late."

Huberdeau put the Flames up 1-0 at 4:40 of the first period by deflecting MacKenzie Weegar's slap shot from the right point.

Celebrini tied the game 1-1 for the Sharks at 3:04 of the second period with a power-play goal. Alexander Wennberg made a pass from the left wing across the ice to Celebrini for a one-timer into an open net.

"Trailing at the start of the game, it's not easy," Celebrini said. "I thought overall, we did a lot of really good things, and we had a lot of chances that could have gone in on a different night."

Backlund put the Flames back in front 2-1 with a power-play goal at 6:50. Kadri's shot from the right face-off circle hit Askarov's pad and bounced to the right for Backlund to beat Askarov through the five-hole.

"I thought our effort was there and we played with some pace," Backlund said. "Coming out of the break, it was a big effort all the way to the end."

Huberdeau tapped in the empty net goal at 19:59 of the third period for the 3-1 final.

NOTES: Celebrini, the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, leads all NHL rookies with 12 goals and is tied for first with Matvei Michkov of the Philadelphia Flyers with 27 points. ... Wolf, born in Gilroy, approximately 30 miles from San Jose, earned his 19th career win to tie Collin Delia for the second most by a California-born goaltender in NHL history. Wolf earned his 11th victory of the season to extend his League lead for most among rookie goaltenders. ... Forward Carl Grundstrum left the game in the first period for the Sharks after taking a big hit from Brayden Pachal. Warsofsky did not have an update postgame. ... Klim Kostin returned to the Sharks lineup after missing the previous six games. ... William Eklund missed his second straight game with an upper-body injury. Jake Walman missed his third straight game with a lower-body injury.