Calgary @ San Jose preview
SAP Center at San Jose
Last Meeting ( Sep 26, 2019 ) Calgary 1, San Jose 4
Patrick Marleau made his triumphant return to the San Jose Sharks earlier in the week and the 40-year-old makes his season debut at home on Sunday, when the team hosts the Calgary Flames. Marleau, who signed a one-year, $700,000 contract on Wednesday after spending the last two campaigns with Toronto, scored twice the following night as the Sharks snapped their season-opening four-game losing streak with a 5-4 win at Chicago.
San Jose's Joe Thornton told reporters adding Marleau was the boost the team needed as the veteran brings franchise-record totals of 510 goals, 1,084 points and 1,494 games into Sunday’s contest. “What can you say about an athlete like that?” Sharks coach Peter DeBoer told reporters of Marleau. “No training camp, no exhibition games, and show up and play like that, and give us a boost at a critical time. That’s why he is the player he is.” The Flames have alternated wins and losses through their first five contests after falling 6-2 at Vegas on Saturday despite registering a 35-30 advantage in shots and drawing four power plays. “We didn’t play hard enough,” Calgary coach Bill Peters said during a television interview after the loss. “(Until) we start to play hard - and play hard for 60 minutes - it’s going to be up in the air all night long or you’re going to get blown out. We’ve got to develop a little bit of a work ethic here.”
TV: 10 p.m. ET, Sportsnet360, Sportsnet One (Calgary), NBCS California (San Jose)
ABOUT THE FLAMES (2-2-1): David Rittich gave up six goals on 30 shots Saturday and is expected to sit for the first time this season in favor of backup Cam Talbot, who struggled to an 11-17-3 record while splitting last season between Edmonton and Philadelphia. Johnny Gaudreau scored one of the goals against Vegas and leads the team with seven points while Matthew Tkachuk recorded an assist to give him six. Reigning Norris Trophy winner Mark Giordano (one goal, two assists overall) recorded a season-high six shots on Saturday as Calgary’s blue-liners registered a total of 13, with Rasmus Andersson scoring a goal.
ABOUT THE SHARKS (1-4-0): Martin Jones has struggled in net early on (0-3-0, .854 save percentage) while backup Aaron Dell turned aside 26 shots to earn San Jose its first win of the season on Thursday. “I don’t know about who is going to start next game,” DeBoer said. “But that’s what we need out of (Dell). He made some key saves at key times. I thought both teams were a little loose, and he made one more save than the other guy. That’s sometimes all you need.” Defenseman Brent Burns scored his 200th career goal on Thursday and leads the team with five points - one more than captain Logan Couture.
OVERTIME
1. Flames LW Milan Lucic, who is two goals shy of 200 for his career, has yet to record a point and registered just three shots in his first five contests.
2. Sharks D Erik Karlsson, a two-time Norris Trophy winner, is off to a slow start with two assists and a minus-8 rating over four games.
3. San Jose has won seven of the last nine meetings, but the teams split their four-game series in 2018-19.
PREDICTION: Sharks 4, Flames 3