Jonathan Huberdeau scores twice as Calgary Flames beat San Jose Sharks 3-1

Calgary Flames centre Jonathan Huberdeau (10) celebrates after his goal against the San Jose Sharks during the first period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Eakin Howard)

Jonathan Huberdeau scored twice and the Calgary Flames beat San Jose 3-1 on Saturday night, handing the Sharks their seventh straight loss.

Mikael Backlund also scored and Nazem Kadri had two assists for the Flames, and Dustin Wolf had 21 saves.

Macklin Celebrini got his 12th goal of the season for San Jose, and Yaroslav Askarov stopped 30 shots. The Sharks are 0-6-1 during their skid, and 1-9-1 over their last 11 games.

Calgary took a 2-1 lead at 6:50 of the second period on Backlund’s power-play goal. Backlund has five points (three goals, two assists) in his last five games.

Huberdeau had an empty-netter in the closing seconds, giving him a team-leading 15 goals.

Celebrini, who had the tying goal early in the second, leads all rookies in goals and is tied for the lead in points (27).

Takeaways

Flames: Calgary has won consecutive games for the first time in more than a month since winning fourth straight on Nov. 23.

Sharks: Forward Carl Grundstrom left Saturday’s game in the first period with an unspecified injury and did not return after taking a hard hit from Flames defenceman Brayden Pachal.

Key moment

Huberdeau’s early goal set the tone for Calgary. His team-leading 14th goal at 4:40 of the first period came on a deflection. It extended his goal streak to three games.

Key stat

Calgary had six off days going into Saturday since a Dec. 21 6-4 win against Chicago, and the extra rest appeared to pay off against a fatigued Sharks team that was coming off a 6-3 loss to Vegas on Friday.

Up Next

Flames play at Vegas on Sunday, and Sharks host Philadelphia on Tuesday.

Vegas has gone 24-8-3 overall with a 12-2-1 record against the Pacific Division. The Golden Knights have a +27 scoring differential, with 125 total goals scored and 98 conceded.

Calgary has a 17-11-7 record overall and a 4-3-1 record in Pacific Division games. The Flames have a 10-1-3 record in games they have fewer penalties than their opponent.

The teams square off Sunday for the second time this season. The Golden Knights won the last meeting 5-0. Keegan Kolesar scored two goals in the win.

Top Performers

Jack Eichel has scored 10 goals with 37 assists for the Golden Knights. Mark Stone has two goals and seven assists over the last 10 games.

Nazem Kadri has 12 goals and 13 assists for the Flames. Huberdeau has seven goals and six assists over the past 10 games.

Last 10

 Golden Knights: 9-1-0, averaging 3.5 goals, 5.4 assists, 2.2 penalties and 4.7 penalty minutes while giving up two goals per game.

Flames: 5-2-3, averaging 3.2 goals, 5.1 assists, 3.3 penalties and nine penalty minutes while giving up 3.3 goals per game.