CALGARY, Alberta — The good news for the Sharks is that they’re done with March.
The bad news is that there isn’t much reason to think April will be much better.
A combination of some tough luck in the offensive zone and a handful of mistakes at the other end Friday sent the Sharks to a 5-2 loss to the Calgary Flames, their eighth defeat in nine games.
Defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic and forward Melker Karlsson scored for the Sharks, who have been held to two goals or less in all eight of their most recent losses.
Vlasic’s goal at the 8:25 mark of the second period cut the Flames’ lead to 2-1. But goals by Matt Stajan and Alex Chiasson in the latter half of the second was far too much for the Sharks to overcome, as goalie Martin Jones was replaced by Aaron Dell to start the third period.
Jones stopped 18 of 22 shots. Flames goalie Brian Elliott stopped 36 of 38 shots.
The Sharks remained stuck at 93 points and are now just one point ahead of the Flames, who clinched a playoff spot with the victory, for third place in the Pacific Division.
Regardless of what happened Friday, the Sharks were going to be all too glad to turn the page on the calendar.
The Sharks went 6-10 in March as they and saw what was a nine-point lead in the division on the morning of March 15 dwindle to nothing. They then entered Friday three points back of first place Anaheim, which went 10-2-2 in March to put itself in an ideal spot to win its fifth straight division crown.
Add in a facial injury to Logan Couture that’ll keep him out for an undetermined amount of time and you have a San Jose free-fall that’s coming at the most inopportune time.
The Sharks play in Vancouver against the Canucks on Sunday in their final road game of the regular season, then return to SAP Center to play the Canucks, Edmonton Oilers and Flames in their final homestand.
The Sharks can still win the Pacific Division or finish as low as the second wild card spot.
The latter is looking more likely than the former with each game.
In a first period typical of some of their frustrations this month, the Sharks created a few quality scoring chances only to come out it down by a goal.
Johnny Gaudreau took a pass near the Sharks blue line, eluded a check from Mikkel Boedker and passed the puck back to Sam Bennett.
With both Brent Burns and Boedker looking at the puck, Gaudreau was able to slip free, take the back pass from Bennett and tip it past Jones for a 1-0 Flames lead at the 12:26 mark of the first.
The scoring sequence began after Tomas Hertl couldn’t handle a pass from Burns in the neutral zone, turning the puck over to the Flames.
Burns later rang a shot off the post on a Sharks power play. Earlier in the period, Karlsson nearly gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead but was unable to steer home a loose puck in front of the Flames net as he was lying in the ice.
Jones, who started Thursday’s 3-2 loss to the Oilers, was 2-0 this season in the second game when he started back-to-back nights.
Jones has gotten a decent amount of rest this month, splitting starts with Dell over the first 12 games of March. Friday’s game marked Jones’ fourth straight start.
“I think we’ve got to get him in a rhythm,” Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said of Jones. “I think we knew that we were trying to follow last year’s formula a little bit and give him a little bit of a break down the stretch, he played a lot of games.
“We did that, Deller did a great job, kept us competitive. And now it’s about getting him in a rhythm. I don’t know if there is a right answer, but, I know his character, I know what he’s capable of and I know he’ll be there come playoff time.”
• Joonas Donskoi and Joel Ward were scratched Friday. Donskoi had not registered a point in 13 games since he returned from an upper body injury on March 6 and Ward had gone without a point in eight games. Kevin Labanc was reinserted into the lineup after he was scratched from Thursday’s game in Edmonton, and Marcus Sorensen was back in after he sat for the last two games vs. the Oilers and New York Rangers.
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