Those who went to bed early Sunday might conveniently hang this one on Mike Smith.
Again.
However, on this night the Calgary Flames goaltender may actually have been the Flames’ best player.
After allowing an Evander Kane goal 50 seconds into the night, Smith was otherwise brilliant in keeping the score close the rest of the contest.
A 3-1 loss included an empty-net goal as well as a Joonas Donskoi strike no one could blame on Smith.
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All told he saved 26 of 28 shots, gaining much-needed confidence in the process, albeit in a losing effort.
Kane’s goal was a wrister inside the far post Smith saw clearly as it was released from above the faceoff dot.
Debate all you want whether he should have had it, but it was a world-class shot and the way Smith responded was stellar.
With the Sharks dominating the second frame, Smith stopped Marcus Sorensen on a breakaway late in the period, before turning aside a point-blank chance by Tomas Hertl who was left alone.
A save on Donskoi on a 2-on-0 saw him flash the glove with a swagger he hasn’t shown much of this year; it was as good a save as we’ve seen all year.
It allowed the Flames to apply tremendous pressure in the third, stopped only by the magic of Martin Jones at the other end to deny the Flames their sixth third-period comeback of the year.
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Smith detractors – and there are plenty in Calgary – will say that whether the opening goal was Smith’s fault or not, it was yet another early setback under his watch the whole city could almost see coming. Deflating.
On any other team it could have been crippling, but the Flames have had a solid start to the season despite allowing the second-most first-period goals in the NHL, at 20.
Only Ottawa is worse at 21.
That will have to improve, as Smith did Sunday.
Baby steps.
More takeaways from San Jose:
Kane extremely able
Kane continued to feast on the Flames, as he’s done his whole career.
Last year the Sharks forward recorded his first four-goal game in Calgary against the Flames.
On Sunday he had a goal 50 seconds in and a magical setup from behind the net benefitting Donskoi in the second.
In his last four games against the Flames he has seven goals, giving him 10 in his 12 career games against the Flames.
He also drew a penalty on Juuso Valimaki and was a general menace all night long. He’s not well-liked in Cowtown.
Kane’s luck extended to the third period when he somehow eluded penalties for slashing and delay of game that should have given Calgary its only power play of the night.
Neal benched
The Flames’ $28-million pickup was handed his third straight starting gig on the second line, alongside Mikael Backlund and Matthew Tkachuk.
However, early in the second period the coach gave up on trying to help kickstart Neal by essentially sitting him.
At times he was replaced on the second unit by Sam Bennett and Michael Frolik.
Neal spent most of the rest of the night on the bench, watching and wondering who his linemates will be amongst the bottom six upon returning to Calgary.
All told he logged 8:03, which didn’t include a single shift in the final period.
Neal is still stuck at 499 career points, with just three goals and one helper in 18 games this year – none of which came while playing in the top six the last three outings.
Sam silenced
Bennett had two glorious chances to tie the game with eight minutes left.
First, he beat Brenden Dillon at the Flames blue line and went in alone on a breakaway.
Dillon slashed Bennett just before he got a shot away that was easily steered aside by Martin Jones.
A penalty shot was called on the play, but Bennett’s lack of confidence was glaring as he meekly zagged in and threw a weak wrister into Jones pads.
Bennett was physical and tenacious all night, recording six shots.
Alas, he was held off the scoresheet.
Hamonic stung again
One night after being the Flames’ first star in Los Angeles, Travis Hamonic’s luck wasn’t as good Sunday.
Coming off a game some figure was his best as a Flame, Hamonic took a puck to the face that had him bleeding quite profusely while battling along the boards with Joe Thornton late in the first.
Despite wearing a face shield designed to protect the jaw he had surgery on earlier this year, the puck caught him square in the mouth.
Obviously the Flames’ toughest player didn’t miss a shift, but wasn’t quite as involved in the rush as he was in Los Angeles when he had five shots on goal and the game winner in a 1-0 triumph.
Playing alongside Noah Hanifin seems to be allowing him the ability to press forward offensively more than he did last year with T.J. Brodie as his partner.
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Monahan milestone
Sean Monahan’s ninth goal of the season came early in the second, shortly after the Sharks went up 2-0.
It all started with a Backlund blocked shot – that led to Erik Karlsson blowing a tire at his own blue line – scooped up by Mark Jankowski. A short shovel pass to Monahan saw the sniper finish it over the shoulder of Jones to make it a game the rest of the way.
It was his 300th career point, joining a mark linemate Johnny Gaudreau hit a few weeks earlier.
The top line was otherwise shut down, but was dangerous throughout the evening.
UP NEXT: Flames flew home after the game to start a four-game homestand starting Thursday against Montreal.
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