Flames beat Sharks 6-5 in shootout

SAN JOSE - Juri Hudler scored the winning goal in the shootout, leading the Calgary Flames past the San Jose Sharks 6-5 on Thursday night.

After San Jose trailed 4-1 after one period, Joonas Donskoi and Dylan DeMelo scored early in the third period to give the Sharks a brief lead before Kris Russell tied it at 5 with just over 12 minutes left in regulation.

Sam Bennett and Mark Giordano scored within 1:06 of each other as the Flames scored four times in the first period. Sean Monahan and Mikeal Backlund also had goals for the Flames, who won their third in a row while improving to 4-3-1 in their last eight road contests.

Tommy Wingels, Patrick Marleau and Logan Couture also scored for the Sharks, who were coming off a 2-2 road trip.

Calgary’s Karri Ramo stopped 29 of 34 shots before being helped off the ice with an apparent lower leg injury. Ramo was hit by Donskoi after being tripped by Giordano late in the third period. Jonas Hiller replaced Ramo and stopped all eight shots he faced.

Alex Stalock saved 17 of 22 for the Sharks.

Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau, two of the three players - along with Lance Bouma - who were benched for Tuesday’s win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, were key figures in helping Calgary open with a big first period.

Bennett started it with a hustle play, intercepting a lazy cross-ice pass, skating in and beating Stalock just over four minutes into the game.

Giordano added a power-play goal just over a minute later, getting a deflection off Justin Braun’s skate that sent the puck over Stalock’s left shoulder.

The Sharks made 2-1 when Wingels chipped it over Ramo’s shoulder following a face-off.

Gaudreau picked up a loose puck in his own end and skated it into the Sharks zone before sending a back-handed pass to Juri Hudler, who tipped it to a wide-open Monahan to give Calgary a 3-1 edge.

Backlund scored 50 seconds later to make it 4-1. From the side, he banked the puck off the far post and rattled it into the net.

Couture and Marleau each scored on the power play in the second period to bring the Sharks within a goal at 4-3. Couture fired a shot into the upper corner less than a minute in and Marleau redirected a pass from Joe Thornton.

Donskoi tied it less than three minutes into the third period, converting on a pass from Couture.

DeMelo scored on a power play to give San Jose a 5-4 lead with 14:05 remaining to play. Just over two minutes later, Russell put back a rebound to tie it.