San Jose Sharks vs Calgary Flames Box Score on Dec 31, 2018

Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk each had two goals and two assists, and Sean Monahan added five assists as the Calgary Flames defeated the visiting San Jose Sharks 8-5 Monday night in a Pacific Division showdown.

Mikael Backland also scored twice and Elias Lindholm and James Neal had a goal apiece for the Flames, who are 2-2-2 in their past six games after winning eight of nine. Lindholm and Michael Frolik each had two assists.

Flames goaltender David Rittich, making his third straight start, recorded 28 saves. Rittich is 10-3-2 in his past 15 games.

Calgary broke a tie with idle Las Vegas for the division lead. Third-place San Jose dropped three points back.

Joonas Donskoi scored twice for the Sharks, who had their two-game winning streak snapped. Lukas Radil, Brent Burns and Joe Thornton also scored for San Jose, with Evander Kane and Erik Karlsson each credited with two assists. Goalie Aaron Dell stopped just 19 of 27 shots.

Backlund scored twice in the opening period as the Flames took a 3-1 lead. He opened the scoring just 1:10 into the game and got the go-ahead goal at 10:55 after Radil tied the score at 6:53. Tkachuk capped the period's scoring at 17:24.

Burns made it 3-2 at 3:55 of the second before Tkachuk scored his second midway through the period.

The Sharks again pulled within a goal on Donskoi's first at 18:22 of the second, making it 4-3. However, Lindholm scored with 27 seconds left in the period to restore the two-goal advantage.

Donskoi scored 48 seconds into the third, but Neal scored at the 3-minute mark to put Calgary up 6-4.

Gaudreau, who has 10 points (six goals, four assists) in his past five games, then scored goals 41 seconds apart, at 5:48 and 6:29, as the Flames pulled away.

Thornton scored the game's final goal at 13:15 of the third.

--Field Level Media