It was a milestone night for the Calgary Flames as they concluded the season with a 5-1 home-ice victory over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night.
Adam Klapka scored his first NHL goal, Blake Coleman reached 30 goals for the first time in his career in a two-point game and defenseman MacKenzie Weegar hit 20 goals for the first time. Kevin Rooney and Oliver Kylington also scored for the Flames (38-39-5, 81 points), who missed the Stanley Cup playoffs for the second consecutive season.
Dustin Wolf, the AHL’s two-time top goaltender, made 16 saves for the victory.
Fabian Zetterlund spoiled Wolf’s shutout bid by scoring a power-play goal with 8.9 seconds remaining.
Sharks starting goalie Devin Cooley surrendered five goals on 23 shots before being mercifully pulled. Georgi Romanov stopped 14 shots in relief.
The Sharks (19-54-9, 47 points) finished last in the league and have missed the playoffs in five consecutive seasons.
Though little mattered in the standings, the Flames reached some important personal marks.
Klapka, playing in his sixth NHL game, opened the scoring at 12:13 of the first period when he stole the puck in the high slot and ripped a top-shelf offering.
Coleman extended the lead at 14:40. Left alone at the side of the net, he converted a tap-in set up by Connor Zary.
The game turned into a rout with a trio of second-period goals, started by Kylington’s third of the campaign at 3:53 of the frame. With a screen set, Kylington’s long shot found the mark to make it 3-0.
Rooney also notched his third of the season at 5:59, ripping a shot from the slot during another flurry of action.
Then Weegar made it a five-goal game with his milestone marker, a long shot through the screen. Of his 20 goals, Weegar has scored 17 at even strength.
–Field Level Media
