Clowe scores winner over Flames
Ryane Clowe scored the deciding goal in the shootout to lead the San Jose Sharks to a 4-3 win over the Calgary Flames on Friday night.
Clowe also scored in regulation for the Sharks, who have won six straight. Devin Setoguchi and Kyle Wellwood had the other goals for San Jose.
David Moss, Niklas Hagman and Anton Babchuk scored, and Miikka Kiprusoff made 30 saves as the Flames moved back into playoff position in the Western Conference by gaining the single point.
Antti Niemi stopped 21 shots for San Jose.
San Jose opened the scoring at 3:34 of the first period when Setoguchi backhanded his own rebound past Kiprusoff.
The Flames failed to record a shot on their first power play of the game, but applied pressure while playing 5-on-5. Niemi was forced to make back-to-back saves on Rene Bourque and Matt Stajan to keep the Sharks up by one.
Calgary tied it late in the opening frame as Babchuk skated across the San Jose blue-line and fired a harmless-looking shot that somehow slipped over Niemi's blocker.
With just 3.3 seconds left in the first, the Sharks appeared to take a 2-1 lead. Niclas Wallin swatted a rebound past Kiprusoff, but the play was blown dead because the referee lost sight of the puck.
The Sharks went up 2-1 midway through the second when Wellwood chipped a rebound up and over Kiprusoff just after the Calgary goalie made a nice pad save on a shot by Joe Pavelski.
The Flames tied the contest once again at 15:54 of the second when Moss took a pass from linemate Olli Jokinen and blasted a slap shot through Niemi's five-hole.
Hagman, who the Flames put on waivers earlier in the week, then took a drop pass from Brendan Morrison before he turned Wallin inside out with a series of moves and roofed a shot into the top corner to make it 3-2.
Marleau nearly tied the game with 5 minutes to play, taking his own rebound and firing a shot on goal that defenseman Mark Giordano went flat out in the Calgary crease to stop.
The Sharks forced overtime with a goal at 17:26 when Clowe snapped a shot from the slot past Kiprusoff.
Clowe was the lone player to score in the shootout. He made a deke to his backhand before sliding the puck across to his forehand and tucking it into the net.
Notes: San Jose D Dan Boyle missed his first game of the season after sustaining an upper-body injury on Wednesday night during a 3-2 win at Pittsburgh. ... After playing 13 of their past 17 games on the road, the Sharks will return to San Jose for a six-game homestand. ... Sharks F Jamal Mayers recorded his first point in 23 games with an assist on Wellwood's goal.