“Step by step” is an old tag line from an old comedy routine.
It is not so much funny as it is an apt descriptor of the San Jose Sharks’ pursuit of the Vegas Golden Knights in the Pacific Division.
As the Knights were losing in overtime to the Colorado Avalanche, the Sharks were routing the Calgary Flames, 5-1.
Martin Jones made 37 saves to down the Flames – File Photo by Jack Lima
The outcomes pushed the Sharks a point closer to the division leaders.
“We’re a desperate team,” Evander Kane said. “We need all the points we can get. We haven’t clinched a playoff spot yet. The teams that are behind us keep winning. We have to keep pushing forward and keep picking up points as we close out the season in order to secure a spot. It’s good to get in that playoff mindset right now.”
Kane struck twice in the win.
Martin Jones made 37 saves to help the Sharks to a record of 43-23-9.
“I thought Jonesy was our best player,” Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer said. “I thought he was outstanding. Otherwise it could have been a 5-4 or 5-5 game.”
Brenden Dillon, Jannik Hansen and Justin Braun also scored for San Jose.
Michael Stone scored the lone goal for the Flames who now trail the second wild card spot in the Western Conference by nine points and can start looking forward to the off season.
“Guys are still engaged here, guys are still wanting to play physical and wanting to play hard and wanting to play for the team and wanting to play for the teammates and making sure that we’re not having any lapses in our efforts,” Calgary’s Troy Brouwer said. “We’re not technically out of the playoffs yet, so we’re still playing hard to try to do what we can to get ourselves in, and tonight was obviously another setback.”
The Sharks trail the Knights by six, a manageable number down the stretch.
“I think this is the time of year you want to be playing well, you want to get hot. For me it’s about our game. The results are nice, the wins are nice. Out of the seven games, this was probably the sloppiest of the seven, but we found a way to win. Our goaltender was great,” DeBoer said after the win.
[WATCH:Â All Flames vs. Sharks highlights]
David Rittich made 28 saves in taking the loss, the fifth straight by the Flames.
“It seems like we’re leading the NHL in moral victories, but it’s not getting us any points right now, and so it resulted in another loss where we actually had really good stretches during the game but ultimately no results,” Brouwer said.
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