National Hockey League
San Jose 3, Calgary 1
When: 10:00 PM ET, Saturday, April 8, 2017
Where: SAP Center at San Jose, San Jose, California
Referees: Justin St. Pierre, Brad Watson
Linesmen: Lonnie Cameron, Trent Knorr
Attendance: 17562

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The Sharks beat the Flames 3-1 Saturday night in both team's regular-season finale. But both playoff-bound San Jose and Calgary must wait another day to learn who each will play in next week's Stanley Cup playoffs.

Only if Edmonton beats Vancouver and Anaheim fails to earn at least a point against Los Angeles on Sunday will the Oilers earn the Pacific Division crown. In that scenario, the Sharks would meet the Ducks and the Flames would oppose the Oilers.

Otherwise, if Anaheim wins the Pacific, the Ducks will host Calgary and San Jose will travel to Edmonton for the start of the best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinal series.

What is known for sure is that both the third-place Sharks and first wild-card Flames will start on the road.

"We've won games on the road before, and when you go on the road in the playoffs you feel like you've got to win even more," said Sharks center Chris Tierney, who scored a goal and added an assist. "We're hungry to go and I'm sure we'll be ready."

"The coaching staff has to dig in here and come up with a plan," Calgary coach Glen Gulutzan said. "We have to prepare for two scenarios. The important thing is we're healthy and that's big."

Meanwhile in Saturday's finale, Daniel O'Regan scored his first NHL goal to lead the hosts over the Flames. O'Regan scored in his third NHL game at 11:25 of the third period by redirecting a Marc-Edouard Vlasic wrist shot past rookie Flames goalie David Rittich, who replaced starter Brian Elliott to start the final period.

"It's nice to finish with a win," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. "The guys worked hard, we played the right way. There's some good things there. Obviously you can't take too much from it. I'd rather win than lose."

Following a scoreless opening period in which Calgary outshot San Jose 6-5, the hosts broke through for two goals before the Flames tallied inside the final minute of the second period.

Jannik Hansen picked off a clearing attempt by Calgary's Sean Monahan, drove the left circle and just as he hit the goal line, nudged a back-pass to a crashing Chris Tierney.

With position on Monahan, Tierney tapped the Hansen feed past Elliott for his 11th goal of the season at 4:38.

Tierney was the set-up man at 18:07 when he saucered a pass through the goal crease to Boedker, who waited out Elliott to deposit his 10th goal of the season into an empty net.

But the Flames struck back as with 5.2 seconds remaining, Curtis Lazar scored his first goal of the season by filling San Jose goalie Aaron Dell's five hole. Lazar, who was without a goal in 33 games with Ottawa, was appearing in just his fourth game with the Flames since acquired at the trade deadline.

"(It) does wonders for my confidence," Lazar said. "Getting that first one as a Flame is nice. It erased the goose-egg I had in that column. When I can say I didn't go goal-less in a season is pretty good."

The Sharks, who last month held a nine-point lead in the division only to see it slip away, snapped a streak of having lost nine straight to playoff-bound West opponents since Jan. 31.

"Obviously we're missing important pieces tonight but when you're finishing the regular season you want to have a little bit of momentum," Sharks defenseman Brenden Dillon said. "We're hoping to build off this."

The Flames knew they had edged Nashville for the No. 1 wild-card spot beforehand when they learned the Predators lost to Winnipeg.

"Now it's time to go, we better be ready," Calgary center Matt Stajan said. "I think we could have been better tonight. But at the same time, you look forward to starting the playoffs. That's what we play for. We're going to be doing a lot of scouting and homework for the first round."

NOTES: Sharks D Brent Burns earned his career-high 76th point, which broke the franchise record he set last year with 75. ... Calgary D Mark Giordano, Deryk Englland and C Mikael Backlund all missed their first games of the season to be rested for the start of the playoffs. F Kris Versteeg was scratched for the first time since Dec. 10. F Freddie Hamilton and Curtis Lazar replaced Backlund and Versteeg. Rookie D Rasmus Andersson made his NHL debut, and D Michael Stone returned after being a healthy scratch Thursday in Los Angeles. ... The Sharks' lineup was even more depleted -- by injury and resting regulars -- as San Jose played without regulars C Joe Thornton, C Logan Couture (both hurt), C Joe Pavelski, C Tomas Hertl, RW Joel Ward and D Justin Braun. Pavelski's ironman streak of 495 consecutive games played was snapped. D Dylan DeMelo played in place of Braun, who rested for the first time this season. ... G Aaron Dell made his 17th start of the season after Sharks starter Martin Jones had started the previous seven in a row. ... Thornton (knee) and Couture (mouth) missed their third and seventh straight games, respectively.
Top Game Performances
 
Calgary   San Jose
Curtis Lazar 1 Points Chris Tierney 2
Curtis Lazar 1 Goals Chris Tierney 1
Dougie Hamilton 1 Assists Chris Tierney 1
N/A Power Play Goals Daniel O'Regan 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
David Rittich .900 Save Percentage Aaron Dell .952
Brian Elliott 15 Saves Aaron Dell 20
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Calgary 21 1 0-3 1-2 4 24
San Jose 27 3 1-2 3-3 6 24
Upcoming Games
  • San Jose will play their next game on the road against Edmonton. The Sharks have a W/L % of .600 after a win and .514 after a loss.
  • Calgary will play their next game on the road against Anaheim. The Flames have a W/L % of .533 after a win and .568 after a loss.