Third period miscues cost Sharks in another loss to Calgary Flames

SAN JOSE – The San Jose Sharks cannot afford many missteps against non-contending teams down the stretch if they want to snap a six-year playoff drought this season.

They had another one Thursday at SAP Center to continue their longest losing streak since the start of the season.

After a bad line change and later a turnover in their own zone, the Sharks gave up two third-period goals and lost 4-1 to the Calgary Flames on Thursday before a sellout crowd of 17,435 eager to see their team start the stretch run on a positive note.

Instead, the Sharks (27-25-4) lost their fifth straight game, their longest skid since they opened the season with a 0-4-2 record.

Connor Zary and Nazem Kadri both scored in the third period off Sharks miscues, one off a questionable line change and another off a Timothy Liljegren turnover. Zary’s goal came 5:22 into the third period on the line change ,and Kadri scored with 8:04 left in regulation time after the Liljegren turnover.

Gilroy native Dustin Wolf made 34 saves for the Flames, who beat the Sharks in three of four meetings this season, including a 3-2 win in Calgary on Jan. 31.

The Sharks’ homestand continues this weekend with games against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday and the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday.

Tyler Toffoli scored the only goal for the Sharks. Goalie Yaroslav Askarov finished with 25 saves.

With 27 games left, the Sharks entered Thursday five points behind the Seattle Kraken for the second and final wild card spot in the Western Conference, and six points back of the Oilers for third place in the Pacific Division.

The Sharks took time during the first period of Thursday’s game to recognize their four Olympians, as Sweden’s Alex Wennberg, Slovakia’s Pavol Regenda, and Switzerland’s Philipp Kurashev all recently returned from Milan. Switzerland and Sweden were eliminated in the quarterfinals, and while Slovakia advanced to the semifinals, they lost to the United States and Finland to finish fourth.

The loudest cheer, of course, was for Macklin Celebrini, the youngest NHL player at the Olympics and the breakout star of the Games as he helped lead Canada to a spot in the gold medal game.

Celebrini had five goals and five assists in his first five games, but was held off the scoresheet in the final as Jack Hughes scored early in the 3-on-3 overtime to lift the Americans to a 2-1 win on Sunday at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena.

“We didn’t win, so it’s bitter,” Celebrini said. “It’s sour that we didn’t win and we came that close, especially everything that we fought through. But (we) can’t change it now.”