Zadorov has hat trick, Flames beat Sharks 3-1 in finale

CALGARY, Alberta — Defenseman Nikita Zadorov had his first profession hat trick and the Calgary Flames ended a disappointing season with a 3-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday evening.

Calgary completed fifth within the Pacific at 38-27-17 and 93 factors, a yr after profitable the division with 111. The Flames have missed the playoffs in 9 of their final 14 seasons and made the postseason in consecutive years simply as soon as in that span.

“Definitely was hard to find emotions to play that game, for sure,” Zadorov mentioned. “It’s normal when you miss the playoffs.”

Dustin Wolf made 23 saves for the Flames in his NHL debut. From Gilroy, California, the 21-year-old Wolf was recalled from the Calgary Wranglers, the place he leads the American Hockey League with 41 victories.

“It’s rewarding. You put the work in each and every day and you dream about that as a kid,” mentioned Wolf. “To get that first game and first win, it feels really awesome and obviously leaves you wanting more.”

Noah Gregor scored for San Jose and Kaapo Kahkonen stopped 46 photographs. The Sharks will miss the playoffs for a fourth straight season.

PHOTOS: Zadorov has hat trick, Flames beat Sharks 3-1 in finale

Zadorov gave the Flames the lead at 4:01 of the third, taking a move from protection companion MacKenzie Weegar and snapping a shot from the blue line into the highest nook. Zadorov’s third aim got here into an empty internet with a minute left.

“I blacked out, not gonna lie,” mentioned Zadorov with a chuckle. “(Rasmus Andersson) told me on the bench just go for it, so first time I hit the D-man and the second time just closed my eyes, feel where the net was, got a lucky bounce. It was nice fade six-iron there. It worked.”

Zadorov finishes the yr with 14 objectives, doubling his earlier profession excessive of seven.

“The Russian Rocket,” mentioned Flames coach Darryl Sutter, cracking a uncommon smile. “Saved it for the last game, should have done it in October.”

Zadorov laughed when advised what the coach known as him.

“Wasn’t that Pavel Bure’s nickname? I’m far away from that,” Zadorov mentioned.

Forward Matt Coronato additionally made his NHL debut for the Flames. The 20-year-old chosen within the first spherical of the 2021 draft signed with Calgary on March 26 after his school season with Harvard ended.

Coronato performed on a line with fellow rookie Jakob Pelletier and Nazem Kadri, and confirmed his offensive instincts all through the evening, producing a couple of scoring probabilities and ending with 4 photographs on aim.

“I know they were really disappointed probably the way they were bumped out of the playoffs. I liked their game,” Sharks coach David Quinn mentioned of the Flames.

“They were really on their toes. I thought we had spurts where we were pretty competitive and did some good things but just thought they were the better team tonight.”

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Sharks: At Edmonton on Thursday evening in season finale.