Calgary Flames v San Jose Sharks Live

Halfway through the season, everything points to a head-to-head race between the Sharks and Blackhawks who are tied for the first place in the Western Conference with 68 points each. Hoping to clinch another home win, Joe Thornton and the San Jose Sharks will host the Calgary Flames at HP Pavilion on Tuesday at 3 a.m. GMT.

Even though the Flames played very well in the first half of this year’s NHL campaign, the team around Jarome Iginla evidently hit a slump in the past two weeks. Dropping four of their last five, the Flames are desperately trying to avoid falling behind in the race for home-ice advantage. That said, Calgary is still only one point behind the third placed Avalanche but fell to the sixth place in the Western Conference. One key factor in the Flames’ recent struggles has been their lack of scoring as they average less than 2 goals per contest over the last five games. While their even offensive productivity across the board is an advantage on most nights, the lack of a go-to guy at the offensive end might become an issue down the stretch.

The Sharks on the other hand seem to be on fire and posted an impressive 11-3 record over the past month. Unlike the Flames, San Jose can count on the exceptional individual talent of Dany Heatley, Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau as far as scoring goes. In fact, the three players already combined for 70 goals and 162 points and are among the best forwards in the entire league. Considering that the Sharks are not particularly bad defensively either, the Flames might face a tough challenge on Tuesday night. Ultimately, San Jose is one of the best teams in the league and has been playing exceptionally well at home. Nonetheless, Calgary might be able to hang around if they find a way to contain the Sharks’ dynamic offense and stay within striking distance throughout the game.

You can watch all games of the Calgary Flames and San Jose Sharks right here on www.watchlivenhl.com, the home of NHL live streaming.