After an upsetting loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, the Calgary Flames face an even bigger test when the San Jose Sharks come to the Saddledome this week.

If Calgary wants to consider itself an elite team, and it's on the cusp of becoming just that, it has to be able to at least compete with teams that have already earned that status.

They failed Sunday against the Hawks at Chicago, and were miserable against the Sharks in November. A lot has changed since that 6-1 loss at San Jose, however. They've recently run up 10 straight games with at least a point, and won five in a row before Sunday.

They'll need their top players to be solid to truly be considered a top team.

The Chicago Blackhawks returned to the United Center -- and their winning ways. Nikolai Khabibulin made 34 saves, Martin Havlat, Andrew Ladd and Patrick Sharp each had a goal and an assist, and the Blackhawks rebounded from consecutive losses to Detroit to beat the Calgary Flames 5-2 on Sunday night.

In a matchup of teams heading in different directions in the Western Conference, Todd Bertuzzi's late third-period efforts ensured that they both continued their streaks. Bertuzzi scored with 23.4 seconds remaining in the third period to lead the Calgary Flames to their fifth straight win with a 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators on Saturday afternoon.

Jarome Iginla and Michael Cammalleri closed out the year in style for the Calgary Flames. Iginla and Cammalleri each had two goals and three assists to lead Calgary to a 6-4 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night. "We just congratulated ourselves on both of our firsts," Cammalleri said. "It was a lot of fun tonight for sure.

The move Eric Nystrom used to fake out goalie Josh Harding for the go-ahead tally was so smooth it looked planned. Nystrom insists it wasn't. Nystrom took an errant puck at center ice, darted alone into the Minnesota zone and made a pretty forehand fake to draw goalie Josh Harding to the ice before sliding in the short-handed goal that gave the Calgary Flames a 2-1 win over the Wild on Monday...

Rene Bourque is fitting in perfectly with the Calgary Flames after three seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks. Bourque scored three goals for his first NHL hat trick, and the Flames beat the Ottawa Senators 6-3 on Saturday night. "The puck was going in for me tonight," said Bourque, the 6-foot-2, 215-pound former Wisconsin star who had 10 goals in 62 games last season for Chicago.

With his father looking on and the Pengrowth Saddledome crowd behind him, Brett Sutter sure made an impact in his NHL debut. Sutter, the son of Calgary general manager Darryl Sutter, scored his first goal at 3:59 of the third period Tuesday night, helping rally the Flames to a 4-3 victory over the Anaheim Ducks.