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New Life Dramatic win ties series at 2-2 4/15/08
- by Mike Lee
The playoffs are all about momentum shifts, and
there was as big a shift as they come on Tuesday night in Calgary. Trailing by
a goal heading into the 3rd period, the Sharks manufactured the tying goal on
Jonathan Cheechoo's 1st goal of the playoffs with 4:54 to play, then won the
game 3-2 with 9.6 seconds left in regulation on a deflection by Joe Thornton.
Backed into a corner, the Sharks played with enough desperation in the final 5
minutes to tie the series up at 2-2.
Thornton may have exercised some
of the playoff demons that have plagued his career, by positioning himself in
front of the Flames net, then redirected a Douglas Murray shot from the point,
past Miikka Kiprusoff. With Calgary defenseman Dion Phaneuf draped all over him
and his back to the Flames net, Thornton was able to keep his position and
screen Kiprusoff.
The goal was only the 6th game winning goal with
less than 10 seconds remaining in regulation in NHL history.
Had they
lost, the Sharks would have trailed the Flames in the series 3-1 with the
series returning to San Jose on Thursday. Taking a pair of one goal leads, the
Flames looked as if they would do just that, even though the managed to
generate only 10 shots on goal throughout the night.
The Sharks spent
the first 3 minutes of the game trying to settle a score with big hits and
ended up chasing their tails rather than establishing any puck possession.
Jerome Iginla would answer with the game's first goal 3:19 into the contest.
Damond Langkow took possession of an Alex Tanguay pass and put a shot on Evgeni
Nabokov from the slot, but the puck kicked back out to Iginla. The Flames
captain snapped the 20 footer just inside the left post for the early 1-0 lead.
The shots would be the only 2 the Flames put on goal in the period.
Things calmed down and the Sharks started to put together some
offensive chances. One resulted in a hooking penalty to former Shark Wayne
Primeau. The man-advantage proved fruitless as San Jose failed to put together
anything remotely close to a scoring chance.
Calgary would get it's
own crack on the power play late in the period when Jody Shelley was whistled
for roughing in front of the Flames net. As Shelly skated of, he took a swipe
at Flames goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff. San Jose buckled down and kept the
Flames from generating any shots during the power play, and entered the 1st
intermission down by the lone goal.
The Sharks tied the game midway through the 2nd period
on a Patrick Marleau shot that was tipped in by Ryane Clowe. Craig Conroy put
the Sharks on the power play after taking a hooking penalty at 9:43. Joe
Thornton and Clowe parked themselves in front of Kiprusoff as the puck wound
around to Marleau on the point. The Sharks captain whipped a shot on net and
Clowe shed a defender to get lumber on the puck.
San Jose would
relinquish the lead with 1:31 left in the period on a Dion Phaneuf shot that
Nabokov missed with the glove hand. The Flames won the faceoff in the Sharks
zone after a Sharks icing then worked it back to Phaneuf who bagged the
heartbreaker right before the 2nd intermission.
Kiprusoff made a huge
save on a scoring chance by Marleau after Craig Conroy was sent off for
tripping. The Sharks captain took a centering pass through the slot and tried
tucking it inside right post, but Kiprusoff jammed his left skate against the
right post, stoning Marleau.
San Jose tied the game again at 15:06 on
a Jonathan Cheechoo shot from the bottom of the right circle. Devin Setoguchi
created the opportunity with a desperate forecheck that forced a turnover deep
in the Flames zone. Cheechoo sent a wrister in on net that tucked inside
Kiprusoff and the right post.
The nails started getting gnawed off
with three minutes to play, with both teams trying to keep the puck out of
their own zone. Murray and Thornton would empty the Saddledome with what prove
to be one of the biggest goals in Sharks history.
Game Notes:
The Sharks went with 7 defenseman, sitting Alexei Semanov, and Sandis Ozolinsh.
Patrick Rissmiller and Curtis Brown were also scratches for San Jose.
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What did you
think of this game? Post your comments on the
Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
SJ |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
CGY |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
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1st period - 1, CGY,
Iginla 2 (Langkow, Tanguay), 3:19. |
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2nd period - 2, SJ,
Clowe 4 (Marleau, Thornton), 10:56, (pp). 3, CGY, Phaneuf 3 (Iginla),
18:29. |
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3rd period - 4, SJ,
Cheechoo 1 (Pavelski, Setoguchi), 15:06. 5, SJ, Thornton 1 (Murray, Clowe),
19:50. |
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1st period - Primeau,
CGY (hooking), 6:37; Shelley, SJ (roughing), 17:18. |
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2nd period - Conroy, CGY
(hooking), 9:43; Ehrhoff, SJ (hooking), 12:18. |
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3rd period - Rivet, SJ
(delay of game - puck over glass), 4:41; Conroy, CGY (tripping), 7:36;
Mitchell, SJ (high sticking), 10:18. |
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Shots |
Saves |
SJ - Nabokov |
10 |
8 |
CGY - Kiprusoff |
32 |
29 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
SJ |
6 |
12 |
14 |
32 |
CGY |
2 |
5 |
3 |
10 |
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Referees: Watson,
McCauley. Linesmen: Cameron, Murphy. |
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