Jarome Iginla blasted a 30-footer past Evgeni Nabokov 4:35 into
overtime to lift the Calgary Flames past the San Jose Sharks 4-3 at
HP Pavilion.
Jarome Iginla blasted a 30-footer past Evgeni Nabokov 4:35 into overtime to lift the Calgary Flames past the San Jose Sharks 4-3 at HP Pavilion.
The Sharks powered to a 43-18 edge in shots on net, but the Flames captain netted his 35th goal of the season to give Calgary 66 points and second place in the Northwest Division. The OT loss gave San Jose one point, moving the team to 70 in third place in the Pacific Division. The Sharks are 14-12-5 at home.
The Flames turned one of their five shots on net in the first period into a 1-0 lead with 4:20 gone.
Owen Nolan, who spent 568 games in a Sharks uniform, ignited the scoring play. Nolan hustled after a loose puck near the Sharks blueline, then in one motion turned toward the net and sent a hard shot through the slot. Teammate Daymond Langkow, his back to the net, reached to his right with his stick and redirected the puck up and over Nabokov’s right shoulder for the 1-0 Flames lead.
Another hustle play at the San Jose blueline led to the tying goal.
Jody Shelley, in his fifth game for the Sharks, recorded his second assist of the season when he chipped the puck out of the zone and in the path of a streaking Marcel Goc. Goc was able to glide past defenseman Dion Phaneuf before snapping a shot from the right-wing dot into the low right corner of the net at 11:40.
Despite only six shots in the second period, the Flames were still able to head into the second intermission with a 2-2 deadlock.
Mark Smith, in his 44th game as a Flame, gave his team a 2-1 lead with 2:01 elapsed in the second period. Langkow did most of the work, putting the puck on net, but Nabokov partially repelled the puck, leaving it stationary at the left post. When Sharks defenseman Matt Carle pushed Smith into the crease, Smith sprawled to the ice and nudged the puck into the net.
Smith spent 323 games, worth 22 goals, with San Jose before exiting the organization last summer to join Calgary. Tuesday’s tally was Smith’s first of the campaign along with two assists.
The Sharks gained a 2-2 tie with 32.7 seconds left in the second with a power play goal. Defenseman Craig Rivet one-timed a pass from Jonathan Cheechoo from the blueline off the pads of goalie Miikka Kiprusoff. The soft rebound was collected and then tapped in for the equalizer by Milan Michalek, his 19th of the year.
San Jose took a 3-2 lead with 8:33 gone in the third period, only to have Calgary create another tie with just 49.8 seconds left in regulation.
Patrick Rissmiller tipped a Mike Grier one-timer past Kiprusoff for the 3-2 edge on the hosts’ 39th shot on net. Phaneuf matched that goal with a one-timer from the left point in the final minute when Calgary was on the power play and had pulled Kiprusoff for an extra skater.
NOTES: Tuesday’s game marked the start of a five-game road trip through the Pacific Division for the Flames. When Calgary faced a six-game road trip at the end of 2007, the club responded with six victories…After the Sharks host Edmonton Thursday, the team begins an eight-game road trip Sunday in New York against the Rangers…The 18 shots on net in the first period were three off the season best for the Sharks, most recently accomplished on Jan. 29 in Edmonton…Patrick Marleau (groin) was a scratch for the first time this season…The announced attendance was 17,269, only 227 short of capacity.
