San Jose gets shut out at ‘The Tank’, 3-0; Calgary takes 3-2
series lead
SAN JOSE – The Calgary Flames scored two goals in the first period on the way to a 3-0 blanking of the San Jose Sharks Monday at HP Pavilion, leaving the hosts one loss away from elimination in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Flames captain Jarome Iginla and Marcus Nilson solved Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov in the first period, the third consecutive game at HP Pavilion to have Calgary taking a 2-0 lead into the first intermission. Craig Conroy completed the scoring with a goal 12:47 into the second period.
San Jose trails 3-2 in the Western Conference Finals with a sixth game set for Wednesday in Calgary. The Sharks are 2-0 on the Flames ice this series. A seventh game, needed if the Sharks win Wednesday’s affair, would be Friday in San Jose.
“We weren’t going to score tonight,” San Jose coach Ron Wilson said of the Sharks’ problems finding the net against Flames goalie Miikka Kiprusoff.
“It seemed we didn’t have the energy to mount much of an attack. We started the same way we started games one and two (also losses),” continued the coach. “We didn’t have anybody on the same page – some not even the same chapter. Where that performance came from, I have no idea.”
Wilson added that the tone of the game was established early.
“Two minutes into the game,” said the coach about when he realized the Sharks were not likely to perform as well as they did in the two wins in Calgary.
“They were pressing us before the first goal,” noted the coach. Calgary built a 7-1 edge in shots on net through the first six minutes.
At the 6:03 mark, Calgary’s Mike Commodore was whistled for holding, setting up the first San Jose power play. Just 24 seconds later, Iginla pounced on a Vincent Damphousse cross-ice pass, jetting up-ice for the breakaway and tap-in inside the left post as Nabokov slid, unable to deny the Flames star.
“Obviously, it’s my mistake,” Damphousse said. “We didn’t play a very strong game for whatever reason. We have to go back to Calgary and regroup. There’s a lot of things we could have done better.”
Calgary’s next shot on net also found the cage. Flames winger Ville Nieminen stole the puck from Niko Dimitrakos along the right boards, then fought off a stick to the face by Dimitrakos to find an unmarked Nilson in the slot for the wrist shot over Nabokov’s right shoulder at 8:29.
“This whole series has a lot of young guys on both teams,” said Calgary coach Darryl Sutter. “It’s been turnovers” leading to key goals. “Two turnovers cost us the first two goals Sunday.”
Calgary’s Craig Conroy outraced Shark Kyle McLaren for a loose puck at the redline and went the distance to make it 3-0. Conroy’s move across the low slot skimmed off Nabokov and off the right post.
“The positive is that we’ve done this before,” Wilson said of the team’s trip to Calgary needing a victory. “I would expect everybody to be ready. Then we can come back hopefully on Friday and find a remedy.”
