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SAN JOSE — The statistics don't always tell the whole story, but this was one time when they actually did:
In the second period of the second game of their Western Conference playoff series Thursday night, the San Jose Sharks outshot the Calgary Flames 27-3.
No, that was not a typo. No, that was not a mistake - unless you're referring to the way the Flames played the second period, which is to say, about as undisciplined as one can be in a game that didn't finish as a blowout.
Officially, it went into the books as a 2-0 San Jose victory, which evened the best-of-seven playoff series at one game apiece. The participants now get two days off to rest, recover and get their prescriptions for their nasty pills refilled, before hostilities resume in Calgary Sunday night.
Sharks centre Joe Pavelski, facing, is congratulated by defenceman Marc-Edouard Vlasic after scoring the winning goal. (Paul Sakuma/AP)
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- Calgary Flames
- San Jose Sharks
- Kristian Huselius
- Jarome Iginla
- Miikka Kiprusoff
- Patrick Marleau
- Torrey Mitchell
- Evgeni Nabokov
- Owen Nolan
- Joe Pavelski
- Cory Sarich
- Joe Thornton
- Jim Vandermeer
- Stephane Yelle
For the comparative closeness of the game, the Flames can thank goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff, who produced a super-human display of NHL netminding, in the face of what must surely have looked as if he were a sitting duck in a carnival shooting gallery.
Or it certainly would have seemed that way whenever the Sharks' Joe Pavelski loaded up for a shot. Pavelski rang up six of those 27 second-period shots, plus three other bombs that whistled around Kiprusoff's ears but missed the net. Most of the onslaught came during a 76-second span of the middle period when Kristian Huselius, Stephane Yelle and Jim Vandermeer all trooped off to the penalty box, giving the Sharks an extended five-on-three advantage.
How long was it? So long that coach Ron Wilson eventually called a timeout in order to rest his No. 1 power play. Joe Thornton played nine-and-a-half minutes in that period; Pavelski and Patrick Marleau just over nine apiece.
Time and again, the Sharks moved the puck to the open man. Time and again, Kiprusoff moved across the crease to make the save. The Flames came within nine seconds of escaping the mess entirely unscathed, or until Sharks rookie Torrey Mitchell — a member of the second power play - finally popped one past Kiprusoff, from a goalmouth scramble.
"It was close," said Vandermeer. "Kipper gave us a great chance to stay in it."
Even after all that, Calgary only found itself behind by two at the second intermission, despite a 35-13 edge on the shot clock by the Sharks.
If Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov hadn't flashed leather to rob Owen Nolan from point-blank range — by diving right across the crease with 4:51 to go in the third — it could have set the stage for a fabulous finish.
Nabokov called the save on Nolan a "little lucky. I just tried to put my glove somewhere there and hope that he would hit me."
In all, Nabokov made three exceptional glove saves — two in the first, one against Jarome Iginla with two seconds to go in the period — that kept the Sharks in it. Pavelski called the saves "huge for us because it keeps the game 0-0. It could be 2-0 and we're battling from behind again."
That was a reference to the opener in which Nabokov was victimized for two goals in the first six minutes of Calgary's 3-1 win. Nabokov said he was able to shrug off the loss with unexpected ease, something that doesn't always happen for him.
"When I came home, I talked to (his wife) Tabitha and she goes, 'How do you feel?' " said Nabokov. "I said it doesn't really matter how I feel because we have to play tomorrow. You have to kind of shut down and to be honest with you, I went back to sleep right away. It's never happened before, to be honest with you."
Usually it takes much longer?
"Usually, you're up until 3:00 or 4:00 at least," said Nabokov. "Obviously it was a devastating loss for us. We played well (in Game 1) but they scored two of those quick goals. Again, it's in the past and we have to prepare."
The goal that Pavelski ultimately scored — at the 4:56 mark of the second period — proved to be decisive, the eventual game-winner. The play began when Pavelski scooped up the rebound of a Marc-Eduard Vlasic shot that caromed off the boards. Turning in front of Vandermeer and using him as a screen, Pavelski whirled and fired and found a gap, giving the Sharks a 1-0 lead.
"Kipper doesn't know where the puck is there," said Pavelski. "He's trying to find it, coming off the boards.
"I had so many great chances against him tonight one-on-one. The one I couldn't see goes in. Maybe I should shoot with my eyes closed more."
Seconds after Pavelski's goal, Kiprusoff was assessed a minor for holding Thornton's stick, which started the Flames' extended parade to the penalty box.
"The calls were because the guys were maybe being too aggressive," said Vandermeer. "There were a couple of stick fouls — crosschecking, slashing. It's a matter of playing hard, but playing with discipline."
For his part, Iginla was unimpressed with the refereeing. His greatest beef came when the Sharks pulled down Nolan killing a penalty, but didn't get the call.
"I haven't been in many like that," said Iginla, "but we move on. Our PK was great tonight; Kipper was great, and so was Nabokov."
Coach Mike Keenan was equally cryptic about the refereeing. When asked for a comment, he replied: "I'll share those thoughts with the league and the supervisor of officials."
Up until Pavelski broke the ice for the Sharks, the teams had played it pretty evenly for about the first 24 or so minutes. Kiprusoff's best save in the opening period also came against Pavelski, from point-blank range following a Vandermeer turnover. But his Sharks counterpart, Nabokov, made two highlight-reel stops himself, one on Cory Sarich early, and then another on Iginla with two seconds left on the clock in the opening period.
As it was, an aggressive entertaining game morphed into something else, as the Flames crossed the line too often in their bid to get the physical edge. For all that, the Flames came away from their two games in San Jose with a split and a sense that this may be a long series yet.
"We're pretty confident going home," said Kiprusoff. "We have to start getting ready for that now."
By The Numbers
27 — Second-period shots surrendered by the Flames, breaking the team playoff record of 23 set last season against Detroit.
8 — Second-period off-target shots by the Sharks, which could have made their totals even more impressive.
10:07 — Total amount of time the Flames played a man short in an undisciplined, penalty-filled second period.
