CALGARY — It was hours before the start of his team's sixth game of the Stanley Cup playoffs and head coach Mike Keenan knew exactly what the Calgary Flames needed to extend their postseason experience.
"Our goalie has to give us his best game," Keenan said, taking an accusatory jab at Miikka Kiprusoff, the guy who usually delivers outstanding performances as easily as he puts on his pads. The guy regarded as one of the best in the NHL, yet the same M. Kiprusoff whose shaky stretch (and yanking in the third game) against the San Jose Sharks made him look as though he'd put his skates on the wrong feet.
"I think he can perform better than he has performed," Keenan added for emphasis.
It turned out Keenan was right on the mark.
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Kiprusoff didn't just backstop Calgary to an all-important win Sunday night, he blanked the Sharks 2-0 with a 21-save showing that was cool, calm and collected. Vintage Kipper, as they say in these parts.
"Kipper played great," forward Kristian Huselius insisted. "The team played great and kept [the Sharks] to the outside. But Kipper was perfect."
Backed by a confident, rock-solid goaltender, the Flames pushed and got a seventh-game showdown in this Western Conference quarter-final. They did it with their best all-out effort so far in a series that has been every bit as close as hockey experts predicted.
So far, both teams have had good games and bad ones and watched seemingly secure leads fly over the glass and out of play. Both teams have won at home and on the road. Both have got strong showings from their captains (Patrick Marleau for the Sharks and Jarome Iginla for the Flames) and disappointing efforts, too (see Milan Michalek for San Jose and Alex Tanguay for Calgary).
Even the coaches have taken their turns at being factors — with Keenan not calling a timeout late in Calgary's fourth-game collapse and Ron Wilson complimenting himself (you're surprised?) on a fine job of line juggling and matching in the fifth game.
The only clear advantages through the initial six games were San Jose's 5-on-5 play and the work of goaltender Evgeni Nabokov, whose steadiness had earned Keenan's praise just days ago.
But Sunday night, the Flames were the better side playing at even strength, while Kiprusoff looked sharp and locked in from the first shot on goal to the last.
"Yeah, we played it right," Kiprusoff said of the Flames as a group. "The guys were blocking shots and playing very smart. … A win is a win, but a shutout is [about] how your team plays."
The Flames pounded San Jose early and often and held a territorial advantage throughout the first period. As Calgary defenceman Cory Sarich noted, "It was a better effort by everyone all over the ice, and it started with Kipper in goal."
When the Sharks came to life in the second period, Kiprusoff was as unbeatable as a winter storm. His best save was a glove grab off a screened shot from Joe Thornton.
The victory offered other signs of encouragement for the Flames. Aside from Iginla, few other forwards had been producing with any degree of regularity. Owen Nolan and Daymond Langkow each scored and now have five goals between them, and that's given the Sharks something to think about.
Huselius also had a telling evening for someone who has never been a favourite of Keenan's. Sunday night, Calgary went with seven defencemen and even used Jim Vandermeer on the wing instead of Huselius, whose hit total over 81 regular-season games was nine.
That's right, Huselius threw an average of one bodycheck every nine games. But once in the game, he battled on every shift and was aggressive on a fore-check that never allowed the Sharks out of deep water.
Which brings us to the Flames' chances of moving on to the postseason's second round. Of course, everyone on the Flames is convinced they can win in the Shark Tank. The players love the way they responded to elimination in the sixth game and how everyone contributed.
The captain spoke for his teammates when asked to sum up their mood.
"We believe," Iginla said. "We've got a lot of respect for San Jose, they had a great regular season and every game has been close. But we want this for ourselves."
And now that Kiprusoff looks to be back on board, they know their wanting could be enough to decide the outcome in a series so close its ending is going to hurt one side.
A lot.
