CALGARY, Alberta, 15 May 2004 — Evgeni Nabokov made 34 saves for his third playoff shutout and Alex Korolyuk collected two goals and an assist as San Jose blanked Calgary 3-0 to narrow the gap in the National Hockey League Western Conference finals.
San Jose never led in dropping the first two games at home. But the Sharks never trailed as the series shifted Thursday to the “sea of red” that the Pengrowth Saddledome has become during the Flames’ unlikely playoff run.
Nabokov had a lot to do with that, turning aside 10 shots in each of the first two periods and 14 in the third as the Sharks narrowed the gap in the best-of-seven series to two games to one.
Just over 7 1/2 minutes into the second, Korolyuk carried into the Calgary zone and pulled up at the top of the right faceoff circle.
He passed to Vincent Damphousse, who trailed the play, veered to the edge of the right circle and backhanded a shot past screened goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff.
It was Damphousse’s sixth playoff goal, all in the last nine games. Nabokov nursed the lead deep into the third period, when Korolyuk got a pass from Wayne Primeau at his own blue line and broke in alone on Kiprusoff.
He shifted to his backhand and shoveled a shot just out of reach of the goalie’s glove to give San Jose some breathing room with 1:50 left.
Calgary coach Darryl Sutter pulled Kiprusoff for an extra attacker, but the move backfired when Korolyuk completed his second multigoal game of this year’s playoffs with 44 seconds remaining.
The Flames, who fell to 3-4 at home in the postseason play, host Game Four tomorrow.
In Philadelphia, the Tampa Bay Lightning rebounded from a Game Two rout with a 4-1 victory over the Flyers.
Vincent Lecavalier beat a shaky Robert Esche on a breakaway early in the third period to turn the momentum as the Lightning regained home-ice advantage in the Eastern Conference finals.
In the three days since Philadelphia evened the series with a 6-2 rout, Lightning coach John Tortorella sparred verbally with Flyers counterpart Ken Hitchcock. But Tortorella’s players did more to shut Hitchcock’s “yap” than anything their coach said.
Keith Primeau trimmed Philadelphia’s deficit to 2-1 just 36 seconds into the third period, but Lecavalier permanently shifted the momentum to Tampa Bay 43 seconds later. An outlet pass by Martin St. Louis trapped Flyers defenseman Danny Markov and sprung Lecavalier on a breakaway. The Lightning’s former captain snapped a shot past Esche’s glove for his sixth playoff goal and first of this series.
Brad Richards capped the scoring at 8:20 off another feed from St. Louis, the Hart Trophy finalist who was held to a single goal in the first two games of the series.
Cory Stillman and former Flyer Ruslan Fedotenko tallied in the first period and Nikolai Khabibulin made 24 saves for Tampa Bay, which improved to 5-0 on the road in the postseason and handed the Flyers their first home playoff loss.
Meanwhile, Detroit Red Wings defenseman Derian Hatcher has been banned for three games, the NHL said. Hatcher was punished for an elbowing incident with the Calgary Flames’ Matthew Lombardi during Game Six of the Western Conference semifinals on May 3. The Flames progressed from the series, meaning Hatcher will serve his suspension at the beginning of the 2004-05 season.
