Calgary Flames Burnout against San Jose Sharks, Lose in Shootout
Everybody knew it would be a tough match, and it certainly was, as both teams didn’t let go without a fight. Calgary were so close to regaining a short lived playoff spot going up against San Jose but couldn’t make it through, losing 4-3 after a hard fought
shootout. San Jose have won their fifth game in a row now, after defeating the Flames at the sold-out Scotia Bank, Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta in front of a 19,289 crowd.
Calgary goalie Miikka Kiprusoff gave an amazing performance throughout the game, making 30 saves. The shootout became the game decider when Kiprusoff mistakenly let the last attempt by the Sharks through.
Devin Setoguchi scored the opening goal of the match at 3:34 of the first period, intensely as it was; the Flames were able to respond, tying the match 1-1 at the end of the first, when Anton Babchuk scored his 10th of the season. Kyle Wellwood
got an inside pass from Jamal Mayers scoring the Sharks second midway through the second, but the Flames heated up when David Moss and Niklas Hagman took the lead, each scoring a minute and a half apart to make it 3-2 entering the final period.
San Jose defenseman did a spectacular job of blocking Calgary attackers from entering the net premises; they had only 5 shot attempts while San Jose had 11. It was a drought in the final and deciding period as Calgary was ahead, up until left wing Ryane
Clowe with a little help from that game winner shooter Patrick Marleau, shot it under Kiprusoff with less than 3 minutes remaining to tie the match and force overtime.
Both teams had two attempts in the 5 minute OT but none of them made the buzzer blow, taking the match to a SO, which Calgary and San Jose have so much experience at. Calgary made this their third SO of the month, losing previously to the Los Angeles Kings
who also beat the Sharks in the same situation.
The Saddledome stadium roared with voices screaming “Goal”. It was all up to Kiprusoff and counterpart Antti Niemi to secure the match. Both teams had 3 attempts, Calgary made best use of all of them but had no luck getting them through Niemi. Wellwood and
Joe Pavelski who had the first two chances for the Sharks were wide off the net in their attempts while Rene Bourque and Alex Tanguay each took Calgary’s shots just missing by an inch, being blocked my Niemi.
Ryane Clowe scored his second goal of the night, firstly tying it and now the winning goal, shooting over Kiprusoffs shoulder and into the net. Olli Jokinen faced enormous pressure from the crowd, as being the last shooter for the Flames, the burden was
all on him, he was blocked my Niemi and was harshly disappointed as seen by the expressions on his face.
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