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Associated PressFLAMES 4, SHARKS 3 (OT): San Jose comes out firing but Calgary's Miikka Kiprusoff is up to the task.
SAN JOSE, Calif. - The secret to the Flames' improbable postseason success has a bushy red beard and an ugly, green hard hat.
Miikka Kiprusoff also has plenty of motivation against the Sharks, who got an early reminder of just how good their former backup goalie has become.
Steve Montador scored 18:43 into overtime, and Kiprusoff stopped 49 shots in Calgary's 4-3 victory in Game 1 of the West final Sunday.
Kiprusoff called it the busiest game of his life, and he still was soaked in sweat when his teammates presented him with the hard hat - the Flames' reward for the hardest-working player in every game. Kiprusoff wore it proudly in the building where he was Evgeni Nabokov's backup for three seasons.
"It's fun to be here against (the Sharks), but I don't think it makes any difference," Kiprusoff said. "It's the finals. That's enough."
Alex Korolyuk scored with 3:21 left in regulation to force overtime for the Sharks, who set a franchise playoff record with 52 shots and controlled large stretches of play.
But Kiprusoff, who became a star after the Sharks traded him to Calgary last November, was tough to beat - and the Flames took advantage of a botched line change to score the winner.
The Sharks held Flames captain Jarome Iginla without a shot in regulation and also dominated overtime, outshooting Calgary 12-5 - but Iginla made the winning pass to Montador. The low-scoring, seldom-used defenseman skated untouched into the slot, rapped his stick on the ice and beat Nabokov, who made 33 saves.
"I think the crowd was going, and I wanted to make sure that Jarome could hear me," Montador said. "I just said, "Thanks for listening.' "
Game 2 is Tuesday in San Jose.
Craig Conroy had two goals and Krzysztof Oliwa one for the Flames, who won their fourth consecutive overtime game.
"We've been able to steal games while they're all over us," Conroy said. "Kipper gave us a chance. We have a whole different kind of confidence with him back there."
Mike Ricci and Todd Harvey scored in the second for the Sharks, who have lost consecutive home playoff games after winning the first five.
"We've got more where that came from," Sharks coach Ron Wilson said. "It's disappointing to lose the game the way we did, on kind of a detail thing, a bad change. With 52 shots, I think we could have had 62 shots. We'll play the same way the next game, take our chances."
Both teams stuck to the strategies that propelled them into this unlikely matchup. San Jose rallied from 14th place in the conference last spring to the best season in franchise history, while the sixth-seeded Flames ended a seven-season playoff drought before upsetting Vancouver and Detroit.
"The bottom line is, I would bet it's easier to win the first game in this building than it would be Game 7," said Calgary coach Darryl Sutter, the Sharks' coach for 51/2 seasons before getting fired in December 2002.
The Sharks had 18 shots in the first, but didn't score. Kiprusoff's scoreless streak of nearly 170 minutes ended on Ricci's rebound goal midway through the second.
"I thought we carried the play most of the night," Sharks defenseman Scott Hannan said. "Kipper kept them in the game."