CALGARY - If Flames agitator Ville Nieminen was starting to feel the pressure of a critical Western Conference final Game 4, he wasn't showing it.
Of course, when you're wearing a bright red T-shirt bearing an image of a scrawny 9-year-old Jarome Iginla and the caption "Hangin' in the 'Dome with Jarome,' it's hard to look anything but comical. It was enough to make Nieminen's maniacal grin look more like a humorous smirk.
Then there was the Finn's attempt at wit, or an absolute hack job on the English language.
"We got too anxious out there in Game 3," he said, slowing so his zinger was plainly understood. "We need to play hospital hockey. Patient."
The punch line needed punching up, but the message was right for a Flames team that won the first two games of the series at San Jose, but looked flustered and faulty Thursday in a 3-0 loss in front of one of the most partisan home environments in the league. Keep it simple and battle, or a Sharks team that has played better much of the series could make a run for the Stanley Cup final against the Lightning or Philadelphia.
Though a two-day break in the series could allow the animosity that built up in the final minutes of Game 3 to subside, the Sharks could leave Calgary tonight with a lot of confidence heading into Game 5 on Monday in San Jose.
The Sharks dominated much of Game 1 but fell 4-3 in overtime after Miikka Kiprusoff's 49-save effort led to defenseman Steve Montador's winner, his first goal this postseason. Outplayed in Game 2, San Jose responded Thursday with an efficient win led by goaltender Evgeni Nabokov's 34 saves.
"Last game, we were just passengers," Nieminen said.
If Nabokov is settling in, the Flames' ride could be at an end.
They remain confident that Kiprusoff will give them a chance to win, however, and that the series is within their control.
"I think there's always games you win (that) you shouldn't have won," said center Craig Conroy, who scored twice in Game 1. "I thought there were battles in (Game 1) and we won some, but we didn't win them all. In Game 2 we won a lot of those battles and in Game 3 we did not. We know that's why we lost, and that's why we have to play our heart out."
Key in that effort will be summoning the willingness to work in front of the net, where the Sharks' talented defenseman rotation of Mike Rathje, Kyle McLaren, Scott Hannan and Brad Stuart made life difficult on Flames scorers, namely Iginla. Nabokov or any other goaltender will not look so good if he cannot see the puck coming, Conroy said.
A breakout game from Iginla would help. Tied for the NHL regular-season goal title (41), he has seven goals (and 14 points) in the playoffs but only one goal against San Jose.
Sharks coach Ron Wilson said he did not expect a carryover from Game 3 when a nasty fight ratcheted up the intensity between teams that skate and check very hard.
The tussle, instigated by Flames tough guy Chris Simon, broke out after Alex Korolyuk pulled up to score a late empty-netter. Believing Korolyuk to be showboating, Simon went after the Sharks' Mike Rathje, who generally does not fight, leaving the defenseman with a purple and red right eye socket.
"A game is too important to have some kind of retribution early that costs you a game and cost you the series," Wilson said.
That's not to say hitting will decrease. Though the Flames locker room was in a light-hearted mood Saturday, no one expects it to continue today.
"The dislike or the intensity in the series has grown," said Iginla, ejected late in Game 3 for arguing with officials. "Naturally it does. Each game is important, but as it goes along, they're more important. San Jose is a very similar team, we think. What they do is what we want to do and the one that is more intense will get it done."
No more joking today, it sounds.
St. Louis, Richards with Canada for Cup
Lightning forwards Martin St. Louis and Brad Richards were included on Canada's roster for this summer's World Cup.
Tampa Bay's Vinny Lecavalier and suspended Vancouver forward Todd Bertuzzi were among the players left off of the team, named by executive director Wayne Gretzky.
Paul Kariya, Eric Lindros, Keith Primeau, Jose Theodore and Brendan Shanahan also were notable omissions.
Gretzky's choices were an intriguing mix of youth and experience, with grinders alongside the league's best scorers. Besides St. Louis, several young players got their first call for a major international tournament, including Boston's Joe Thornton, San Jose's Patrick Marleau and Atlanta's Dany Heatley.
- Information from Times wires was used in this report.
