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CALGARY - It was a pretty good weekend for Patrick Marleau.
The Sharks center was awakened Saturday morning to learn he had been selected for Canada's World Cup team. Sunday, he broke out of a seven-game goal-scoring slump and added an assist in a 4-2 win that tied the West final at 2.
"He was playing well before tonight," said linemate Vincent Damphousse, who assisted on Marleau's goal and scored off his assist. "People shouldn't just look at points. That's not how you judge how someone plays. He skates hard and goes to the net and creates a lot of room for other people."
A captain at age 24, Marleau tied career highs this season with a team-leading 57 points (28 goals) and is slowly getting accustomed to the leadership and statistical roles being foisted upon him.
"With this bunch of guys in the room, (Jonathan Cheechoo, Mike Ricci, Damphousse) there isn't that much pressure to score," Marleau said, "because I know they can all help out."
FLAMEOUT: Calgary ended its scoreless power play streak at 25, but a 1-for-8 performance, including 0-for-3 in the first, was dismal in itself. "We have to have more production than that," said defenseman Jordan Leopold, who assisted on Chris Simon's power-play goal with 40 seconds left. "That's the difference between winning and losing in the playoffs."
MEAN: Series-long animosity and Flames frustration was brewing at the end when Calgary's Chuck Kobasew tripped Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov as he skated through the crease. But referee Don Koharskidefused a final bloodletting when he chucked the Sharks' Scott Thornton and tough guy Simon off the ice with seven seconds left.
NATIONAL PRIDE: As the lone Canadian team alive, Calgary has been adopted temporarily by the country's fans and media.
An editorial cartoon in the Montreal Gazette showed a waving Canadian flag with the flaming C in place of a maple leaf. The announcement of the real Team Canada siphoned some attention away from the West final on Saturday, especially considering two Flames, Jarome Iginla and Robyn Regehr, and Marleau were named. Sharks coach Ron Wilson, who was born in Ontario but raised in Rhode Island, was not about to inject his opinion into the debate.
"That's for the Canadians to debate," he said. "And the thing you have to remember, this is a team, not an All-Star game. You have to have defensemen who can play offense and defensive defensemen and guys who can play the power play and guys who play a role you give them. I think they did a pretty good job."