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Cheechoo's big third period leads Sharks past Flames

Apr 18, 2008 - 7:25 AM SAN JOSE, California (Ticker) -- After a massive meltdown in Game Three, the San Jose Sharks may just be back on the right track.

Jonathan Cheechoo scored a pair of third-period goals as the second-seeded Sharks posted a 4-3 victory Thursday over the sixth-seeded Calgary Flames in the pivotal Game Five of their Western Conference quarterfinal series.

Joe Pavelski and captain Patrick Marleau each had a goal and an assist for the Sharks, who were outshot, 36-26, but grabbed a three-games-to-two lead in the series.

"The next one will be the toughest," Marleau said. "We have to rest up here and get ready for that one."

"It's the playoffs. They want it as bad as we do," Cheechoo added. "They will come at us hard. Their captain (Jarome Iginla) leads by example as well. We have to be ready to match up."

Iginla, Daymond Langkow and David Moss scored for Calgary, which hosts Game Six on Sunday.

"We knew it was going to be a hard series," Iginla said. "Every game has been tough and been close. We know they're a good team, but we believe we can get that game Sunday and come back here."

"It was a best-of-three entering tonight and we knew we had to win one in their building," Flames left wing Alex Tanguay added. "In order for us to advance, it's going to have to be the last one. So we have to make sure that we do the things that we did that made us play good in Game Six and give ourselves a chance."

Flames coach Mike Keenan knows his team needs to take it one game at a time.

"You can't look at two wins," he said. "You have to look at the next win. ... It puts a lot of emphasis, certainly, on our preparation and our ability to come back in Game Six. That's all we can worry about right now."

With the series even at one game apiece, San Jose scored three goals in the first 3:33 of Game Three, only to drop a 4-3 decision. But after rallying for two late third-period goals in Game Four to post a 3-2 victory, the Sharks erased a 1-0 deficit with four consecutive tallies in this one and held on to move within one win of the conference semifinals.

"It was big to keep home ice in a best-of-three series now," Pavelski said. "We gave one away early in the series. We wanted this one."

Following a scoreless first period, Iginla one-timed a return pass by Kristian Huselius past goaltender Evgeni Nabokov from the top of the right faceoff circle during a 5-on-3 power play at 4:03 of the second to give Calgary the lead.

Joe Thornton nearly evened the contest a minute later, but he failed to register a shot on goal during a breakaway chance.

However, the Sharks forged a 1-1 tie midway through the period as Pavelski converted a feed from defenseman Christian Ehrhoff during a man advantage at 11:32.

"The rebound was right there for an easy and quick tap-in," Pavelski said.

"Tonight, I would argue that our best player was Joe Pavelski," Sharks coach Ron Wilson said. "I think Joe Pavelski set the example for the other guys."

Marleau gave San Jose a 2-1 edge with 1:53 left in the second, receiving a pass from Thornton and beating netminder Miikka Kiprusoff from the inner edge of the left circle for his 33rd career playoff goal.

"You're probably not going to win too many series if you don't string a couple (goals) together," Marleau said. "We were fortunate enough to do that tonight."

Cheechoo took over in the first half of the third, banging in a loose puck on the doorstep at 4:52 before putting a wrist shot from the right circle into the top left corner of the net during a 2-on-1 rush at 8:22.

"The difference tonight is, we scored on our chances," Cheechoo said. "We were given chances and we scored. Times before, Kipper came up with the big save on some of us. This time, we were able to put pucks past him."

"It's good to see Cheech get those goals," Marleau said. "He's definitely a goal-scorer. You can see that by where he puts the puck when he scores."

Trailing, 4-1, the Flames fought back as Alex Tanguay carried the puck down the right wing and dished to Langkow, who netted a power-play goal from the doorstep at 9:06.

With Kiprusoff pulled for an extra attacker, Iginla made a backhand pass from behind the net to Moss, who jammed the puck past Nabokov from near the left goalpost with 77 seconds remaining to make it a one-goal game.

Tanguay had a chance to give Calgary the lead in the first period, but his shot during a breakaway hit the goalpost.

"Tonight, they got the right bounces at the right time and we didn't," Tanguay said. "I hit the post on a breakaway. It didn't go in and they got a couple of bounces later in the game, and that's the difference."

While recording three assists, Tanguay has yet to score a goal in the series.

"I know I've got to produce," he said. "But I thought I played a pretty solid game. I'm just not getting the bounces, and it's been like that for a long time. I'm just going to keep pushing and hopefully they go in."

Nabokov made 33 saves for the Sharks, including 25 over the first two periods.

"Nabby's been great for us," Marleau said. "Goalies have to be in the playoffs. He's helped us when we haven't gotten our game going in the first period. He's held us in there."