• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Kiprusoff, Flames seeking two-game cushion

Apr 10, 2008 - 1:45 PM Calgary at San Jose 10:00 pm EDT Western Conference quarterfinals Flames lead, 1-0

SAN JOSE, California (Ticker) - Miikka Kiprusoff helped the Calgary Flames cool off the red-hot San Jose Sharks in Game One of their Western Conference quarterfinal showdown.

Kiprusoff and the Flames try to take a two-games-to-none lead against the Sharks when the teams continue their best-of-seven series on Thursday.

The 31-year-old Kiprusoff made 37 saves and Stephane Yelle scored twice as the seventh-seeded Flames withstood a late surge on Wednesday to claim a 3-2 victory over the second-seeded Sharks.

San Jose, who posted an 18-0-2 down the stretch, has now lost three straight games, including a pair of loses to close the regular season.

"Everybody knows he's a great goalie," Sharks leading-scorer Joe Thornton said. "We've just got to get more traffic on him. When he sees the shot, he's going to save it every time. We're going to have to work for our goals in this series."

Kiprusoff, who led Calgary to the 2004 Stanley Cup finals, kept the Flames in the game despite the fact his team was outshot 39-23 - a statistic that doesn't bother coach Mike Keenan.

"Sometimes you are concerned, but the feel at ice level is, (San Jose's shots) came in flurries," Keenan said. "It wasn't a major concern. You always put the puck at the net and anything can happen, but Kipper was really strong for us. ... We have encouraged our players to shoot the puck more often than they do, but I don't know if the shots on goal always reflect the play."

With the win, Kiprusoff improved to 4-1-0 this season against the Sharks, whom he played his first three NHL seasons with from 2000-03.

Ryane Clowe netted both tallies for San Jose and believes that his team needs to play harder to get back on track in Game Two.

"It was our plan, coming in, to use our size and speed and strength to play a physical game and play down low," Clowe said. "We lost some loose pucks (and) little things like (winning) faceoffs, winger helping out, centerman bearing down more, (didn't happen). We had good scoring chances, but they wanted it more (on Wednesday), they were hungrier. We have to battle harder."