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Flames hoping to avoid elimination vs. Sharks

Apr 20, 2008 - 1:35 PM San Jose at Calgary 8:00 pm EDT Western Conference quarterfinals Sharks lead, 3-2

CALGARY, Alberta (Ticker) - The Calgary Flames and the San Jose Sharks have both recorded comeback victories in their Western Conference quarterfinal series. The Flames will now have to orchestrate a comeback in the series.

Trailing three games to two, the Flames will look to force a decisive seventh game when they host the Sharks for Game Six on Sunday.

Calgary had a two-games-to-one lead in the series after their impressive three-goal comeback in Game Three last Sunday, but San Jose evened the series in Game Four on Tuesday when the Flames squandered a lead late in the third period.

"We knew it was going to be a hard series," Flames captain Jarome 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 (to San Jose)."

The Flames' comeback attempt in Game Five on Thursday fell short.

Jonathan Cheechoo scored a pair of third-period goals and staked the Sharks to a three-goal lead. Alex Tanguay and David Moss each netted a tally for the Flames in the final session but San Jose held on for a 4-3 victory.

Despite holding the lead in the best-of-seven series, the Sharks know they still have a tough task in front of them.

"The next one will be the toughest," San Jose captain Patrick 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. (Iginla) leads by example as well. We have to be ready to match up."

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."