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Roenick guides Sharks past Flames, into West semis

Apr 23, 2008 - 7:40 AM SAN JOSE, California (Ticker) -- Two days after being forced to watch from the sidelines, Jeremy Roenick made a statement for the San Jose Sharks.

Roenick scored a pair of goals and set up two others as the second-seeded San Jose Sharks erupted for four tallies in the second period Tuesday en route to a 5-3 triumph over the seventh-seeded Calgary Flames in Game Seven of their Western Conference quarterfinal series.

Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski and Devin Setoguchi also netted goals for the Sharks, who advanced to face the fifth-seeded Dallas Stars in the conference semifinals.

"We played hard for 60 minutes, and that's a great team over there," Thornton said. "Calgary is a great team and they pushed us right to our breaking point. But when we needed it, everybody dug down and got it done. That's the sign of a very good hockey team."

Defenseman Christian Ehrhoff recorded two assists and Evgeni Nabokov made 19 saves for San Jose, which improved to 4-2 all-time in Game Sevens in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

"Our question the whole season long was, 'Can we come back in a game like this?'" Nabokov said. "As soon as they got the lead, I think we answered all the questions. We came back strong and scored all those goals."

Captain Jarome Iginla and former Sharks Owen Nolan and Wayne Primeau scored and blue-liner Adrian Aucoin notched two assists for the Flames, who were outshot, 41-22, in falling to 5-7 in seventh games.

"We're obviously disappointed," Iginla said. "Unfortunately, we let it slip away. I don't think we were assertive enough. ... I thought guys worked extremely hard to get to this point to give us a chance to win the series, but it's about a 10-minute span where they won the game and ended up winning the series."

"It's tough being knocked out," Nolan added. "We felt we had a strong-enough team to beat them, and unfortunately, we came up short."

A healthy scratch for San Jose's 2-0 loss in Game Six, Roenick was assured by coach Ron Wilson he would be in the lineup for the decisive seventh game of the quarterfinals. The 38-year-old, who put off retirement to sign with the Sharks just before the start of the season, made the most of the chance, assuring himself it would not be his final NHL game.

"It's nice to contribute," said Roenick, who tied the franchise mark for most points in a playoff game set by Mike Ricci in 1999. "It was not fun sitting out Game Six. It's a little embarrassing. You don't like to do that, but I understand. You get older, you have to accept certain roles and certain things that happen to you."

"Ronnie (coach Ron Wilson) said we would give him off for Game Six so he could be fresh for Game Seven," Thornton said. "He looked unbelievable. He's a big-time player and it was just an unbelievable performance tonight."

Wilson explained his reason for sitting Roenick, who had not recorded a point in the first five games of the series, on Sunday.

"He was struggling a little bit, and throughout the season, we gave a convenient rest to him," Wilson said. "We tried to schedule it where it's not a rest for one day, it's a rest for three or four days. I told him that, well before Game Six, he wasn't going to play but (that) he was playing either Game One of the next series or Game Seven if it came to that.

"He needed to energize, and I texted him (Monday) night and told him I was going to rely on him heavily, and he was all excited about that. Did I expect him to get four points? No. Maybe a chip-in, do something on the power play. He's got a lot of poise."

After helping to set up Thornton's power-play goal midway through the first period, Roenick forged a 2-2 tie at 6:04 of the second with his 52nd career playoff tally. Exactly three minutes later, the veteran cashed in during a man advantage to put San Jose ahead for good.

"It was Jeremy tonight," said Calgary's Mike Keenan, who coached Roenick in Chicago from 1988-92. "He was ready to play and he stepped it up. ... He's responded well in Game Sevens historically. He got a little more ice time as the game went on and he found himself in a position to make a difference, and he did."

With the multi-goal effort, Roenick - who is in search of the first Stanley Cup championship of his 19-year career - has netted six tallies in six Game Seven appearances.

"It feels great," Roenick said. "I might be 38 years old, but I feel right now like I'm 19. That's a good thing for me."

"What can you say?" Pavelski asked. "The energy he brought to us was just awesome. His credibility in Game Seven is great, and he showed why it's so high. He didn't let anyone down tonight."

Pavelski made it 4-2 just under five minutes later, and Roenick assisted on Setoguchi's first career playoff goal 52 seconds afterward to complete his four-point performance.

"I'm going to go have a soda water. Beer and wine are not in my repertoire right now," Roenick said. "I can go back tonight and really relish it, there's no question."

"What more can you say about him?" Setoguchi asked. "You knew he would come ready to play, and he played a great game. It was a privilege to be out there with him on the ice."

Primeau stopped the bleeding at 5:18 of the third with his first tally of the series, but the Flames were unable to get any closer despite pulling goaltender Curtis Joseph for an extra attacker with three minutes to go.

Joseph, who made 10 saves, entered the game in the second period in relief of Miikka Kiprusoff. The Finnish netminder was pulled for the second time in the series after allowing four goals on 30 shots.

"I felt pretty good, but it's tough," Kiprusoff said of his performance. "It's 4-2 in the second period, so I can't be happy with that."

"Kipper didn't play very well," Keenan said. "Certainly, I was surprised. I thought that he would give us his best game. He just wasn't on tonight."

It was the 10th Game Seven appearance by Keenan, making him the all-time leader among NHL coaches. Despite falling to 5-5, Keenan moved ahead of Scotty Bowman, Pat Burns and Pat Quinn in the category.

Hosting a Game Seven for the first time in franchise history, the Sharks got off to a good start as Thornton converted a cross-crease pass from below the left faceoff circle by Jonathan Cheechoo at 10:57 of the opening period.

But the lead did not last long as the Flames answered with a power-play goal of their own 86 seconds later. Aucoin unleashed a wrist shot from the right point that deflected off Iginla and past Nabokov with 7:37 to go, knotting the contest at 1-1.

It was the 25th career playoff goal and third in a seventh game for Iginla.

Nolan gave Calgary a 2-1 edge at 3:33 of the second. Nabokov stopped his shot during a breakaway, but the rebound caromed off the former San Jose captain's right shin and into the net for his third tally of the series.

"We came into this game believing we were going to win," Iginla said. "We were up 2-1 in the second period and we were coming, and unfortunately, we didn't sustain it and didn't stay after them. In a game like that, it's not something we'd believe was going to happen, so it's definitely numbing."

Roenick ignited the Sharks' four-goal outburst with a turnaround shot from above the slot that sailed between the legs of Setoguchi in front and past Kiprusoff. With Calgary's Craig Conroy serving an interference penalty three minutes later, Roenick pounced on his own rebound at the bottom of the left circle and fired the puck over Kiprusoff's right shoulder for a 3-2 advantage.

"The first goal was just getting a shot on net, keeping the puck in, getting it on net," said Roenick, whose initial tally originally was credited to Setoguchi. "Sometimes it goes in. You never know what can happen.

"The second one was on a power play. Get it on net and follow the rebound. I was fortunate to catch a piece of the corner."

Pavelski ended Kiprusoff's night with 5:59 remaining in the middle session, chipping a loose puck over the prone goalie from the doorstep after Mike Grier's initial shot hit the skate of defenseman Cory Sarich.

Keenan's decision to replace Kiprusoff did not work as Setoguchi put a shot from the top of the slot off the left goalpost and past Joseph less than a minute after the veteran netminder entered the game.

"It felt great to help out the team," Setoguchi said. "New goalie came in, so we just said, 'Put pucks on the net.' I took a quick shot and it went in."

"You want to have periods like that, especially in Game Seven, to give yourself a little bit of a breather," Roenick said. "You don't like these tight games. If it had stayed 2-2 or 1-1, guys start squeezing their sticks a little tighter, so if you can get a lead like that, it's important."

From behind the net, David Moss passed in front to Primeau, who had the puck deflect off his elbow and get past Nabokov less than 5 1/2 minutes into the third, cutting Calgary's deficit to 5-3. But that was all the Flames would get as the Sharks went on to become the 78th home team in the 123 Game Sevens in playoff history to emerge victorious.