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Overtime
Luck Finally Runs OutÂ
Flames
and Bolts in Seventh
HeavenÂ
June
5th, 2004
D'ARCY
MCGRATH
Okay,
admit it, .... part of
you just knew it could
be that easy.
The
Flames poised to win a
Stanley Cup on home ice
just couldn't find a way
in front of the home
town fans, with the city
ready to let 'er rip,
the country waiting to
welcome back the cup.
Nope
... not meant to be, but
it was close as former
Flame Martin St. Louis
iced a close one,
netting the winner just
30 seconds into the
second overtime frame to
give the Lightning a 3-2
win and square the
series 3-3 and force
game seven.
How
much can a human heart
take?
The
Flames, simply put, just
didn't have it tonight.
A
listless, scoreless
first period.
A
lifeless start to the
second period, and two
Tampa powerplay goals
had the Flames
struggling to keep it
close through the game's
first 30 minutes.
First
Tampa's game winning
machine, Brad Richards,
got a fortunate one when
his centering pass went
off the inside of Miikka
Kiprusoff's blocker and
into his own net to put
the Bolts up 1-0.
Five
minutes later the Flames
tied the score at one
when Chris Clark
converted a sneaky pass
from Ville Nieminen to
score his third of the
playoffs. Nieminen,
"Villified"
for his hit from behind
on Vincent Lecavalier
just five nights ago
snaked the puck across
the crease to a wide
open Clark for a tap in.
Just
as the Calgary faithful
were considering taking
their seats from the
post goal celebration
the Flames were whistled
down for a penalty,
sending the Lighting to
their second second
period advantage,
sitting one for one.
With
the Flames pressing the
play to the side boards,
Brad Richards snuck free
and wired a shot through
Kiprusoff's pads to put
the Lightning up once
again.
Calgary
slowly chugged away at
the momentum to gain a
foothold on the
proceedings once again,
taking advantage late
when Oleg Saprykin
turned a Bolt giveaway
into a Marcus Nilson tip
in to tie the score once
again.
From
there the Flames carried
the play and had great
territorial advantage
but no true blue chip
chance to put the game
away.
One
chance, however, is sure
to queue up some water
cooler chat for some
time - that is, the
Martin Gelinas skate
redirect from Nieminen
with just over four
minutes left to
play.Â
Television
replays seem to show the
puck past the goalline
when Nikolai Khabibulin
kicks it out, a fact
that could have ended
the series with Gelinas
notching his fourth
straight series
clincher.
However,
there was never a pause
for a review and the
goal stood as inconclusive,
sending the game to
overtime.
The
first overtime period
was mostly Tampa, they
out shot the Flames by a
nine seven count, but
couldn't get the puck
into the danger paint to
take advantage of their
control.
The
periods' best chance
came when Nilson was in
position to tip a high
shot on Khabibulin, a
chance that likely
prevented Calgary
Stanley Cup.
Just
a half minute into the
second overtime, the
Lightening forced the
puck deep on a Chris
Simon neutral zone
turnover, the puck
finally winding up on
Martin St. Louis's stick
and into the net to
force a game seven for
the Stanley Cup.
Calgary,
a team that has already
tied the Devils' record
of 10 road wins in a
playoff season will look
to set a new NHL record
for victories away from
home, while the
Lightning will attempt
to end their win one
lose one streak at 13
games.
This
is it ... one game, one
trophy, one chance ...
what a great season.
Â
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