Sharks advance in 7 over Flames
06.05.04 22:52MST
Sharks beat Flames 3-2 to advance to the Semi's
Patrick Marleau (pictured) had a great night to help his team eliminate the Calgary Flames and advance to the Western Conference Finals after a hard fought 7 game series. The Shark scored 3 unanswered goals to erase a 2 goal deficit en-route to the win.
Chris Drury opened the scoring with his 4th of the playoffs from Iginla and McAmmond at 3:44 of the first period. Iginla scored his 5th of the playoffs from McAmmond and Drury shortly after at 5:09 to double the lead. But the Sharks responded.
Former Flame Nils Ekman scored at 6:01 of the second from young linemates Derek Roy and Jonathan Cheechoo to draw the visitors to within one. The Sharks continued their comeback in the third with 2 quick goals from Justin Williams, scoring his 6th on the powerplay from Marleau and Roy at 5:18, and Marleau shorthanded from Bradley and Hannan at 7:56 for the winner.
"Marleau's shortie was the back breaker." Noted Head Coach Paul Maurice. "We had the lead, sat back and got scared. Once they got going we had nothing left. We were emotionally spent."
With one season left for both the General Manager and Head Coach may speculate that there maybe changes brewing in Calgary ahead of this year's draft.
The Sharks will face-off against first place St.Louis, who defeated the Detroit Red Wings in 6 games earlier this week, in the Western Conference Finals. Pittsburgh and Carolina face off in the East.