This Date In Sports History: The Calgary Flames Knock Off The San Jose Sharks In Game 6 Of The Western Conference Finals

By Jordan Long

On this date in NHL history, the Calgary Flames faced the San Jose Sharks in game 6 of the Western Conference Finals.  The Flames were looking for their first Stanley Cup appearance since 1989 while San Jose was trying to make their first.

                The Flames entered the playoffs as the #8 seed.  They beat the Vancouver Canucks in the 1^st-round in 7 games.  In the 2^nd-round they skated past the Detroit Red Wings in 6 games.  The Sharks entered the Western Conference Finals as the favorite.  In the postseason, they knocked off the St. Louis Blues in 5 games and got past the Colorado Avalanche in 6 games to reach the Western Conference Finals.  San Jose had home ice advantage in the series.

                The Flames took a 0-2 series lead after beating San Jose 4-3 in overtime in game 1 and 4-1 in game 2.  In games 3 and 4, the Sharks responded with wins by outscoring the Flames 7-2.  In game 5, the Flames came away with a 3-0 victory.  It came down to game 6.  A win by the Flames and the series was over but if San Jose took the game, game 7 would be in their building.

                The starting goaltenders were no surprise, Evgeni Nabokov for the Sharks and Miikka Kiprusoff for the Flames. 

                Both teams had scoring chances in the 1^st period.  Calgary lit the lamp first on a power play goal with 1:08 left in the first period scored by Jarome Iginla.  The score stood at 1-0 going into the 2^nd period.  Calgary added to their lead when Martin Gelinas found the back of the net.  San Jose needed to respond and they did. Alyn McCauley cut the Flames lead to 2-1.  That would be the score going into the third and final period.

                San Jose knew all they needed was 1 goal to tie the game and possibly have a chance to save their season, especially if the game headed into overtime.  San Jose came out flying but couldn’t get a puck past Miikka Kiprusoff.  They even pulled Nabokov at the end of the game but that failed.  The Flames iced the game with 1 second left in the 3^rd when   Robyn Regehr scored on the empty net with the final score of 3-1.  Calgary ended San Jose’s season and headed to the Stanley Cup Final.

                Calgary ended up losing the Stanley Cup Final to the Tampa Bay Lightning in game 7.  This capped the first Stanley Cup Final win for the Lightning in their history.  Today we remember the Flames beating the San Jose Sharks in game 6 of the Western Conference Final to earn the right to play the Tampa Bay Lightning.