Tuesday, Apr. 17 10:30pm ET
Kiprusoff's 39 saves tie series for Sharks
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BOX SCORE
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) – Thirty seconds into his first NHL
playoff game, Miikka Kiprusoff made his first save with all the
grace of a newborn deer. The Finnish rookie was lucky to stay
upright while somehow blocking Pierre Turgeon's shot.
|  | | The Sharks didn't miss a beat, defensively, with goalie Miikka Kiprusoff filling in for Evgeni Nabokov. |
"It was a lucky save," Kiprusoff said. "I got a little better
after that."
The St. Louis Blues had no argument.
Kiprusoff made 39 saves in the second start of his career, and San Jose scored three second-period goals as the Sharks evened their playoff series with a 3-2 victory over the Blues on Tuesday night.
Game 5 is Thursday night in St. Louis, with Game 6 Saturday in San Jose.
Kiprusoff got the start when Evgeni Nabokov came down with the
flu one night after allowing five goals in the first two periods of
St. Louis' 6-3 victory in Game 3. After finding out Tuesday morning that he would start, Kiprusoff simply gritted his teeth for the biggest
night of his hockey life.
"I didn't even call my parents. I didn't want to make them
nervous," Kiprusoff said. "I was a little nervous before the
game, but once it started, I was OK. It was a goal of mine to start
a playoff game. As a backup, you have to be ready all the time."
After a slow start, Kiprusoff rounded into sterling form while
holding off an energetic St. Louis attack nearly all night. Dallas
Drake scored a desperate goal for St. Louis with 24.8 seconds left,
but Kiprusoff held on for his first playoff victory.
More importantly, the Sharks seemed to match the Blues'
intensity and defensive effort for the first time in the series.
St. Louis dominated long stretches of the first three games, but
San Jose – which played without two key defensemen – was just as aggressive in Game 4.
While Kiprusoff kept his cool, the Blues – most of whom knew
nothing about Kiprusoff before Tuesday night – lost theirs. St.
Louis coach Joel Quenneville was disappointed in his team's lack of
composure.
"We were trying to get back in the game, and we took a couple of penalties we didn't need to take," Quenneville said. "Every shift is important, every minute, and we can't forget that. Now we're going to go back (to St. Louis) and face a big game."
Though Quenneville didn't mention Chris Pronger by name, he wasn't happy with his captain's five minor penalties – including a pointless high-sticking call with 1:15 to play that sent him to the locker room at a terrible time.
"You have to call it the same way at all times," Pronger
fumed. "It was different in all three periods tonight. In the
first it was one way. Earlier in the second it was another, and
then in the third it was still another. Just be consistent, that's
all we asked."
Keith Tkachuk's first goal of the postseason – on a bizarre shot
that bounced off the top of the net and rolled down Kiprusoff's
body – put St. Louis up 1-0 with one second left in the first
period.
But the Sharks responded with goals from Vincent Damphousse,
Scott Thornton and Owen Nolan in the first 13 minutes of the
second.
In the third period, San Jose's defense clamped down on the Blues, who produced a steady stream of shots but couldn't solve the latest goalie to emerge from San Jose's deep supply.
Kiprusoff found his rhythm when he made three rapid-fire saves
during a sparkling sequence early in the second. He made his most
spectacular stop 10 minutes later, when he cleanly gloved a blistering, close-range breakaway shot by Mike Eastwood – one of 14 second-period saves.
"It's unbelievable the talent our goalies have," said Mike
Ricci, who had two assists. "It's a huge game for Kipper to play
the way he did. He's a great goalie in practice."
San Jose barely survived the frantic final two minutes, when the
Blues pulled Roman Turek for an extra attacker but lost Tkachuk and
Pronger to minor penalties during a scuffle with 1:13 left. Drake scored on a rebound but the Blues couldn't get an equalizer.
Nolan, who carried the Sharks through their upset of the Blues
in last season's playoffs, got the eventual game-winning goal – his
first of the series – midway through the second after Thornton put
the Sharks ahead five minutes earlier.
San Jose also won despite a depleted defense. The Sharks, one of
the NHL's best defensive teams in the regular season, played
without Gary Suter, who has a concussion, and All-Star Marcus
Ragnarsson, who has the flu.
Turek, who stopped 35 shots in Game 3, wasn't nearly as sharp Tuesday night. San Jose's goals from Thornton and Nolan came on stoppable shots, but Turek, who made 22 saves, was an instant slow on both occasions.
Tkachuk, who wasn't much of a factor in the series' first three
games, kept a nearly constant presence in front of the San Jose
net. But his goal was the result of two fortuitous bounces that
also somehow beat the clock at the end of the first period.
While Tkachuk found the scoresheet, Teemu Selanne is still looking. The Sharks' big late-season acquisition again was active and had two shots, but he couldn't handle the puck on a wide-open chance with three minutes left. He has no points in four games.
Game notes
Sharks D Bryan Marchment limped to the bench in agony early in the second period after a collision with Tkachuk. After a five-minute trip to the locker room, Marchment returned. ... Thornton has as many goals in the series as he scored in his first 38 postseason games with Edmonton, Montreal and Dallas. ... St. Louis, 18-for-18 on penalty-kills in the series, killed 80 seconds of a two-man advantage for San Jose in the third period
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
St. Louis Clubhouse
San Jose Clubhouse
Sharks-Blues Series Page
RECAPS
Buffalo 4
Philadelphia 3
New Jersey 4
Carolina 0
Edmonton 2
Dallas 1
San Jose 3
St. Louis 2
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Sharks goalie Miikka Kiprusoff could not be scored on in the second period.
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RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Owen Nolan blasts a shot past Roman Turek for the eventual game-winner.
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The Blues score in the final seconds of the first period on a ricochet off the glass.
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RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Mike Ricci intercepts a pass and feeds Scott Thornton for a San Jose goal.
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RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
 Vincent Damphousse breaks down the Sharks' Game 4 victory over St. Louis.
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