Though Darryl Sutter enjoys full-tilt hockey as much as the next fan, the Calgary Flames coach hopes the rest of the Western Conference finals is much less exciting.
The Flames won 4-3 in overtime Sunday despite spending much of the game chasing the speedy Sharks. But thanks to goalie Miikka Kiprusoff, who made 49 saves, the Flames stole a victory played at the Sharks’ breakneck pace.
“Hopefully we’ve learned we can’t fight fire with gasoline,” Sutter said Monday after the Flames’ practice.
Wilson plans to change nothing for Tuesday’s Game 2, when the Sharks must win to avoid an 0-2 deficit at home. Except for occasional defensive lapses, San Jose’s effort was tough to criticize.
“Our whole goal is to maintain the tempo that we played at and to eliminate a couple of the mental mistakes,” Sharks coach Ron Wilson said.
The Flames realize they can’t expect their goalie to make 49 saves every game.
“Had we not had Miikka in there with the kind of scoring chances they were getting, we wouldn’t have won,” said Calgary’s Steve Montador, who scored the winner. “There are a few things we’ve got to shore up and correct, and we worked on that.”
