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 Ryane Clowe, Patrick Marleau and Doug Murray scored in the first 3:33 against Miikka Kiprusoff. Veteran backup Curtis Joseph then replaced Kiprusoff and stopped all 22 shots he faced.
Jarome Iginla, Daymond Langkow and Dion Phaneuf scored for the Flames, who took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven first-round series. Game 4 is Tuesday night at the Pengrowth Saddledome.
On the winning goal, Nolan curled out of the corner, and with both Brian Campbell and Joe Thornton screening goalie Evgeni Nabokov, the veteran forward blasted a slap shot into the top corner from the top of the faceoff circle.
Joseph was unbeatable in his first playoff appearance since 2004. No save was bigger than the shoulder stop he made on Ryane Clowe from close-in 6 minutes into the third period with the game tied, as the Sharks failed to capitalize on a power play.
The Sharks also got a power play at 16:39 of the third when Phaneuf cleared the puck over the glass and got a delay of game penalty. However, San Jose could not solve Joseph.
Calgary chipped away at its early deficit, getting a goal back later in the first, scoring the lone goal of the second, and finally tying game 1:18 into the third on Phaneuf's second goal of the playoffs.
Although it originally looked like it was deflected by Langkow screening in front, it was instead a sequence of bad luck for Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who was covering Langkow. Phaneuf's shot from the blue line first deflected off Vlasic's skate, then caromed off his stick before trickling behind Nabokov.
The Flames began the comeback when Phaneuf's wrist shot from the blue line deflected in off Iginla in front of the goal during a power play.
Calgary narrowed the deficit at 10:14 of the second when Langkow struck on the power-play.
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At the start of the game, the noise was deafening as fans welcomed the Flames home after splitting the first two games in San Jose. The elation turned to boos 26 seconds in when Calgary's Stephane Yelle was penalized for slashing.
San Jose quickly capitalized, with Clowe taking a pass from Thornton and ripping a 30-foot wrist shot inside the goal post at 1:31. Clowe was at it again less than two minutes later, controlling the puck in the Flames zone and sending a shot toward the net that was steered in by Marleau at 3:19.
The Sharks scored again 14 seconds later when Murray pinched in from the blue line and whipped a shot past Kiprusoff, who was then pulled.
Notes: Calgary made its first lineup change of the series as Marcus Nilson dressed in place of David Moss. ... Joseph's last playoff appearance was against the Flames on May 3, 2004, while he was with Detroit. Martin Gelinas scored on Joseph in overtime as Calgary won 1-0 to win the series 4-1. ... It was only the third time Kiprusoff has been taken out of a playoff game. Roman Turek played 19:29 in 2004 and Jamie McLennan played 0:18 in 2006. ... NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman was at the game.
[Associated Press]
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