Flames Start Countdown

Oh Canada, you had better be ready for this.

A nation was put on alert Thursday as Oleg Saprykin danced around the ice moments after his overtime goal gave Calgary a 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning, leaving the Flames one victory away from winning the Stanley Cup. It came amid the stunned silence of the 22,436 at the St. Pete Times Forum.

That moment, like Jarome Iginla’s beaming grin and the revelry that was sure to go on through the night in Calgary, will have to hold Canada’s population for two more days. With a 3-2 lead in the Stanley Cup finals, the Flames on Saturday will try to become the first Canadian team to win the Stanley Cup since Montreal in 1993.

“We plan on being pretty desperate, being 60 minutes away from all our dreams,” Iginla said.

The Flames started that countdown after twice seeing one-goal leads evaporate.

Iginla took matters into his own hands in overtime. His helmet knocked off, he crisscrossed the ice getting to loose pucks in the Lightning zone. Finally, he got off a shot that goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin stopped. Saprykin was there to jam in the game-winner 14 minutes 40 seconds into overtime.

“Jarome found a second gear in overtime,” Calgary Coach Darryl Sutter said. “That is something that comes from way down inside.”

Iginla, who also ricocheted a second-period shot off the left post and into the net for his 13th playoff goal, has either scored or assisted on nine of Calgary’s 15 game-winning goals during the playoffs.

And one more would certainly be nice for Iginla and the Flames, although they did what they could to contain themselves in postgame interviews.

“There’s so much work to be done, and we’re not getting ahead of ourselves,” Iginla said. “This is too close. We’re going to enjoy this win for a half-hour and then it’s back to business.”

There was a lot to cover in those 30 minutes.

This game was in stark contrast to the previous four in the series, as both teams toned down the banging and skated, creating scoring opportunities instead of waiting for mistakes.

The Lightning twice battled back to tie the score. Fredrik Modin chipped in Brad Richards’ pass to make it 2-2 37 seconds into the third period.

The Lightning, which had been outshot, 25-12, through two periods, had the Flames on their heels from that point, at least until Iginla revved up and Saprykin scored from the edge of the crease.

“This is a great feeling for everyone in this room,” Saprykin said.

The feelings on the other side were not so warm and fuzzy. Lightning Coach John Tortorella first ripped his top players, including Richards, Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier, saying, “If Martin Cibak, Chris Dingman and Ben Clymer is your best line, it’s simply not going to happen for you.”

Moments later, Tortorella barely held his anger, saying, “I am not critiquing players up here. Talk about the team. I am not going to talk about individuals.”

The victory brought to an end a day when the Flames had to deal with questions arising from Sutter’s comments, made Wednesday, that NHL officials were trying to prevent the Flames from winning the Stanley Cup.

But if Sutter’s grassy-knoll theory was true, then someone in the NHL offices was asleep at the wheel Thursday.

The Flames dominated the first two periods and received the first power play, a possible little victory for Sutter’s rant on Wednesday.

“As players, we’re not focused on what the coach is saying off the ice,” said Flame forward Marty Gelinas, who scored the game’s first goal by redirecting a Toni Lydman shot 2:13 into the game.

The Flames showed that focus from start to finish.

“This is probably one of the most exciting days I have ever had,” Iginla said.

In two days, Iginla, and Canada, could have another.