Flames’ Gelinas nearly won it

CALGARY, Alberta – Martin Gelinas nearly won another series for the Calgary Flames, this time with a deflection off his skate.

But even though the puck appeared to cross the line late in the third period of Game 6 against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday, it wasn’t seen by on-ice officials or those watching from above.

That kept the game tied until 33 seconds of the second overtime when Tampa Bay’s Martin St. Louis forced the Stanley Cup finals to a decisive seventh game Monday in Florida.

Gelinas, who scored the series-winning goal for Calgary in each of the first three rounds, charged the net to get in front of Nikolai Khabibulin with just under 7 minutes left in regulation.

Oleg Saprykin took a shot during a period power play that Khabibulin knocked away, but the puck came out front and hit the rushing Gelinas.

After clanging off his skate, Khabibulin slid across the goal line and intercepted the puck with his pad. Play continued as fans in the Saddledome groaned at the missed chance.

A replay seemed to show that Khabibulin stopped the puck after it had crossed the goal line. No review was conducted after the next stoppage of play and the puck was dropped without any consultation.

Gelinas already has closed out each of the Flames’ series in this year’s playoffs. In the opening round against Vancouver, Gelinas scored an overtime goal in Game 7.

He also beat goalie Curtis Joseph with 47 seconds left in the first overtime to give the Calgary Flames a 4-2 series victory over the Detroit Red Wings in the conference semifinals.

And then in the conference finals against San Jose, Gelinas did it again.

Lightning rally around Andreychuk

Dave Andreychuk is in the Stanley Cup finals for the first time in his 22 NHL seasons.

And as much as the young members of the Tampa Bay Lightning hope to win for themselves, they really want to make their 40-year-old captain a champion, as well.

“Definitely a lot of motivation for him,” 24-year-old Vincent Lecavalier said Saturday before Game 6. “It’s a great feeling for everybody just to be here. To win the Cup, it’s something everybody wants. But for a guy to be in the league for 22 years and never reach the Stanley Cup finals, it would be really nice to get that for him.”

John Tortorella, the 45-year-old coach of the Lightning, said Andreychuk is a great player, Cup or not.

“He’s a Hall-of-Famer,” Tortorella said. “With some of the young core that he’s been with the past few years, I think there’s a little bit of sentiment of trying to get it done. But it doesn’t override our locker room. Dave Andreychuk will not let it.”

Speak easy

Calgary coach Darryl Sutter wasn’t looking for any special speeches or moments before the Flames took the ice before Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals on Saturday night.

“If the guy wants to address the team, he will address the team,” Sutter said when asked if captain Jarome Iginla or any other players would talk before the game. “You are trying to really complicate the issue here. There’s lots of other real important things.”

First goal

The Flames saw what can happen when a team falls behind in an elimination game.

They did it to the San Jose Sharks in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals. The Sharks needed to win at the Saddledome to force a decisive Game 7, but Jarome Iginla put the Flames ahead late in the first period and Martin Gelinas made it 2-0 in the second.

“I remember looking over at the (San Jose) bench when Jarome scored the first goal,” forward Craig Conroy said. “Heads dropped and I thought we’ve got to keep going. Then we were able to get the next one with Gelly. They got a little life when they scored but we felt like it was a huge chance and we were able to feed off of it.”

San Jose couldn’t recover and lost 3-1.

The Lightning scored first Saturday and went on to win.

Some support

Chris Dingman is one of the few members of the young Lightning to have won a Stanley Cup.

He did it three years ago with the Colorado Avalanche. That team, led by Ray Bourque, had to win Game 6 on the road to force a deciding game at home. That is the same predicament the Lightning faced heading into Saturday night’s game in Calgary.

It’s the same situation for Game 7.