Flames top Ducks, grab series lead

Darren McCarty and Robyn Regehr scored 34 seconds apart in the third period to break open a tight game and lift the Calgary Flames to a 5-2 playoff victory over the Anaheim Mighty Ducks on Tuesday night in Anaheim, Calif.

Calgary took a 2-1 lead in the first-round Western Conference series. Game 4 of the best-of-7 matchup is Thursday night in Anaheim. The teams will return to Calgary to play the fifth game on Saturday night.

McCarty scored his second goal of the series 4:59 into the final period, then Regehr quickly added his first goal of the playoffs on a power play to give the Flames a three-goal pad.

Senators 8, Lightning 4: At Tampa, Fla., Martin Havlat and Antoine Vermette each scored twice and defenseman Wade Redden had a goal and two assists to lead top-seeded Ottawa past Tampa Bay.

Ottawa leads 2-1 in the best-of-7 matchup. Game 4 is Thursday night in Tampa.

Sharks 4, Predators 1: Patrick Marleau scored two goals and Vesa Toskala stopped 16 shots to lead San Jose past Nashville in San Jose, Calif., giving the Sharks a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 series.

The Sharks went ahead on rookie Steve Bernier’s first playoff goal late in the second period. NHL goal-scoring champion Jonathan Cheechoo added a third-period goal for the Sharks.

Canucks fire Crawford

The Vancouver Canucks fired head coach Marc Crawford after missing the playoffs for the first time in five seasons.

Crawford was behind the Canucks’ bench for seven seasons, leading them to the Northwest Division title in 2003-04.

They entered this season expected to be one of the top teams in the Western Conference, but that didn’t pan out. Vancouver finished ninth in the conference with a 42-32-8 record, losing six of the last eight games to fall three points behind the Edmonton Oilers. Crawford had one year left on his contract.