SJS vs CAL

With a snowstorm slamming Calgary back into winter, it’s obvious the man upstairs isn’t ready to end hockey season.

“It’s like Christmas isn’t it?” said Calgary Flames forward Alex Tanguay, as he peered at the blanket of white.

Now the question is whether the Flames can extend their season, too.

Down three games to two to the San Jose Sharks in their best-of-seven series, the Flames are in a dire position.

They need to win Sunday night at home just to push the series to a deciding game in Northern California. That won’t be an easy chore, even with the Saddledome’s Sea of Red supporting them.

“They’ve retained home ice, that’s the way I look at it,” Tanguay said. “We knew we had to win one more game in their building than they won in our building. We feel good about our chances.

“I don’t think we’ve quite played our best yet, and now we need it.”

History isn’t on the Flames’ side. In sixth games, Calgary has a 5-14 record in Game 6 and has never won a series when trailing 3-2.

At practice Saturday afternoon, the Flames were in fine spirits.

“We realize we’re down in the series, but we’re a confident group. We feel we can win this series,” said forward Owen Nolan. “We’ve got to start with the hard work. Hard work’s the key with every game. Without that, you’re not the team you’re capable of being.”

The Sharks practised in San Jose before trekking north.

With such a critical game ahead of his team, Flames head coach Mike Keenan said his message to the players was all about emotion.

“At that stage in the playoffs and in the series when you know the opposition so well, it’s about emotional preparation,” he said. “Your technical aspects have to be in place and adjustments have to be made, but after that it’s your emotional preparation that is a big part of it.

“It’s about resolve and resilience. If you go through the experiences of playing playoff hockey and have the experience of long Stanley Cup runs, you’re always faced with hurdles and you have to overcome them or you’re gonna go home.

“The teams that can respond get it done.”

One advantage the Flames have is in the special teams battle. Calgary’s power play is tops in the post-season with a 27.8 per cent success rate. The penalty kill has also been good at 83.3 per cent.

“I think we’ve found different combinations that we didn’t use in the regular season — Owen Nolan playing with Jarome (Iginla) and Daymond Langkow — and got some results that way,” Keenan said. “When you’re playing one team, you can do a lot of work to prepare yourself for the successes in special team areas if you get your execution, which we’ve been able to do.”