STANLEY CUP Lightning tie series by virtue of 1-0 win

Brad Richards' goal and Nikolai Khabibulin's 29 saves were the difference.
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) -- Maybe Nikolai Khabibulin could sense it from the start. Give up one goal, make a single mistake and it might cost the Tampa Bay Lightning not only the game but the Stanley Cup.
He didn't. On this night, the biggest in the Lightning's 12-year history and his own career, Khabibulin lived up to his nickname: the Bulin Wall.
Khabibulin turned aside 29 shots, and Brad Richards scored on a two-man advantage in the opening minutes, giving the Lightning a 1-0 victory Monday over the Calgary Flames that evened the Stanley Cup final at two games apiece.
Khabibulin made it look easy, but it certainly wasn't in yet another intense, hit-'til-it-hurts game in a series that has featured nothing but such games so far. Game 5 is Thursday night in Tampa following the series' only two-day break.
"He was a wall back there," Richards said. "It was great to see both goalies play the way they are. It's a lot of fun. When you get a chance, you really have to bear down."
Goalie effective
Of course, opposing goalie Miikka Kiprusoff forced him to be perfect, turning aside everything but Richards' one-timer during a five-on-three that developed not even two minutes into the game.
"He was the best player out there," Richards said of Khabibulin, who tied Kiprusoff with his fifth shutout this spring. "He made save after save. He didn't make it look hard and he was always in the right place."
Remarkably, the Lightning scored only one goal in their two games in Calgary, yet managed a split by taking what essentially was a must-win Game 4. Only the Maple Leafs in 1942 have overcome a 3-1 deficit in the final to win the Stanley Cup.
That's one reason why Calgary's Jarome Iginla was visibly frustrated at giving away the game that could have all but delivered the Cup to the Flames.
"This is a chance to go up 3-1 because you look at them, were they really that good?" Iginla said. "We outshot them (29-24), they had way more power plays than we did (5-2). So it's a tough one to take, when we know if we could have been a little bit better and found ways to score a couple of goals."
Two injured regulars
Khabibulin wouldn't let them, even though the Lightning were without two injured regulars, forward Ruslan Fedotenko and defenseman Pavel Kubina.
"We found a way to get it done, and that's the most important thing," coach John Tortorella said. "Ugly as hell, but we found a way."
Just as Khabibulin and Richards have done repeatedly in the postseason. Khabibulin is 6-0 with two shutouts after a loss, with Richards scoring the game-winning goal in four of those bounce-back wins. Richards has a record seven game-winners, breaking the postseason record of six he previously shared with Joe Sakic (1996) and Joe Nieuwendyk (1999).
"I think it was a good team effort. I tried to do what I can," Khabibulin said.