Montador's rare OT goal lifts Calgary past San Jose

The Flames took advantage of a slow line change to score the winner.
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Steve Montador rarely plays and rarely scores. In fact, the Calgary defenseman strives to avoid attention.
So captain Jarome Iginla was surprised to see Montador rapping his stick on the ice, calling for the puck in overtime -- and thrilled when Montador won it for the Flames.
Montador scored his first playoff goal 18 minutes, 43 seconds into overtime, and Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 49 shots in the Flames' 4-3 victory over San Jose in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals Sunday.
Attack on goal
Alex Korolyuk scored with 3:21 remaining in regulation to force overtime for the Sharks, who set a franchise playoff record with 52 shots. San Jose outshot Calgary 12-5 in overtime, but Kiprusoff turned back his former Sharks teammates until the Flames took advantage of a slow line change to score the winner.
Iginla was held without a shot in regulation, but he knew the Flames reached their first conference finals in 15 years with balanced, timely scoring. Iginla got the puck to Montador, who ventured into the slot alone and beat Evgeni Nabokov with a fluid wrist shot.
"I knew I might have a chance to do it for us, and I didn't want to blow it," said Montador, scratched in six of the Flames' playoff games. "I just said to myself, 'Just get it by him.' It worked out that way."
Game 2 is Tuesday night in San Jose.
Craig Conroy scored two goals, and Krzysztof Oliwa also scored for the Flames, who won for the fourth straight time in five overtime playoff games. Calgary followed its second-round upset of Detroit, which included two OT wins, by stealing home-ice advantage from the Sharks.
"It's been a lot of fun waiting all year and seeing different guys jumping up and scoring," said Iginla, who tied Tampa Bay's Fredrik Modin for the NHL playoff scoring lead. "Every time, it seems like it's a different guy."
Finishing the job
Kiprusoff, traded by San Jose to Calgary last November, called it the busiest game of his life. He wasn't perfect, but he turned away the bulk of the Sharks' scoring chances in an unexpectedly wide-open game.
Mike Ricci and Todd Harvey scored in the second period for the Sharks, who have lost two straight home playoff games after winning their first five to earn the franchise's first trip to the conference finals. San Jose lost its third straight OT contest, but remained confident.
"We've got more where that came from," Sharks coach Ron Wilson said. "It's disappointing to lose the game the way we did, on kind of a detail thing, a bad change.
"With 52 shots, I think we could have had 62 shots. We'll play the same way the next game, take our chances."
Solving Kiprusoff
After Calgary jumped to an early 2-0 lead, Kiprusoff lost his scoreless streak of nearly 170 minutes on Ricci's rebound goal midway through the second period, and Harvey tied it to capture the momentum. Conroy put the Flames back ahead, but Kiprusoff never saw Korolyuk's goal on a floating shot from the boards.
"I thought we carried the play most of the night," defenseman Scott Hannan said. "Kipper kept them in the game. We had a couple of mistakes, turnovers at the blue line. That's what those guys take advantage of."
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