Sharks, Oilers, Lightning and Ducks strike back

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The San Jose Sharks, Edmonton Oilers,
Tampa Bay Lightning and Anaheim Mighty Ducks leveled their NHL
quarter-finals at 1-1 with game two wins on Sunday.

Rookie Vesa Toskala earned his first career shutout to help
the Sharks muzzle the Nashville Predators 3-0 in the Western
Conference.

After conceding four powerplay goals in their game one
loss, the Sharks connected for three first period man-advantage
goals to tie the best-of-seven series before it switches from
Nashville to San Jose.

After being kept off the score sheet in the opening game,
Jonathan Cheechoo, the NHL’s leading goal scorer with 56, broke
loose to stop the Sharks from returning home 2-0 down.

The Sharks have never won a playoff series after dropping
the opening two contests.

Playing with a 5-on-3 advantage, the Sharks drew first
blood just 5:37 into the opening period when Cheechoo slammed a
loose puck past Predators netminder Chris Mason.

Patrick Marleau and Mark Smith also counted powerplay
markers for the Sharks, who rode Toskala’s shutout netminding
to the win.

With the NHL vowing to continue its crackdown on
obstruction and interference, the referees called a tight game
and the Predators paid the price.

After scoring four man-advantage goals on Friday, they
suffered a power play failure in going 0-for-9, including a
5-on-3 advantage midway through the third period.

Toskala, who took over from Evgeni Nabokov as the Sharks’
number one netminder early in the year, was dominant,
particularly in the third period in which he turned aside 10
shots.

RALLY PAST

In Detroit, Fernando Pisani and Brad Winchester scored less
than a minute apart in the second period to help the Oilers
rally past the Detroit Red Wings 4-2 in game two of their
Western Conference quarter-final.

Edmonton nearly returned home with a 2-0 lead over the
Presidents trophy winners but came up just short in game one
when they lost 3-2 in double overtime.

The Oilers bounced back from that disappointment with a
gritty effort.

Trailing 2-1, Pisani tied the contest late in the second
and Winchester followed up with his first career NHL goal 57
seconds later to nose Edmonton 3-2 in front.

“It just kind of popped out in the slot, it feels good to
help out,” said Winchester.

In Ottawa, Martin St. Louis scored a pair of goals,
including the third period game winner, as the defending
champion Tampa Bay Lightning rallied for a 4-3 decision over
the Ottawa Senators.

SWOOPED IT

Just 45 seconds after Dan Boyle had tied the game at 3-3,
St. Louis, the NHL MVP and leading scorer in 2003-04, latched
on to a rebound off a shot by Dimitry Afanasenkov and swooped
it past Ray Emery.

Brad Richards contributed a goal and two assists before the
series shifts to Florida for games three and four.

“This was a big game for our team and I was happy to give
our team some offensive spark,” St. Louis told reporters. “I
think everybody is writing us off in this series the number one
seed against the number eight seed. I think no one is giving us
a chance.

“But we got what we wanted, we came here to get at least
one, we got that now we’re taking it home.”

In Calgary, Samuel Pahlsson scored the deciding goal and
Jean-Sebastien Giguere returned from injury to lead the Ducks
to a 4-3 win over the Flames in the Western Conference.

Chris Kunitz, Scott Niedermayer and Joffrey Lupul also
tallied for the Ducks, sending the best-of-seven series to
Anaheim for games three and four tied at 1-1.

Giguere, who won the Conn Smythe trophy after leading the
Ducks to the 2003 Stanley Cup finals, was back in net after
sitting out the game one 2-1 overtime loss on Friday and looked
sharp in making 22 saves.

(Writing by Steve Keating in Toronto)