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Sharks, Oilers, Lightning and Ducks strike back

Posted on: Sunday, 23 April 2006, 23:57 CDT

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)

Source: REUTERS

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