Flames fall short in Game 4 of Stanley Cup finals

Brad Richards' winning goal established an NHL record, but more importantly it evened the Stanley Cup finals at two wins apiece.

Richards scored a power-play goal 2:48 into Monday's Game 4 and it stood up as the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning shut out the Calgary Flames, 1-0 before a raucous crowd of 19,221 at the Pengrowth Saddledome.

The Flames found themselves two skaters short when Kerry Fraser penalized Chris Clark for cross-checking, then fellow referee Brad Watson caught Mike Commodore holding.

"That didn't cost us the game," Clark said. "We had plenty of time to come back.

"We had our chances. We just didn't bury them."

"What's a penalty in the second shift isn't a penalty in the first shift," fumed Flames general manager and head coach Darryl Sutter. "It's funny because we were so good everywhere, except getting the 5-on-3 called against us."

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• Lightning-Flames boxscore
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Richards capitalized on the 5-on-3 by blasting Dave Andreychuk's soft pass past goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff for his 10th goal of the playoffs a record seven of them winners.

Conn Smythe Trophy winners Joe Sakic and Joe Nieuwendyk potted six winners apiece in 1996 and 1999, respectively.

"A game-winning goal is definitely something you'd like to do every game you go out there," Richards admitted. "Especially in the playoffs.

"And it's no secret that was an important goal."

Tampa Bay has now alternated wins and losses in 10 straight games.

"When you lose a game, you get desperate," Lightning forward Martin St. Louis said. "We take every game like it's a must-win.

"We haven't lost two in a row in a while."

Moreover, it was the Lightning's first road victory in four tries and dropped the Flames to 5-6 on home ice this post-season.

"We found a way," Lightning head coach John Tortorella said. "Ugly as hell, but we found a way."

Game 5 goes Thursday at Tampa Bay (CBC, 8 p.m. EST), with the winning team having scored first in all four previous meetings.

"They're not just going to roll over, giving it to us," Flames captain Jarome Iginla said. "The Stanley Cup is supposed to be tough.

"If you lose a game, you get more desperate."

Monday's matchup was just as competitive as the first three contests yet somewhat more even, statistically and territorially.

Shots on goal favoured the Flames, but only slightly (29-24) as both teams generated equally dangerous scoring chances.

"I think we had to play a bit more grind and bump around, take some hits if we had to," Richards said. "There wasn't much off the rush.

"We played a little more style like them."

The Flames, however, were forced to close out the game short-handed because forward Ville Nieminen was penalized five minutes for smacking Vincent Lecavalier into the glass from behind.

While a bleeding Lecavalier continued to play, Nieminen received a major penalty for boarding plus a game misconduct.

"He was probably two or something feet away from the boards," Nieminen claimed."He was just turning and I was going to finish my check."

Nikolai Khabibulin was splendid in recording his fifth shutout of the playoffs.

His finest save came with three minutes remaining as he snared Andrew Ference's screen shot.

Ruslan Fedotenko and Pavel Kubina were scratched from the Lightning lineup because of injuries sustained Saturday.

Fedotenko, who has 10 goals in these playoffs, was rammed face first into the boards by defenceman Robyn Regehr, while Kubina was levelled by forward Martin Gelinas.

Ben Clymer and Martin Cibak replaced them Monday night.

Calgary is competing in the playoffs for the first time in eight seasons and in the finals for the first time since capturing the Stanley Cup in 1989.

with files from CP Online