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Evgeni Nabokov’s challenge after Game Three stood for quite a while. Finally, his teammates stepped to the forefront and transformed from boys to men (no not the cheesy do op R & B group which once was alright back in the day) coming back to take the all important Game Four over Calgary 3-2, squaring their best-of-seven first round series.

Jonathan Cheechoo’s tying goal with 4:54 left and Joe Thornton’s deciding marker with under 10 seconds to go was exactly what the doctor ordered, saving the No.2 seeded Sharks from falling behind 3-1 in the series a game away from elimination. Instead, they were rescued by their best players gaining home ice back.

In a game they somehow trailed by a goal late in the third despite a decided edge in play and shots, San Jose finally turned it up enough to get to Calgary No.1 goalie Miikka Kiprusoff. A couple of nights removed from being pulled after permitting three quick goals before his team made a stirring comeback with Curtis Joseph in net, the two-time Vezina winner was back to his stingy self denying Sharks at every turn.

Kipper’s stellar netminding looked like it would be enough to hold off a furious San Jose attack which saw them outshoot the Flames 32-10 including a combined 26-8 the final 40 minutes. However, the Sharks’ persistence finally paid off when Cheechoo saw a small opening and fired a quick wrister past Kiprusoff’s glove to tie the contest at 15:06. The hard work down low by linemates Joe Pavelski and rookie Devin Setoguchi allowed the San Jose finisher to get to a loose puck and tally his first of the postseason.

I could tell that the guys in the white and teal weren’t done. Instead of being satisfied, they kept coming after Calgary in wave after wave. The aggressive strategy resulted in Thornton’s winner before a stunned and dead silent Saddle Dome. Thanks to an outstanding shift in which they kept the Flames pinned in their end, energetic winger Ryane Clowe worked the puck to an open Doug Murray at the point, who shot without hesitation. The screening Thornton got just enough of it to tip it home for his first of the series.

A hooking minor on Calgary’s Kristian Huselius with five ticks left wrapped it up for the Sharks, who now will head back home to host the pivotal Game Five tomorrow night.

Just a gigantic win for a team which was once again being seriously doubted including by myself for taking them to the Cup Final. This was a nice character builder as they were able to overcome Jarome Iginla (goal, assist) and Dion Phaneuf (goal) along with deadline pickup Brian Campbell’s continued substandard play in his end. God. Did the Sabres know or what? With every shift he doesn’t compete hard defensively, that’s more money going by the wayside.

At least his more determined teammates were able to pick him up. The Sharks aren’t out of the woods by any stretch. But again, it’s hard to see Calgary prevailing when they continue to be severely outplayed by a wide margin. You have to figure they’re going to run out of gas.

We’ll see.

It was a busy Tuesday night with four other series going on. In one they had to have, the defending champion Ducks finally showed some life by getting the first four on Marty Turco before hanging on for a 4-2 Game Three victory to get back in their series. Chris Pronger scored twice including on a five-on-three for his first career two-goal playoff game. The defenseman also helped assist on Todd Marchant’s first which opened the scoring, restoring Anaheim’s confidence as they outscored Dallas 3-0 in sharp contrast to the first two back home.

Ryan Getzlaf had a goal and assist and Jean-Sebastien Giguere rebounded from a poor showing in Game Two with 31 saves including 12 big ones in a final stanza which saw Dallas make a late charge thanks to a pair of Brenden Morrow power play goals. Giguere wouldn’t allow them to draw closer even though they had a couple of more chances on the man-advantage.

Game Four is tomorrow night with the home team 0-for-3 in the series.

Also out West, the Avalanche used a three-goal first period barrage of their own to storm past the Wild 5-1 in Game Four to even their series at two apiece. The first three games of this very competitive series all wound up 3-2 with each needing sudden death. Since Joe Sakic’s Game One winner, the Wild had taken the last two off the sticks of Keith Carney and Pierre-Marc Bouchard.

Last night though as Islander goalie Rick DiPietro predicted during a Versus segment, back-to-back games in the thin air was advantage Colorado who was more used to it. They completely outplayed the Wild scoring the first five on Niklas Backstrom who was relieved by Josh Harding in the third.

Deadline pickup Ruslan Salei had a goal and assist as did third line pivot Tyler Arnason. Jordan Leopold added a pair of helpers in a game which saw the Avs get 14 power plays converting twice. Not surprisingly, it got ugly with the frustrated Wild going to the box plenty as they lost their cool.

Figure Game Five tomorrow back at St. Paul to be a real barn burner.

In one of two Eastern Conference playoff games, the Flyers had a little too much for the Capitals, getting a late penalty shot goal from Mike Richards in a 6-3 home win before a crowd of orange who enjoyed seeing their team go up 2-1 in the series. Richards also made a great pass to setup Daniel Briere’s second of the night at 19:50 of the second on the power play. Briere tallied twice and has four goals in the series.

Though the Caps got a Brooks Laich goal with 4:34 left in regulation to cut the deficit to 4-3, they couldn’t get closer due to a poor read by one of their D which led to Richards beating Cristobal Huet on the penalty shot going five-hole with 2:59 to go. It looked like a pretty good call as he had a step on the defender.

Mike Knuble added an empty netter in a game the Flyers controlled with a 32-19 SOG edge. For the Caps, Alex Ovechkin tallied just a helper and Alexander Semin (assist, -2 rating) plus rookie pivot Nicklas Backstrom (no points, 1 SOG) struggled. They’ll need a stronger effort to level the series Thursday.

As for the other game, the Canadiens did what they needed to gaining a split in Boston with a 1-0 blanking of the Bruins. Only veteran defenseman Patrice Brisebois’ power play goal with 42 seconds left in the second made the scoresheet in what was a tightly contested game between the Original Six rivals.

His quick one-timer off a broken play beat Tim Thomas to give the top seeded Habs the edge they needed. The third saw the Habs buckle down allowing just six Boston shots as rookie Carey Price stopped all 27 for his first career NHL postseason shutout. The 20 year-old’s best save came with the game still scoreless when Game Three hero Marc Savard nicely setup Glen Murray in front but Price quickly slid across to make a tough stop look relatively easy.

The Habs can wrap up the 31st series between the close rivals tomorrow night in Montreal.

Later tonight, it’s Game Four between the Devils and Rangers at the Garden. See ya later!