Whitney’s goal lifted Sharks in OT thriller

(This story appeared May 19, 1995)

CALGARY >> Just when you thought the Sharks had blown it, they hadn’t. Just when you thought it was over about six or seven times — including the two occasions when Sharks goalie Wade Flaherty lost his stick while play continued madly around him — it wasn’t over. Just when you thought one overtime was all you could stand, there were two overtimes.

And just when you thought that there was no way the Sharks could match the grab-your-skull-with-both-hands-and-scream thrill ride of last season’s playoff run, along came Ray Whitney to win the game.

Almost two minutes into the second overtime, Whitney tipped the puck. It went in the net. And the Sharks defeated Calgary 5-4, scoring a first-round upset in the Stanley Cup playoffs for the second straight year.

San Jose, meet Cinderella. Cinderella, San Jose. Remember? Last spring’s prom date? Get the dress and tuxedo out of storage. And oh, yes. A round of free electrocardiograms for the entire Bay Area, please.

“I thought after last year, nothing could be more exciting,” said Sharks owner George Gund while making a congratulatory handshake tour of the Shark locker room. “But this ...”

This was not as improbable as last year, but it was far more dramatic. The Sharks were outshot 60 to 30 — the equivalent of the 49ers stopping the Cowboys about 50 times inside the 5-yard line in one game — while backup goalie Flaherty made every stop he had to make.

And then, with everyone’s legs feeling like tree stumps as the second overtime began, the puck went to the Sharks’ oldest player, 36-year-old Sergei Makarov. He fed it toward the net, and one of the team’s youngest players, 23-year-old Whitney. As he rushed at the net, Whitney deflected the puck just enough to make it wobble just enough past the right leg of Calgary goalie Trevor Kidd.

“They kind of got confused down there,” said Whitney. “It’s unbelievable. I’m certainly glad it’s over. It’s been a long game.”

Both overtimes were an immense raw nerve, just as you’d expect. Two dead-weary groups of hockey players, struggling back and forth up the rink, trying not to lose stupidly while trying to win at all costs. Bodies flat on the ice, five car crashes happening at once, a helmet or glove suddenly spinning abandoned on the ice. Both teams sucking for air. Players sending their perspiration-soaked skates and gloves to the equipment room to be dried off with a blow dryer between periods.

“After the first overtime, I had no sweat on my body, because there was nothing left to sweat,” said Igor Larionov, who also had an assist on Whitney’s goal. “There was just skin and bones. But I think it is tougher to play overtime mentally more than physically. If you get a chance to score and miss, again and again, it’s time to start making mistakes.”

Until at last, a goal goes in almost by accident. That is sort of what happened for the Sharks, although to reach that point, many Sharks had to make many great plays. Craig Janney and Pat Falloon were the principals, combining to score three goals in regulation, either by passing or shooting. Larionov had the other.

“Just awesome,” Falloon said when it was over.

And perhaps further awesome moments await, in the next round of games against the Detroit Red Wings, which begins Sunday afternoon in Michigan.

First, though, this one should be savored. Because the Sharks franchise doesn’t exactly have a thick history book to make comparisons, you’d have to call it the most gutsy victory in franchise history. It was for sure more intestinally challenging than last year’s seventh-game victory over Detroit in the first round. In that one, the Sharks took a one-goal lead in the third period and held on. In this one, the Sharks blew a twogoal lead in less than a minute, and had to come back in an angry building.

With eight minutes remaining in regulation, the Sharks were ahead by 4-2 and were following perfectly their strategy of putting the Flames and their crowd to sleep with their low-tech, low-octane offense. The Saddledome organist was also doing a fine job of keeping the crowd sedated with a medley of “Hockey’s Least Exciting Songs,” including the theme from “Zorba The Greek” and “The Mexican Hat Dance.”

Still, you had the feeling that the malaise couldn’t last, and with 7 minutes 22 seconds left, the Flames caught a break. With Calgary surging toward the goal crease, the Sharks’ Jamie Baker semi-purposely dislodged the net. And referee Kerry Fraser called his only penalty against San Jose — and only his third of the game.

Suddenly, the tepid building began to stir. Forty-four seconds later, the stirring became a full scale noise blender. Joe Nieuwendyk tapped in a power-play goal from the side of the net. And 56 seconds after that, Calgary’s German Titov tied the score by shoving the puck at Flaherty’s pads and watching it trickle through.

The Flames were a desperate team for more than the usual reasons. A paranoid virus infests hockey-fixated Canada these days. With the Winnipeg Jets and Quebec Nordiques franchises apparently ready to scram south across the border to larger United States markets, many of the other NHL cities in the Great White North are a little nervous and hysterical. In Calgary, the Flames have begun an arena-upgrade program to build more club seats and luxury boxes, but most of them aren’t yet sold.

Given that situation, plus the shaky status of Calgary Coach Dave King and General Manager Doug Risebrough — whose contracts expire in a few weeks — the Calgary papers were full of your standard apocalyptic rhetoric before Friday’s game.

[We’re talking about saving jobs — lots of jobs,” wrote George Johnson in the Calgary Sun, explaining what Friday’s game meant. “We’re talking season-ticket renewals. We’re talking about big coin required to sign several big free agents. It isn’t too much to hint that we may be talking ultimate survival.”

Maybe the Flames aren’t really doomed, but they won’t be playing any more this year. Friday’s game ended at 11:28 p.m. local time. By midnight, the Saddledome crew was melting and scraping the ice off the arena floor. And the Sharks were on their way to Detroit. Just when you thought the ride was over, it was only beginning.