Despite goalie Curtis Joseph’s heroics on Monday night, expect Miikka Kiprusoff to be back between the pipes tonight in Game 4 against the San Jose Sharks.
Joseph stopped all 22 shots he faced on Monday in a relief appearance as the Flames rallied for a 4-3 win over the Sharks to take a 2-1 lead in the opening-round series.
“Curtis played exceptionally well,” said Calgary coach Mike Keenan. “He was very composed. He looked like a veteran and steadied the game for us.”
Although Keenan joked that he’d start Curtis McElhinney tonight against the Sharks, forwards Craig Conroy and Alex Tanguay both said they fully expect to see Kiprusoff get his starting job back.
“Obviously he wasn’t happy,” Conroy said in regards to the three goals Kiprusoff gave up in the first 31/2 minutes of Sunday’s game. “He was mad about what happened in the first three minutes.”
Tanguay said the players aren’t worried about their starting goaltender’s ability to bounce back.
“He’s such an outstanding goaltender that I don’t think he’ll let that bad luck affect him at all,” Tanguay said.
And if the Sharks somehow get to Kiprusoff again early in tonight’s game, Keenan knows that Joseph will be ready when he’s called upon for duty.
“He is ready to play at any minute and understands that role which is new for him,” said Keenan, noting the entire team had a slow start in Game 3 and that they’ll have to concentrate on rectifying that in future games. “The carryover certainly is to have a better start. They weren’t as focussed. They were so jacked up with the support of the crowd.”
