A long pass from defenceman Jeff Brown put Vancouver Canucks star Pavel Bure on a breakaway he finished by scoring on Calgary Flames goalie Mike Vernon after deking him out at 2:20 of the second overtime period to clinch the Western Conference quarter-final four games to three for Vancouver with a 4-3 road win. It marked the Canucks’ third straight win in OT as the team overcame a 3-1 series lead by the Flames, who bowed out in the first round for the fourth time in a row.
Nursing a 3-2 lead heading into the third period, the Flames found themselves killing off 1:30 of a two-man disadvantage when German Titov was sent to the penalty box for high-sticking at the 21 second mark. He joined defenceman Trent Yawney, who was in the sin bin for hooking with nine seconds left in the second period. The Flames allowed just three shots through the short-handed situation, with none of them good scoring chances.
Greg Adams finally forced sudden death by beating Vernon with 3:37 remaining in regulation time after taking a pass from Bure, the NHL’s leading scorer, and driving to the net from the corner untouched. Vernon went down and pokechecked the winger, but the puck went up and over his pad.
The game is also remembered today by fans for what has become known simply as “The Save.” Midway through the first period of overtime, the Flames had a three-on-one with Jyrki Lumme as the sole defender. Theo Fleury made a tape-to-tape pass to Robert Reichel into a seemingly open net that goalie Kirk McLean somehow managed to spring across and make a desperation kick save to keep the Canucks in the game.
