ESPN NHL

If the U.S. media and casual sports fan can get over the fact that the Western Conference final doesn't include a marquee team, they'll discover some highly entertaining hockey between the Calgary Flames and San Jose Sharks.

The best-of-seven series figured to be a good one, and Calgary's 4-3 overtime victory in Game 1 on Sunday lived up to expectations with back-and-forth action, hard hits, great goaltending and 89 shots in total.

"They got their money's worth," Flames head coach and general manager Darryl Sutter told the Calgary Herald. "It could have been 10-6, 10-7. Hopefully, we learned that we can't fight fire with gasoline. We can fight it with fire. But it was an exciting game. It was fun. They got everything they wanted."

To continue reading this article you must be an Insider