Say what you like about the last-minute scrums and near-line brawls that marked both Game 3s Thursday night in the conference finals. But by cranking up the hatred between the teams, the rivalries and intensity will also be heating up the next time the combatants meet.
A day after the head coaches lobbed bombs at each other over yapping from the bench and in media sessions, the Flyers and Lightning combined for 62 minutes in penalties with five seconds remaining in the game that was already decided -- a 4-1 victory for Tampa Bay.
In Calgary, the Sharks had just made it 3-0 on Alexander Korolyuk's empty-net goal with 44 seconds left in the third period, when Flames captain Jarome Iginla hit Korolyuk after the play. Iginla was retaliating for a hit earlier in the shift and also believed the San Jose forward was showing up the Flames by dangling the puck in the Flames zone before scoring. Korolyuk was actually waiting to try to set up Sharks captain Patrick Marleau for his first goal in seven games.
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