SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Rookie goalie Miikka Kiprusoff started Game 4 Tuesday night in the San Jose Sharks' playoff series against the St. Louis Blues.
Starter Evgeni Nabokov was scratched from San Jose's lineup with the flu, the team announced 10 minutes before the opening faceoff. Kiprusoff made the second start of his NHL career with the Sharks facing a 2-1 series deficit.
The Sharks' unexpected move came one night after Nabokov allowed five goals in the first two periods of San Jose's 6-3 loss in Game 3. Kiprusoff played the third period of that game, but didn't face a shot.
Nabokov, the leading contender to be NHL rookie of the year, shut out the Blues in Game 2. During the regular season, he set franchise records with 32 victories and six shutouts while wresting the starting job from two-year incumbent Steve Shields.
Kiprusoff, who spent much of the season with the Sharks' AHL affiliate in Kentucky, played 154 minutes in five games during the regular season. His first career start came in the Sharks' meaningless season finale against Anaheim on April 8, which he won 4-1.
With Nabokov out of the lineup, the Sharks' backup goalie was Vesa Toskala, who was recalled from Kentucky on Monday. Toskala, who like Kiprusoff is a product of Finland's national development system, played six seasons in Finland before spending most of the season as Kiprusoff's backup with the Thoroughblades.
The Sharks had more depth in goal than any team in the NHL this season, but they have traded two quality goalies in the last six weeks. Shields, who started every playoff game for San Jose last season, was sent to Anaheim along with Jeff Friesen for Teemu Selanne in early March.
A week later, minor leaguer Johan Hedberg was traded to Pittsburgh for defenseman Jeff Norton. Hedberg, who was buried behind Nabokov, Kiprusoff and Toskala on the Sharks' depth chart, has allowed just two goals in three games of the Penguins' series against Washington.
The Sharks, one of the league's best defensive teams during the regular season, also played Game 4 without key defensemen Marcus Ragnarsson and Gary Suter.
Ragnarsson, who received intravenous fluids in the locker room during Game 3, also has the flu, while Suter still hasn't recovered from the concussion he incurred in Game 1 of the series. Shawn Heins replaced Ragnarsson on the Sharks' blue line.
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