Calgary has won Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals, beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 in overtime. The win puts them up 3-2 in the series and one game away from a Stanley Cup championship.

Oleg Saprykin scored the game winner for the Flames, his third goal of the playoffs, shovelling home the rebound of a shot from Jarome Iginla, at 14:40 of the first overtime period.

Calgary dominated the game early, scoring a power play goal a little more than two minutes into the first period. Martin Gelinas deflected a shot from just inside the blue line to score his eighth of the playoffs.

The Flames dominated the scoring chances over the remainder of the period, coming dangerously close to scoring a short-handed goal during Tampa Bay's lone power play for the period.

But then the Bolts' Martin St. Louis came up big right at the period's end, scoring the tying goal with 34 seconds left. He came out from behind the net and got it through the legs of Flames' goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff, the puck trickling over the line.

In the second period, Calgary went ahead 2-1 on Jarome Iginla's unassisted 13th of the playoffs. He shot from the right faceoff circle and beat Lightning goalie Nikolai Khabibulin, ringing it in off the far post.

The score remained there through the remainder of the period.

A mere 37 seconds into the third period, Tampa Bay's Fredrik Modin scored another power play goal from the top of Kirprusoff's crease to tie the game 2-2.

In the last half of the third period, Calgary had a three-on-one that failed to produce a shot on goal, followed by an unproductive two-on-one.

In regulation time, Calgary outshot Tampa 29 to 20. They were particularly dominant in the second, outshooting Tampa 14 to three. But in the third period, they mustered only four shots.

The Lightning were healthy for the game. Calgary missed forward Ville Nieminen, who had to sit out a one-game suspension for hitting Tampa's Vincent Lecavalier from behind and running him headfirst into the boards in the late stages of Game 4. Niemenen was replaced by Dave Lowry.

Back in the Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary, over 17,000 fans paid $5 each to watch the game communally, the rink a sea of red jerseys punctuated by Canadian flags. The admission fee was donated to the local food bank.

Game 6 is on Saturday night in Calgary. If necessary, Game 7 will be played Monday in Tampa Bay.

If Calgary eventually wins the series, it will be the first Stanley Cup won by a Canadian team since the Montreal Canadiens did it in 1993. The Flames last drank champagne from Lord Stanley's mug in 1989.