The 2010 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs have begun and what a beginning it has been. Everything that could go wrong for the Sharks has but they have been able to dig deep and find a way to still win. While the Western Conference Quarterfinals aren't finished yet, I thought I would post some of my thoughts on the four games that have already been played. As the number one seed in the Western Conference, the Sharks have earned the right for home ice advantage as well as playing against the eighth seeded Colorado Avalanche. As with tradition, the Sharks players took to the ice for game one by skating through the gaping mouth of the giant shark's head at HP Pavilion.
As the first game began, it seemed like the Sharks were caught off guard by the speedy young Colorado team, who the majority of the players have never been in the post season. There was no team that truly dominated overall and it was quite an even match. The Avs struck first in the second period with a Power Play goal from Liles that was directed on its way to the net. From there on, the Avs dominated most of the second and kept the Sharks off the scoreboard going into the third. Yet, big time playoff guy, Ryane Clowe had something to say about that when he outworked Liles for the puck in the Avs zone and ripped one passed Colorado goalie Anderson to tie the game up. Unfortunately, the bad luck would start when the Av's Stewart threw a puck towards the net on a blind play. It ricocheted off of Sharks captain Rob Blake and past Nabokov, clenching the W of the first game for the Avs.
With only a day between games, the Sharks had to refocus and mentally prepare for another hard fought game because as they found out in game one, the Avs were not going to let them win easily. With top notch goaltending from rookie Craig Anderson, the Sharks were finding it difficult to score and had to figure out something quickly. And boy did the scoring come quickly in the second matchup of the quarterfinals. The Avs struck first again barely a minute into the game yet the Sharks dominated for the majority of the period until with a minute left Manny Malhotra (pictured above) tied it up. Again, the Avs would strike quickly in the second period, only 24 seconds into the game. Yet the Sharks big C answered back with a huge Rob Blake style point shot to tie the game yet again three minutes later. But the Avs answered less than a minute after that with a goal of their own, once again stealing the lead. Hard work from Setoguchi found the puck on his stick and he was able to lift it over Anderson for the tying score. And then the Avs scored, and then tough guy Scott Nichol scored. If you lost count, that was six goals, three for the Avs and three for the Sharks, scored in the second period alone.Going into the third, the game was tied 4-4, yet the newly dubbed shark killer, Stewart once again found the back of the net with a more legit goal scorer's goal to reclaim the lead for the Avalanche. More hard work from Setoguchi resulted in a tying goal for the Sharks, yet the referee declared it a no goal and gave Seto a penalty for goalie interference - a questionable call, even for the unbiased announcers. The Sharks were in a do or die situation and at 19:28 in the third period (there is only 20 minutes in a period), Joe Pavelski ripped a shot pass Anderson to force sudden death OT! With solid domination from the Sharks in overtime, Clowe, the experienced playoff hero, stole the puck from an Avs defensemen and with a nifty move shot a low rising puck towards Anderson who was being screened by Seto. At first, the puck looked like it was going to sail wide of the net, but Seto was able to get a stick on it and tip it five-hole on Anderson. The Sharks won in overtime! Unfortunately, there was some bad news to go with the win. Dany Heatley was injured on a play and would not return until game four of the series. The other bad news was Nabokov's less than stellar performance, allowing five goals on 22 shots. In comparison, Anderson allowed six goals on 52 shots. I'd have to wait until game three to see if Nabokov could clean up his game and get the Sharks a 2-1 lead in the series.
Nabby was able to tighten his game up, so much so that after 60 minutes of play, the Sharks and Avs would go into overtime scoreless. That's right, 60 minutes of hard battles, great plays, and even greater saves. The Sharks dominated most of the night, pelting Anderson with 51 shots and holding the Avs to a measly 17. They even held possession of the puck for a solid 14 minutes, there is only 20 minutes in an entire period! Yet bad luck would strike yet again as Dan Boyle (pictured above) would make a common defensive play in his own zone. He was on the side boards with the puck and went to pass it down behind his own net to his defensive partner Douglas Murray. It is a common play that you see hundreds of times in a hockey game, yet as luck would have it, the Avs forechecker (an opposing forward who chases the puck carrier into his own zone) tipped the pass at the last moment, sending the puck careening past Nabokov and earning the W for the Avs in game three. It was the craziest goal I have ever seen and probably will ever see. You could not recreate that scenario even if you tried a thousand times. So once again, the Sharks would have to battle back because they could not afford going down 3-1 in this series of seven.
While it wasn't Dan's fault that the Sharks lost game three, I'm sure he felt like he had to redeem himself in some way and boy did he find the best way to do it in game four. Barely a minute into the first period, on the Power Play, Boyle ripped a saucer shot from the point and beat Anderson glove side, the first time in the series that the Sharks had scored first. While the Sharks didn't dominate like they did in the last game, they were able to keep the Avs off of the scoreboard until the second period. The Avs weren't going to go down easy and were able to score a goal, tying the game and forcing overtime. Going into a third straight overtime, the Sharks came out strong but were quickly hemmed into their own zone for an extended period of time. But a freak outlet pass found defensemen Douglas Murray breaking away in the neutral zone with Pavelski on his left wing and Clowe on his right wing - and in overtime situations, those are the two you want to have with you. Now Murray isn't known as an offense D-man at all. Unlike Dan Boyle who scores a lot, Murray has only scored once this season. So seeing him on the rush, you weren't really expecting much. But big number 3 made a great play by charging straight up the middle, attracting two Avs players to him. Then he used a subtle drop pass to Pavelski, who used the Avalanche Captain, Adam Foote, as a screen and beat Anderson top shelf, glove side. The Sharks had tied up the series 2-2.It definitely looks like my prediction of the Sharks winning the series in six games might come true, but first, they have to seriously fix some things. The biggest problem right now are the Big 3, Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, and Dany Heatley - who have yet to score. I'll give Heater some slack, he missed most of game two and all of three with an injury. Even returning in game four, you could tell he was hurting and spent the entire game on the third line, resulting in less ice time. Yet even hurt, Heater made two great plays which almost resulted in goals, missing the net by mere inches. He paid the price for those chances as well, being pummeled into the boards both times. Even injured, I'm betting Dany will score soon. But Jumbo Joe and Patty are totally different stories. They call Thornton "Jumbo" for a reason. He is one of the largest Sharks and he's a powerful player so its a bad sign when he is not playing physical and has very little "presence" on the ice. Game four, he played a lot better, but he has not been a factor at all in any of the scoring. Don't even get me started on Patty, all I can say is it doesn't even look like he's playing. His mistakes have been major and have cost the Sharks greatly. If he isn't going to play, they should just bench him. Thank goodness for the super line that is Pavelski's. All three (Pavelski, Setoguchi, Clowe) have been a key part of the Sharks success. But the whole team is going to have to start pulling their weight (especially the Big 3) if they want to win this series. Game five is on later tonight and it is a must win for the Sharks. They have not lead in this series once and whoever wins this game is going to have the choke hold on the other team. It is a best of seven series, the first to four wins and right now the Sharks and Avs are tied 2-2. Tonight is when the tide could change in the favor of either team. Let's just hope Team Teal will get their act together and come out on top.
