With the Western Conference Quarterfinals all tied up at two wins each, both the Sharks and the Avalanche could smell blood in the water. The next win would put a stranglehold on the losing team and give a huge advantage to the winning team. As the Sharks and Avs headed back to San Jose (games 1 & 2 were played in San Jose, games 3 & 4 were played in Colorado), the Sharks had the great opportunity to jump up 3-2 with the home ice advantage. But the young Colorado team wasn't about to let the Sharks get off so easily.
With the drop of the puck, game 5 began and the Sharks quickly entered into an almost unstoppable feeding frenzy, pelting Colorado goalie Craig Anderson with the puck. But Anderson was up to the task, robbing Clowe (pictured at the top) and Heatley numerous times. While even playing injured Heatley had a definite presence at the side of Colorado's net, trying for wraparounds and winning those hard fought board battles. Even the Sharks' defensemen were jumping up in the play and joining the rush, firing rockets from the blue line but again Anderson stood the test and kept the game scoreless. With only minutes remaining in the first period, Patrick Marleau sped off with the puck on a breakaway on his off wing (the opposite side of the ice of a player's position. Since Patty is a left winger, his off wing would be the right side of the ice as you face the opponent's net) and fired a wrister which Anderson fumbled and dropped for a juicy rebound. Unfortunately for the Sharks, the referee blew a quick whistle to stop play even though Anderson had not frozen the puck. But this didn't deter the Sharks as they quickly fired back with Heatley making a nifty pass from behind the Av's net to Malhotra who fired on goal. Anderson made the stop but the rebound found itself on rookie Couture's stick and he tried to rifle one home. Like so many times before, Anderson was a wall that would not break, making a great second effort save (pictured above). The game would go to the second period scoreless but not from lack of effort from the Sharks goal scorers. They outshot Colorado 12 to 2, practically owning the puck for most of the 20 minutes played.As the second period started, you knew that someone was going to break - Anderson or Nabokov, it was going to happen. The Sharks continued their dominance with every player contributing. Scott Nichol and rookie Dwight Helminen both found themselves on breakaways but were stopped by Anderson. Then finally, almost halfway into the second, a goalie cracked and a goal went up on the scoreboard. The Sharks found themselves on the rush with Patty pushing the puck on the left side with Couture driving towards the net and Heater on the right wing. With a cross ice pass, Marleau laid the puck on Heater's stick and he rifled a shot towards the net, or so Anderson thought. The shot from Heatley was actually a shot-pass that hit Couture's stick and deflected in: 1-0 Sharks. That was rookie Logan Couture's (pictured above) first playoff goal in the NHL. A player from the Sharks affiliate in Worcester, Massachusetts - Couture was brought up during the Sharks losing streak to help spark some life into the team. He did so well that he has been with the Sharks since. With the other injuries to the Sharks, rookie Dwight Helminen was also recalled from Worcester as well as rookie defensemen Jason Demers. Just as a side note, the Worcester Sharks are also in the AHL playoffs and have already moved on to round 2. Just goes to show that even with their top scorers playing for San Jose, the farm team of the Sharks is filled with high caliber talent - great news for the Sharks organization as a whole.
Two minutes later, the Sharks found themselves with the man advantage as an Avs Galiardi was sent to the box. Setoguchi took the face off and quickly won it back to Pavelski who was on the left point. Passing it cross ice to Clowe on his right forced the Avs to shift towards Clowe and open up the slot area (the middle lane right in front of the net). Clowe did a great job of selling a shot, which caused Anderson to slide to meet it, yet Clowe quickly passed the puck back to Pavelski. Unfortunately for Anderson, he stumbled right as Pavelski took the shot and he had no chance to recover: 2-0 Sharks. A few minutes later, Clowe and Seto found themselves on a breakaway. Clowe fired the puck as Seto drove to the net hard. The puck went in and so did Anderson and Setoguchi who was checked from behind by Colorado captain Adam Foote. The play was quickly whistled as no goal by the referee. Ironically, it was very similar to the no goal ruling in game 2 but this time (as should have been the last call) there was no penalty to Seto because in both instances it was an Avs player that checked Seto into Anderson. With less than five minutes to go in the second, the Sharks caught the Avs on a bad line change and quickly rushed up ice. As McGinn and Helminen drove the net, Scotty Nichol shot the puck off the net which resulted in it rebounding off the back boards. Anderson, who had challenged Nichol on the shot (meaning he moved forwards towards the shooter to cut down the angle), found himself out of position as Helminen wristed the rebound up and over Anderson: 3-0 Sharks. Rookie Helminen just scored his first NHL playoff goal, now doesn't that sound familiar. The Sharks would go into the dressing room with a 3 to nothing lead, out shooting the Avs 17 to 9.While Nabokov wasn't tested much in the first 40 minutes of play, he was hammered as the Avs tried to gain some momentum and claw back into the game. But Nabokov had some moves of his own, robbing Colorado player Tucker with a massive pad stack. The Big 3 (minus Heatley who was still playing on the third line) had a bit more bounce this time around as well with Marleau streaking in and Jumbo almost burying the rebound home. At 10:37, the Sharks again rushed up ice and with a pure effort play, Setoguchi fought to stay on side as Clowe and Couture rushed in the offensive zone. On his back hand, Clowe literally outmuscled the Avs defense as he charged towards the net and laid the puck on goal. The rebound popped out to Couture who slapped it home for his second of the night: 4-0 Sharks. The Avs coaches made a tough decision by pulling Anderson and replacing him with backup goalie Budaj. With minutes left in the period and the game pretty much wrapped up, the Sharks showed that they weren't about to quit when they found themselves on the Power Play once again. The Big 3 were reunited for this man advantage and it paid off. Heatley fired the puck towards the net and with Patty Marleau hanging off to the side of Budaj, Patty was able to tip it in - finally one of the Big 3 had scored: 5-0 Sharks. With pure will, skill, and domination the Sharks powered their way through the Colorado Avalanche to gain the 3-2 series lead and the chance to finish off the series with just one more win in Colorado.
Game 6, back in the Mile-High City, the Avs would try to stave off elimination at home and force a game 7 back in San Jose. Anderson was back in goal, ready to redeem himself yet the Sharks weren't about to make his night easy as they started with what has become the Sharks number one offensive line of Setoguchi, Pavelski, and Clowe. Quickly they gained control of the puck and with some hard work down low, Pavelski came up with the puck, wrapped around the net and beat Anderson on the stick side - number four for Joe: 1-0 Sharks. The Avs challenged right back with a great scoring chance of their own but Nabby was able to make the sliding save and keep the Sharks in the lead. Defensemen Kent Huskins (pictured above, #40) also made some great defensive plays, working hard to minimize the Avs scoring chances. Halfway through the first, Clowe tried his own wraparound, choosing to go glove side on Anderson and almost scored but the puck would not go in. In the second period, the Avs would tie it up on a great individual move by Svatos who just powered his way to the net, beating three Sharks players and Nabokov for the tying goal: 1-1 Sharks. The Avs came back hard, forcing Nabokov to make some huge saves. Pavelski's line also threatened to score but Anderson came up with some huge saves to match Nabokov. On the Sharks Power Play, Jumbo Joe and Marleau had great scoring chances but were robbed again by the solid play of Anderson. The Avs got a Power Play of their own in the final minutes of the second and rifled a blistering shot that was gloved by Nabokov, absolutely the best save by Nabokov so far.In the third, the Big 3 came out strong as they were reunited and dominated in the Avs zone but still could not convert. For the next five minutes, the Sharks seemed to be sleeping on the job and a horrible defensive lapse resulted in Colorado's Yip scoring the game leading goal: 2-1 Avs. Ironically, Yip's goal was like an alarm clock going off and waking up the Sharks who began to push back with some urgency. Pavelski (pictured below) had a great scoring chance and Heater hit the post, yet none could get that elusive game tying goal. Yet on the same play, the puck found its way to Dan Boyle who buried past Anderson: 2-2 Sharks. Not two minutes later, Colorado captain Foote lost a neutral boards battle with Pavelski, springing the Sharks on a two-on-one offensive chance. With Setoguchi driving to the net, Pavelski wound back to shoot the puck but left it behind. He was able to recover and on second effort beat Anderson for his second of the game, fifth of the series: 3-2 Sharks. The Avs began to challenge the Sharks in their own zone and their D-men started to jump into the play which resulted in a few breakaway chances for the Sharks. Manny Malhotra and Heatley had a great look as did Marleau and Torrey Mitchell but none could convert. With great defensive work by Dan Boyle and others, the Sharks were able to keep the lead until Colorado pulled their goalie for the extra attacker in the waning minutes of the third. Yet some great saves by Nabby and two empty net goals by Setoguchi and Murray sealed the deal for the Sharks who defeated the Colorado Avalanche 5-2 and winning the series 4-2. The Sharks were moving on to round 2, the Western Conference Semifinals.
While it's pretty obvious who the stars for the Sharks were, Pavelski for sure was the best player as was his line with Setoguchi and Clowe. But I do have three other stars that should get honorable mention for their hard work and effort. Scott Nichol was a key player getting a goal and an assist but he also played a very physical game, throwing huge checks at the Avalanche players. He played gritty and was there when things got out of hand, he was like the sheriff, enforcing the law and protecting the other Sharks players. You could tell that he literally left everything he had on the ice every shift. Evgeni Nabokov was also a huge part of the win. He truly only had one bad game (game 2) and was able to bounce back and provide solid goaltending for Team Teal. Nabokov (along with Jumbo and Patty) have always been criticized for their less than stellar playoff performances, but at least this time, critics don't have much to complain about Nabby. Last but not least is Dan Boyle, the Sharks great offensive defensemen. He scored those key goals at key moments, helping to energize the Sharks and propel them to victory. He also made some great defensive plays to keep the Avalanche from scoring. Overall it was a great series for both teams. The Colorado Avalanche weren't even supposed to be in the playoffs and most critics thought they would be one of the worst teams in the league. Yet they battled their way into the eighth spot and gave the number one seeded Sharks all that they could handle. With Anderson's amazing goaltending and great offensive scorers, the Avs will be an unstoppable force in a few more years or maybe even next year.As for the Sharks, it's off to round two against the most formidable foe the Sharks have ever faced - the Detroit Red Wings. This is a David and Goliath scenario, even though the Sharks are higher seeded, the Detroit Red Wings have been to the Stanley Cup Finals for the past two seasons and won the Cup the season before last. Oh, did I mention that the Sharks were soundly beaten 3 out of the 4 games that they played against the Red Wings in the regular season. The Sharks only managed to win once on home ice and haven't won a single game at the famous Joe Louis Arena in almost two seasons. Hopefully, the confidence that the Sharks gained from the previous round will help them find a way to power over a stacked Red Wings team and make it into the Conference Final for only the second time in club history. Though I'm sure the Wings will have some momentum of their own, beating the Coyotes soundly in game 7 to advance to round 2. I'm both excited and nervous, the Red Wings are my number one hated team and for good reason. But with players like Pavelski leading the way, the Sharks have probably one of their best chances to finally defeat Goliath and prove that they have the will and skill to be champions.
