The Western Conference Semi Finals got underway right off of the faceoff as a jittery looking Sharks team bobbled the puck and then a misplay by Nabokov resulted in a mad scramble right in front of the San Jose net. The Sharks were able to quickly settle down and get some chances in on rookie goalie Howard, who robbed Setoguchi, Demers, and Heatley (#15) (pictured above) in the early minutes of the first period. The Sharks had a slightly different look to them as Patrick Marleau was out with an undisclosed injury (later revealed to be the flu) but you could tell that they were hungry for the win. Right off the bat that this game had a fast pace to it, even faster than the first round of the playoffs. Being both puck possessive teams, the play went evenly back and forth between the teams until some untimely penalties for the Red Wings put the Sharks on the offensive. An offensive zone faceoff win helped the Sharks establish their Power Play. With Boyle and Demers on the point, they cycled the puck to Pavelski who was hanging off the side of Howard. Pavs shot it over the crossbar but Boyle was able to collect the loose puck and find Pavs right in the slot. With a fast wrist shot, #8 buried the puck past Howard: 1-0 Sharks. Another offensive zone faceoff win for the Sharks found Demers at the point with the puck. He quickly threw it at the net yet Howard made the save, letting a juicy rebound find its way to Joe Thornton. Jumbo used his magic from behind the net and with a fast pass up the slot, found Heater crashing the net. With a simple tap in, another of the Big 3 finally got on the scoreboard, and what a great assist by Jumbo: 2-0 Sharks. I have to point out how huge this assist was for Jumbo. Usually, Joe likes to slow the play down in the offensive zone by drawing the defenders to him and then making a slick pass to one of his wingers who taps it into the goal. It's a slow play that requires a lot of patience and that's exactly what Joe has. Sometimes it's a good thing, other times it results with me screaming at the TV for Joe to do something, anything. During the series against the Avs, Joe didn't have the time and space like he usually does, resulting in poor offensive production from him. In the first 4 games, you couldn't even sense his presence on the ice. In this game, from his first shift you could tell that Joe Thornton was on the ice. He was fast and big, throwing checks and causing chaos for the Detroit puck carriers. He was also much quicker moving the puck, especially with the Heatley goal. Joe definitely picked up the tempo of his game and it showed. I haven't seen Joe Thornton play like that since the Sharks faced off against Joe's old team, the Boston Bruins last season. Hopefully, if Joe keeps on playing like that, he could and will be the difference maker in this series.
Another faceoff ensued in the Sharks offensive zone but this time Detroit won the draw. Yet, with tremendous effort from Ryane Clowe, he was able to beat the Detroit defense and still come up with the puck. He quickly passed it to Boyle who in turned moved it to Pavelski who was heading towards the net, yet Joe was checked to the ice. As Pavs was falling, he made a cross-ice pass to Setoguchi who was waiting on the left wing. Seto was able to rip the shot past Howard, the second goal for the Seto, Pavs, Clowe line: 3-0 Sharks. If you are wondering how long it took the Sharks to score 3 goals, it only took 1:19 - yes, that's 79 seconds to build a 3 goal lead against one of the premier teams in the league. The Sharks hadn't clinched the W yet because Detroit still had some fight left in them.
With more than half of the first period already played and a 3 goal deficit, the Detroit Red Wings hit desperation mode and started their full on assault against the Sharks. Shift after shift, the Red Wings were able to build some momentum and started to push back. On a broken defensive play that left Red Wing Dan Cleary alone in front of Nabokov (#20, pictured above), The Detroit forward Ericsson was able to make a nice pass to Cleary who tapped it passed a sprawled out Nabokov to cut into the Sharks lead: 3-1 Sharks. The goal helped to spark some much needed life into the Red Wings who took control for the rest of the first period. Nabokov held strong and was able to come up with some big saves to keep the Sharks 2 goal lead into the second.Five minutes into the second, the Sharks won a defensive zone faceoff yet still coughed up the puck to Detroit, with a nifty move in the slot, Franzen "the Mule" was able to beat a screened Nabokov to pull the Wings within one: 3-2 Sharks. With Detroit holding the momentum, the Sharks began to make some sloppy plays, resulting in a few Power Plays for Detroit. Some great defensive moves and key faceoff wins, the Sharks were able to not only keep Detroit from scoring but also launch Nichol and McGinn on a shorthanded breakaway chance that almost resulted in a goal. And when the D did have problems containing the Wings, Nabby was there to come up with the save. The Sharks also did something that they haven't done much in the regular season - get in shooting lanes and block shots. This forced the Wings to cycle the puck and make more passes, keeping them on the perimeter of the Sharks zone.
In the third period, the Sharks found themselves on an early Power Play. With a play very similar to one in the first period, Pavelski was again hanging on the stick side of Howard. The puck was cycled from Heatley to Boyle at the point, who passed it down to Joe. This time, Howard could not make the save and Joe Pavelski scored his 2nd of the game, 7th of the playoffs: 4-2 Sharks. Detroit quickly answered back as defensemen Brian Rafalski dropped down from the point to rip a snap shot passed Nabokov, the game wasn't over yet: 4-3 Sharks. Once again, the Sharks lost the momentum and took some bad penalties. Manny Malhotra came up big with some key faceoff wins as well as great plays from Captain Rob Blake (#4, pictured above and second from top) who was constantly battling in front of the net. The Sharks got their opportunity to go on the offensive when the Red Wings were assessed a minor penalty. The Sharks pelted Howard with pucks from the point and a mad scramble broke out in front of the net as the puck lay uncovered near the crease. Blake had a prime opportunity to score but flicked the puck wide of the net. With a minute left in the game, Howard was pulled for the extra attacker and the Wings went to work. Once again, Manny was there to win the faceoff and help box out the Detroit Red Wings. With a few huge saves by Nabokov, the clock counted to zero and the Sharks won the first game of round 2.
A few things to point out about this game. One is the fact that the Sharks scored twice on the Power Play yet the Red Wings didn't score at all with the man advantage. The Special teams for the Sharks did their part in a huge way. Manny Malhotra was clinch in the faceoff circle, winning a few key draws in the waning seconds of the game as well as making a huge shot block with only a second left in the period. Captain Rob Blake was great on defense as were all the other defensemen, holding the Red Wings to 23 shots on goal, the Wings had 50+ shots on goal in their last game. Even with the high number of goals against, Nabokov was stellar coming up with some huge late period saves. Rookie Jason Demers had 2 assists on the night, setting up Pavelski's first goal as well as Heater's goal. This was also the first game 1 win for the Sharks in 4 straight playoff series. Overall, it was probably the most complete team effort I've seen from the Sharks in these playoffs. Every line pulled their weight and then some. While this win is sweet, the Detroit Red Wings aren't going to take this lying down and will surely be out for blood come game 2.
