The San Jose Sharks took the long flight from the Bay Area to Detroit, Michigan for Games 3 and 4 at the Joe Louis Arena. After going 2-0 at home, the Sharks knew that they were up for a challenge as the Detroit Red Wings would fight hard at home. Dan Boyle stated, "this is going to be their best game, their best start" - and boy was he right. Detroit was ready to put out 120% effort to keep the Sharks from gaining the stranglehold 3-0 lead and putting them in the position of elimination.
As expected, the Red Wings came out hungry for blood and took no time in dominating the play. The Sharks were able to push back with a great play by Manny Malhotra that left him helmetless and open in the slot, but Howard got his stick down in time to stop the puck from going in. The rebound found its way to Red Wing Dan Cleary who pushed into the Sharks zone on a breakaway but Nabokov was up to the challenge and was able to stop the shot. Half way through the first period, it would seem that Detroit got on the scoreboard first as Filppula passed the puck to Henrik Zetterberg (pictured above). Fortunately for the Sharks, the puck went off the skate of Zetterberg and the play was then reviewed by the guys at the Situation Room in Toronto who watches all of the live feeds from all of the games in the NHL. Using the three broadcasts of Game 3 (the local broadcast for Detroit, the Sharks broadcast, and Canada's broadcast), they were able to determine that a distinct kicking motion was made - no goal. Less than 4 minutes after the washed out goal, Detroit made one count when Lidstrom cycled behind the net and passed the puck to Franzen who was hanging around the stick side of Evgeni Nabokov (#20, pictured above). In an instant, Franzen shot it at the net, where the brick wall known as Tomas Holmstrom was planted once again in the crease, tapped it passed Nabokov (play pictured at top): 1-0 Red Wings.With a little more than three minutes left to play in the first, the Red Wings were dominating the Sharks zone once again. A great move by Todd Bertuzzi found him all alone with the puck. He jetted behind the net and tried a wrap around move on Nabokov but Nabby was able to get his stick down, yet he could not freeze the puck. In a desperate effort, as the Wings crashed the net, Logan couture tried to push the puck under Nabokov but the referee ruled that he had covered the puck with his hand, resulting in a penalty shot for Detroit. The Joe exploded as the fans cheered on Zetterberg, who was chosen to take the penalty shot. He had threatened to score all night and this was a prime opportunity to put the Sharks down 2-0 early in the game. He came in fast on his forehand and faked the shot, which froze Nabokov, and then he went back hand and tried to lift it passed Nabokov - but Nabby, who has one of the best glove hands, robbed Zetterberg and kept it a 1-0 game (play pictured above). But the Red Wings weren't done yet, at 18:37 Dan Cleary once again found himself all alone in the slot with the puck and buried it passed Nabokov: 2-0 Red Wings. The Sharks pushed back even though the period was almost over and they would play until the buzzer sounded. With Setoguchi, Pavelski, and Clowe out on the ice, they battled for an opportunity to cut the deficit in half. Clowe was able to win the battle on the boards and send the puck to Pavelski, who was behind the net. He quickly threw the puck up the slot, hoping to find a Sharks player - and he did. Setoguchi gathered the puck, turned towards the net, and beat Howard glove side with four seconds left in the first: 2-1 Red Wings.
The start of the second found Detroit in control of the puck and in the Sharks zone. On a bad angle shot, Zetterberg snapped the puck towards the net, it hit defensemen Murray's stick and bounced past Nabokov, regaining the Red Wings two goal lead. Zetterberg had finally scored after being robbed twice before: 3-1 Red Wings. The rest of the second period found the Sharks having to kill off an all important penalty as Detroit threatened to put the Sharks into a hole they could not climb out of. Yet the hard work of the PK unit and Nabokov kept the Sharks within striking distance. The Sharks also had their chances on the Power Play, yet the disciplined Red Wing PK unit was not the same they had seen in San Jose, resulting in no Power Play goals for the Sharks.
The Sharks found themselves on the Power Play early in the third as the Big 3 took the ice. Joe Thornton (#19, pictured 2nd from bottom), Dany Heatley, and Patrick Marleau (#12, pictured above) all threatened to convert on the PP but Howard stood tall and kept the Sharks off the scoreboard. Finally, with a little more than half of the third left, Jumbo Joe won an offensive zone faceoff and powered his way through the Red Wing defense. He circled behind the net and found space near the crease. Then, he just willed the puck passed Howard for a great individual effort goal: 3-2 Red Wings. The Big 3 weren't finished yet as another faceoff win in the Detroit zone had both Heatley and Marleau streaking towards the net. A shot from Boyle found its way through the fray in front of Howard but the Red Wing goalie was able to get a stick on it. The rebound shot out to the slot where Heater was waiting to bury it home. Howard would not allow Heatley to score and again found the puck and made the save. Another rebound ensued and this time it was Patty who got a stick on it but Howard was up to the task and with the help of his D-men, the Red Wings were able to clear the zone.The Sharks were able to make another great effort to score the game tying goal and force overtime when Pavelski was left all alone near the left faceoff circle. Boyle was able to make an amazing cross ice pass which was perfectly placed so Pavelski could take a quick shot. But Detroit Defensemen Brad Stuart sacrificed his body to block the wicked shot from Pavelski and keep the Red Wings lead intact. It was looking dire for the Sharks as only six minutes remained in the third and they had yet to tie the game up. Fighting hard for the puck, the Sharks gained the offensive zone and set up shop. With a great cycle from Vlasic and Mitchell, they were able to work the puck to Logan Couture who was situated on the goal line. In a play similar to Zetterberg's second period goal, Couture threw the puck at the net with the bad angle. This time though, there was no defensemen's stick to deflect it in. Instead, Howard was caught "cheating" as he was thinking that Couture was going to pass and had prepared himself to get across the goal crease quickly. This opened up the five-hole and Couture snapped the puck passed Howard and into the net, tying the game: 3-3 Sharks. The Sharks were awarded a late Power Play but the Red Wings were able to hang on as Howard stopped a great chance by Clowe who broke through the defense. Game 3 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals was going to sudden death overtime.
After a 20 minute rest, the Sharks and Red Wings were ready to duke it out to the bitter end as the next goal would win the game. The Sharks got their chance early when Pavelski's line got a few prime opportunities but the Red Wings returned the favor with scoring chances on their own. Then a horrible line change from the Sharks found all of the Red Wings players gaining the Sharks zone with only three Sharks back. A high and wide slap shot from Red Wing Williams missed the net and skimmed all the way around the boards until it found the stick of Joe Thornton who had just got on the ice and was behind the Red Wing defense. With Patty Marleau on his left wing, the Jumbo quickly skated up ice on a two-on-one breakaway. The other Red Wings weren't able to recover in time to back check the two Big 3 scorers and it was up to Howard and the Red Wing's best Defensemen, Brian Rafalski, to stop the rush. As Howard came out to challange Thornton, Jumbo made a hard pass to Patty who only had to tap the puck into the empty net (play pictured above). The Sharks had come back from a two goal deficit to win the game in OT: 4-3 Sharks.
The Sharks celebrated their comeback victory as a shocked Red Wings team and equally shocked Red Wings fans quickly exited the Joe. The Sharks now have a 3-0 stranglehold over Detroit and can eliminate them with one more win. While the Big Pavelski did not score (he did however have an assist on Setoguchi's goal) the Big 3 came up huge for the Sharks with Joe Thornton raking up a goal and assist and Patrick Marleau tapping in the game winning goal. Dany Heatley had an amazing game as well even though he did not find the scoreboard. Game 4 is on Thursday, May 6th in Detroit where the Red Wings will have to win three games in a row to force a Game 7 if they want to have any chance of winning this series. While it has been done before, San Jose is not about to let that happen and will be looking for the kill come Game 4.
