The San Jose Sharks beat the Detroit Red Wings in the second round of the playoffs, losing just one game in the process. But it was much closer than that.
Were it not for a few timely plays, the Sharks could have been swept.
In Game One, Joe Pavelski goes down to the ice attempting a shot, but the puck squirts out to Devin Setoguchi on goalie Jimmy Howard's exposed side. The goal gives the Sharks a 3-0 lead in a game they won 4-3; failing to score there might not only have allowed Detroit to catch up, but raised the spectre of playoff failures past for San Jose when they did.
In Game Two, Pavelski out-raced the Wings to a puck and sent a centering feed to Ryane Clowe, who put a shot in between his legs with his back to the goal. Again, the Sharks won by just a goal, and one like that tends to give a team confidence that it is their series and demoralizes opponents.
In Game Three, Logan Couture sends a seemingly harmless shot on goal from near the boards at an angle well under 10 degrees to the goal mouth. However, Howard plays it poorly and the Sharks tie a game they were losing by two with just over 13 minutes to go—a game they ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by MJ Kasprzak
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May 13th, 2010 by MJ Kasprzak Leave a reply »
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