Even though my prediction of a mere 5-game series didn’t come true, the Sharks still handily eliminated the Avalanche in 6, after bouncing back from a demoralizing fluke goal on a baffled Nabakov. The Red Wings upset the Coyotes tonight in a blowout 6-1 game 7, which means the Sharks face the Red Wings in round 2 of the playoffs.
As any Sharks fan knows, the Sharks have a bad record when facing the Red Wings. And in recent playoff history, I remember the sleepless nights of anger following the Sharks blowing a 2 games to 0 lead over the Red Wings in the 2007 semifinals. I had nightmares of game 4 when within seconds of the winning, the Sharks allowed the Red Wings to tie it (video)…and of course the Red Wings proceeded to win in OT. There went the momentum of the series, and the rest is Ducks history.
But that was 2007 and though it was a great Sharks team (grumble, grumble), it was a different Sharks team. Like Peterson of the Merc said, Sharks should want to face Red Wings and banish their demons.
The Sharks have a 2nd and 3rd line that have stepped it up in the playoffs, so if the 1st line could just get going, they’d give that rookie goaltender a nice barrage of shots as they did on Anderson. Thornton who has been working hard all series, should have things start up for him against the Red Wings. Heatley has had a lot of time to heal up, and Marleau, who has struggled so far, has just scored his first of these playoffs, so hopefully that was the spark he needed to start his more typical playoff scoring.
So tomorrow, the rested Sharks will play game 1 against the weary Wings, who are just coming off battling through 7 games.
My prediction: Like this epic depiction of Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus, it’ll be quite the battle, but Sharks win it in 6.
GO SHARKS!
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A few things that the Red Wings have over the Avalanche that could cause problems for the Sharks:
1) Seasoned veterans: These guys know what it takes to make it far into the playoffs, many of them are still on the team that won the Stanley Cup two years ago. The Avs were a bunch of kids who were just excited to even be in the running for the Stanley Cup. But no one truly thought that they could best the Sharks in a best-of-7 series because they just didn’t have the experience, or the skill to match even. This leads to two more things like…
2) A formidable offense: The Avs’ offense were outplayed by the Sharks defense for the majority of the Quarterfinal series because a couple of their top offensive players were out of the lineup due to injuries. This will not be so with the Red Wings! Though wearied, players like Datsyuk and Zetterberg can still put the puck in the net. The other thing is the…
3) Red Wings defense: Lidstrom as the anchor of their D makes it that much more solid compared to the Avs. Even with the barrage of shots by the Sharks’ offense in the Quarterfinals, I don’t think the Red Wings will allow nearly that many make it to their net.
All in all, the Red Wings are much better team than the Avs and it will be a hard-fought series. True the Red Wings aren’t nearly what they used to be two years ago (they pretty much owned the playoffs then). Losing to the Penguins in Game 7 for the Stanley Cup, only making it Seed 5 in the playoffs this year, and even going all the way to Game 7 against the Coyotes, they still have the knowledge, skill, talent, and even class to be successful in the playoffs.
The great thing is that the Sharks have seemed to have learned how to really fight for their wins now! The nice thing about the Avs’ surprising wins in Game 1 and 3 is that it kept the Sharks on their toes instead of on their heels, and Anderson made them work hard to get those winning goals in Game 2, 4, and 6 (5 was no contest). The Sharks are rested, but, hopefully, still on edge to bring their game tomorrow.
Go Sharks!
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Go Ducks!
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[...] love this time of the year: the Stanley Cup playoffs! Just like last year, I’m going to give my predictions for every round the Sharks are [...]