Sharks Bite First

In front of 17,562 screaming fans, the San Jose Sharks accomplished something that had not been done in their last 4 straight series openers - they won a hockey game. Their 4-3 win over the defending Western Conference Champions was exactly the right way to kick off a series against a formidable foe.

Some immediate adjustments made by Todd McLellan that I noticed in this game were the amount of time his top 6 forwards were receiving. The Heatley-Thornton-Mitchell then Clowe-Pavelski-Setoguchi lines were out there almost every other shift focussing on dumping pucks deep and matching up with the Red Wings' skill players. Joe Pavelski broke the scoreless tie 9:05 into the 1st period on the powerplay when Dan Boyle found him open in the slot for a quick shot on net. It was a 4 on 3 powerplay that had just expired, Thomas Holmstrom came out of the box, and Pavel Datsyuk shifted from the middle of the ice to the right anticipating a box formation as Holmstrom was coming into the zone. This caused Pavelski to be left wide open and in great scoring position. In the next 1:19, the Sharks would get two more goals to jump out to a 3-0 lead midway through the first. Dany Heatley got his first of the playoffs and Devon Setoguchi also tallied for San Jose.

The roof just about came off the Shark Tank after the flood gates opened but if there's one thing the Red Wings do probably better than any other team in the NHL is keeping their composure. After the third goal for the Sharks, Detroit captain Nik Lidstrom skated over to his shaken goaltender, Jimmy Howard, tapped him on the pads, and had a chat with him. One has to think it was to remind his goalie about the amount of time left in the hockey game for his team to get back in the game.

The Sharks played an almost perfect 1st period except for the missed defensive assignment that left Dan Cleary wide open on the backdoor to get the Wings on the board and out of the period 3-1.

The second period had the Red Wings getting back to their game - puck possession and offensive pressure. Neither team had many shots in the frame however a failed attempt to clear the zone lead to a goal scored by Johan Franzen cutting the lead to 3-2. The rest of the period was certainly controlled by Detroit and their puck possession style of play. Their aim was to lean on the Sharks until they tipped over. Their plan, however, was foiled by a questionable penalty called against Franzen at the end of the period that ended the period with the Sharks still on the man-advantage.

Joe Pavelski's second goal of the game just 50 seconds into the 3rd gave the Sharks breathing room making it 4-2. The two goal lead would only last another 2 minutes or so when Brian Rafalski scored to cut the lead in half with plenty of time left. The goal was the result of another defensive zone breakdown where the Sharks got caught watching the puck-carrier and Rafalski was able to sneak off his point undetected by Setoguchi and got a quick shot off the pass from Pavel Datsyuk.

The Sharks were able to clamped down defensively and worked hard on getting pucks out of their zone while keeping their shifts short. Detroit failed to get shots on goal in the 3rd only managing a total of 5. This made it easier for the Sharks to hang onto their goal advantage and the eventual 4-3 win.

Evgeni Nabokov played well, turning away 20 of the 23 shots he faced on the night including a shot by Lidstrom through traffic with under 30 seconds left in the game. It certainly was an impressive showing for the Sharks and a huge opportunity for them to head into Detroit with a 2-0 lead on the series.

Game 2 is tomorrow night at 5pm on Versus and Comcast (locally).

Presidential Curse?

For the second year in a row, the Presidents Trophy winners were knocked out of the playoffs in the first round as the Washington Capitals were uprooted by the 8th seeded Montreal Canadiens in 7 games. Last season the San Jose Sharks were upset by the Anaheim Ducks in 6 games. A huge difference in this series was that the Capitals held a 3-1 series lead heading home for a clinching game five. Never in NHL history had a #8 team down 3-1 come back to win a playoff series against a #1 seed. So what happened? Even Head Coach Bruce Boudreau said that he would have bet his house that his team wouldn’t have lost three games in a row and only scoring 3 goals total over that span. Columbus Blue Jackets forward RJ Umberger was probably so proud of himself after the comments he made in the regular season about a defensive team that doesn’t turn the puck over will beat the Caps in the playoffs. The Canadiens limited their turnovers and Washington did not have many odd man rushes in the series. Jaroslav Halak still made an incredible amount of saves as he faced 292 shots in the series, but the Habs turned themselves into shot blocking machines which clearly frustrated the Capitals’ skill players.
 
The Montreal defense, particularly Josh Gorges, did a great job in limiting the amount of space for Alex Ovechkin when he had the puck but it was almost as if this Capitals team did not watch video between games. They did not seem to make any adjustments to their style of play in the last 3 games of the series. Where was Bruce Boudreau on this one? 235 lbs Alex Ovechkin versus 202 lbs Josh Gorges - How do you take advantage of the 30+ pound advantage OV has when coming down 1 on 1 with Jorges? Try to dangle then curl to the middle and take a shot? No. Chip the puck past him and out-muscle the defender. If OV started doing that he would have accomplished three things:

1. If Jorges beats him to the puck, Ovechkin can deliver punishing body checks that lead to turnovers.
2. Jorges takes penalties trying to interfere with Ovechkin getting to the loose puck.
3. Ovechkin creates more space for himself because Jorges has to respect OV’s new option
 
No adjustments were made; Ovechkin kept coming down the left wing and trying to take the puck to the middle of the ice for a shot.
 
You definitely have to give credit to the Canadiens and Jacque Martin. If the Caps are to learn anything from this loss it should be that the Canadiens evolved themselves into a team that did what they had to do in order to win. Their skill players came through when they needed goals but they were not trying to over achieve the way we saw Alex Semin and Mike Green do. Semin never seemed to get it going throughout the whole series. There were times when he registered a lot of shots on net but peeling off the wing and sending a wrist shot toward the top corner from 60 feet out is not going to get you goals against a hot goaltender like Halak. And Mike Green did not seem to make any impact from the blueline like we saw in the regular season managing only 3 assists in the series and losing physical battles in the defensive zone.
 
As I write this, I realize it comes down to coaching. Maybe these players are not coachable or Boudreau doesn’t coach enough? They honestly play hockey like it’s a very skilled drop-in game. Case in point Montreal’s second goal, the Canadiens flipped the puck out like they’ve been doing late in the 3rd periods of each game, John Carlson was standing still on the blueline when the puck went over his head and down the ice, Mike Green, the weak-side D, came over and played the body on Maxim Lapierre to cancel him out, but then Dominic Moore was wide open to take the puck to the net. Where was the support? The closest player to Moore when he scored was the right wing, Mike Knuble. First of all, Carlson should have filled the middle lane when coming back into the zone except he hung around on the strong-side boards waiting for a pass and not moving his feet. So if Carlson wasn’t there, then the center (Niklas Backstrom) should have been to close off the lane. This was one of the many examples where simple hockey would have kept the puck out of the net.
 
What’s done is done and life goes on for the Caps. It will be interesting to see what kinds of moves are made in the off season for this team. They seem to be in search of a true #1 goaltender. Turco perhaps?
 
Stay tuned for another first-hand game report out of San Jose tonight. I will be in attendance as the Sharks kickoff round 2 against the Detroit Red Wings.

The Wings Fly

In a do or die game for both teams, the Detroit Red Wings put a beat-down on the Phoenix Coyotes who were on home ice last night in Glendale. The 6-1 thumping was the first Game 7 of the 2010 playoffs and the Wings sent a message that had “Championship Caliber” all over it. The game last night looked like a clinic as Detroit scored 4 in the second period and managed to get 50 shots on net for the night. Pavel Datsyuk scored back-to-back goals 1:41 apart early in the 2nd and Niklas Lidstrom added two goals and an assist. The real turning point of this game was when the score was 3-1 in the second period and the Coyotes got a 5 on 3 powerplay but failed to convert resulting in goal by Brad Stuart after coming out of the box for serving his minor penalty. Prior to the goal, the Coyotes seemed like they could get themselves back in to the game with the powerplay opportunity. The 3rd period served to be a formality at that point for Phoenix.
 
The Red Wings will now travel west to play the San Jose Sharks. Game 1 is tomorrow night.
 
 
On tonight’s agenda, the Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens will play a Game 7 in DC as the Caps look to avoid a first round upset after capturing the Presidents Trophy as the league’s regular season champs. The game can be seen at 7pm et.

Luongo's Save

Here is the Luongo save on Ryan Smyth. Even though Luo was out of position when the puck came in front, he really didn't lose track of the puck. Great save!

Weekend Game Notes

I had a hockey tournament of my own this weekend in San Jose so I haven’t had a chance to post about the playoff games from this weekend. Per the picture posted, we left with some hefty hardware.
 
The Pittsburgh Penguins will be heading to round 2 as they closed out their series with Ottawa Saturday night. Pascal Dupuis scored in overtime as the Pens came back from a 3-0 deficit to take the series in 6 games.
 
Also finishing their series in 6 games, the San Jose Sharks beat the Colorado Avalanche Saturday night in Denver 5-2. Joe Pavelski had 2 goals including the game-winner.
 
Last night in Los Angeles, the Vancouver Canucks wrapped up their series against the Kings with a late 3rd period goal by Henrik Sedin to put his team up 3-2. Alex Burrows added an empty net goal with 1:07 left in regulation to seal the win for his club. Note that Roberto Luongo had an OUTSTANDING save on Ryan Smyth in the 2nd period – I will post the video later today. The Canucks won the series in 6 games.
 
The Phoenix Coyotes forced a game 7 in their series against the Red Wings yesterday as they won on the road in Detroit 5-2. Game 7 will be held on Tuesday at 6pm pt in Phoenix.
 
The Montreal Canadiens will return home tonight for Game 6 of their series against the Washington Capitals, two 1st period goals for the Habs were enough to stave off elimination Friday night winning 2-1 on the road. Alexander Ovechkin was the lone goal scorer for the Caps notching his 5th of the series. Game 6 can be seen tonight at 4pm pt on Versus.
 
And Finally, the Buffalo Sabres avoided elimination Friday night as they beat the Bruins on home ice 4-1. Jason Pominville scored the eventual game winner and Ryan Miller stopped 34 shots. The Bruins will try to close out the series tonight on home ice.

Shark Attack

With over 17,500 fans packed into the Shark Tank, the San Jose Sharks skated their way to a convincing 5-0 win over the Colorado Avalanche Thursday night. The atmosphere was amazing and energy was high, however I was disappointed that only about a third of the crowd were wearing the orange shirts handed out upon entry into the arena. It was a failed attempt at an “Orange Out”, which would have been an amazing spectacle, but I guess not needed for a win and 3-2 series lead.
 
The Sharks came out in the 1st period semi-flat and struggling to find rhythm in their game. A bit of line juggling by Todd McLellan may have been the reason for this as Torrey Mitchell joined the top line on the wing with Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau, and Dany Heatley played with Manny Malholtra and Logan Couture. Both teams seemed to be turning pucks over early on but failing to capitalize on each other’s mistakes. Even though the Sharks outshot the Avs 12-2 in the period, I thought the Avalanche did a better job in getting pucks to dangerous areas of the Sharks’ defensive zone. It was clear that Colorado wanted to keep their game simple and just get pucks on net when they were in the Sharks’ zone and clog up the middle of the ice in their own zone – much of what we have seen from them through the entire series. One thing I did notice that was different in this game, was that Colorado goaltender Craig Anderson seemed to be fumbling the pucks and had poorer rebound control but bouncing pucks were preventing the Sharks from cashing in on his mistakes.
 
It was apparent that the ice conditions were rather poor and continued to worsen as the 2nd period got underway, McLellan must have taken this into account plus the fact that Anderson seemed to be fighting the puck and had his team adjust accordingly. The Sharks simplified their game and really worked on just getting pucks towards the net and placing traffic in front of Anderson.
 
Sharks’ rookie Logan Couture broke the scoreless game with his first career playoff goal midway through the 2nd stanza. The Sharks had a 3 on 2 rush up the ice and utilized the center-lane-drive play. Patrick Marleau brought the puck into the zone on the left wing, Couture drove the center lane to the net, and Dany Heatley positioned himself high on the right side of the ice. When the near-side defenseman started to converge on the puck-carrier (Marleau), having Couture drive the net through the center forced the weak-side defenseman to commit to him, which allowed Heatley to stay high and remain open for a feed from Marleau. Heatley immediately shot the puck toward the net and a smart adjustment by Couture to gain inside position on the defender, allowed him to deflect the puck in the net past Anderson.
 
Minutes later, on a Sharks’ powerplay, Joe Pavelski scored with a slap shot from the point where Anderson had tripped on the play and was left way out of position. Even with the fortunate break for the Sharks, they simplified their powerplay by shifting forwards down low to create traffic and tie up defenders. Keeping with the consistency of a simple game gave the Sharks their third goal of the period when Douglas Murray made a short pass to Scott Nichol in the neutral zone, who then gained the offensive zone, shot the puck towards the net, a committing Anderson went down as the puck went wide, then caromed off the boards and onto the stick of a streaking Dwight Helminen who scored his first goal of the playoffs. The Avalanche defensemen did not do a good enough job with gap control on Scott Nichol, allowing him easy entry into the zone.
 
The Sharks had a firm hold on the game as teams entered the 3rd period of play, but the Avalanche came out with some chances early on. Their momentum, however, was stifled by an interference penalty taken by Kyle Quincy and were never really able to mount anymore of a comeback. Midway through the 3rd, in a terrific play to stay onside by Devin Setoguchi, Ryan Clowe rushed into the offensive zone, put the puck off of the pads of Anderson, and Logan Couture tapped in the rebound for his second goal of the game putting his team up 4-0. This was another example of poor rebound control for Craig Anderson; earlier in the series we saw an almost identical play where he was able to kick the puck into the corner rather than into the slot for a rebound chance. Shortly after the goal, a 5 minute charging major taken by Avalanche forward Cody Mcleod ended the night for Craig Anderson who ended up stopping only 29 of the 33 shots faced. Peter Budaj relieved Anderson only to surrender a goal scored by Patrick Marleau. McLellan reunited Thornton, Heatley, and Marleau for the powerplay resulting in Marleau netting his first of the postseason and giving the Sharks more confidence heading back to Denver for Game 6.
 
Colorado looked tired for most of the game and only had any sort of sustained pressure at the end of the 3rd period resulting in two posts hit keeping the game scoreless. It was great to see the Sharks make adjustments to their game in order to create and capitalize on more scoring opportunities. Also, good coaching by McLellan matching up Heatley-Malholtra-Couture against the offensive line of Tucker-Duchene-Yip – Malholtra won 7 of 8 faceoffs against Matt Duchene. Evgeni Nabokov was able to get into his rhythm, with goals in front of him, he was able to play his game with confidence stopping all 28 shots faced.
 
Game 6 will be in Denver Saturday night.

Heating Up

Now that most teams have played 4 games in their respective series, the Eastern Conference series leaders have hammer locks while we are now playing best of three out west.
 
The Capitals and Bruins emerged victorious in their games last night. Alexander Ovechkin finished his night with 2 goals and 1 assist to help the Caps win their 3rd consecutive game against the dwindling Canadiens – the Capitals now lead the series 3 games to 1. Miroslav Satan scored the game-winner in double OT to advance the Bruins’ series lead to 3 games to 1 over the Buffalo Sabres. Both Pittsburgh and Philadelphia hold 3-1 leads over Ottawa and New Jersey respectively, and both teams will look to advance to the next round tonight. Sidney Crosby has been absolutely spectacular for the Pittsburgh Penguins thus far, tallying 4 goals and 7 assists to lead all scorers in the postseason. The Flyers will be battling New Jersey without Simon Gagne and Jeff Carter, both are out with foot injuries and will require surgery.
 
It’s a much different story in the Western Conference. Last night, the Vancouver Canucks tied their series up against the Los Angeles Kings in a back-and-forth game at the Staples Center – Henrik Sedin was credited with the game-winning goal as the Canucks won the game 6-4. With the exception of Chicago/Nashville, all the series are now tied at 2 games a piece turning them into a best of three. San Jose looks to put the pressure on Colorado tonight, I will be fortunate enough to be in attendance for this game and am excited to give a firsthand report. Phoenix returns home against Detroit as the White Out in Glendale resumes after Detroit shut out Phoenix 3-0 at home two nights ago. Chicago and Nashville face off in a pivotal game 4 with the Predators leading the series 2-1. It is rumored that Brian Campbell may return to the lineup for Chicago after suffering a broken collarbone off a controversial hit from Alexander Ovechkin during the regular season.

Stay tuned for a game report from San Jose!