We all knew this wasn’t going to be easy with these teams. After
Calgary took game one 3-2, the Sharks came out and recorded a 2-0
shutout Thursday.
We all knew this wasn’t going to be easy with these teams. After Calgary took game one 3-2, the Sharks came out and recorded a 2-0 shutout Thursday.
The matchup between these two teams is always interesting because the teams are so evenly matched. Each team has its super stars. Each team has its premiere goalie and its premiere defensemen.
The closeness has some Sharks fans wishing for a Colorado/San Jose matchup. But Colorado, the No. 6 seed, is no pushover. They defeated the Wild 4-3 in overtime in their first game.
Not that a team like Colorado would have been any easier, but the Flames seem to have a thing for the Sharks. San Jose is 28-38-11 all time against Calgary and 19-34-6 against Quebec/Colorado. Granted that goes back to when the Sharks weren’t very good.
After the first game against Calgary, many Sharks fans were left with a feeling of deja vu that this season would be like the 2004 season in which Calgary eliminated the Sharks 4-2 in the Western Conference Finals.
But the Sharks avoided heading into Canada world committeing an unpardonable sin of losing their first two games at home. Let the media frenzy and craziness begin. Pittsburgh’s Marian Hossa called it the “playoff bubble” in reference to their game at Ottawa.
But going to Canada isn’t all bad for the Sharks, who hold the NHL’s best road record of 27-10-4.
The Sharks outshot the Flames 39-23 in the first game but couldn’t recover from a 2-0 deficit that no one in the Bay Area was able to see. By the time Comcast jumped from the A’s game to the Sharks game nearly seven minuts had passed and three goals had been scored. Way to go Comcast.
The Sharks came out strong in the second game with a physicalness that was missing in the first. The little things like completing their checks and the willingness not to be pushed around paid off with some quality shot attempts early.
The Sharks were a little tentative in the first game, but weren’t afraid to push and shove and lay down the hits in the second.
History has shown that teams need a little aggressiveness in their game. Last year, Anaheim led the league in fights before winning the Stanley Cup. This year, Calgary led the league with 70 major penalties.
In the second game, it was all about muscle. Throw stuff in front and hope something good will happen. The Sharks needed 10 power plays to score their two goals.
About half the second period was spent with the man advantage, including two 5-on-3s, and the Sharks recorded an amazing team record of 27 shots on goal while limiting the Flames to just three.
Joe Pavelski put the Sharks on the board with a 4-on-4 goal at 4:56 mark in the second. Yet only a goal by rookie Torrey Mitchell with nine seconds left in the final penalty of the second period with about two minutes left helped the Sharks avoid total futility. You got to credit the Flames for withstanding the storm.
The Sharks, the leading power play killer in the NHL, easily killed off three straight penalties in the third period and even created two shorthanded chances that Miikka Kiprusoff saved.
After Evgeni Nabokov made perhaps his best save of the night off a shot by Owen Nolan, the already boisterous crowd erupted with chants of “Naby,” “Naby”
Earlier, Nabokov, who made 21 saves, made another incredible save on a 2-on-1 attempt by Jarome Iginla with a second left in the first period.
