San Jose skates again in game-three tonight in Denver
SAN JOSE – The San Jose Sharks, a perfect 5-0 at home in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, open a two-game set with the Colorado Avalanche tonight in Denver’s Pepsi Center with the Men of Teal holding a 2-0 Western Conference Semi-Final series lead.
After dropping 5-2 and 4-1 games to the Sharks on Thursday and Saturday, Avalanche coach Tony Granato will look to the post-season experience of his roster to squelch the momentum built by the Pacific Division champions.
“Going back home, down 2-0, we need to play our best game,” said Granato. “A win can gain us some momentum. The guys know we’re capable of turning this thing around.”
San Jose coach Ron Wilson, while noting that the team’s most recent four games “are the best four we’ve put together all season long,” cautioned that even a San Jose win Monday will not close out a chance of a Colorado comeback.
“We could in the next game be up 3-0 and we’re still not going to sleep well at night. We need to win two more. We learned something in St. Louis with a 2-0 lead. They challenged us and we didn’t push back (a 4-1 loss on April 12).
“We’re going into a hostile environment. Will their crowd pump them up? Will we respond?”
Vincent Damphousse, who garnered a goal and an assist in the second period as the Sharks erased a 1-0 deficit, credited all phases of the game in taking the 2-0 lead.
“We’ve played very smart, we’re poised, and we’ve had great goaltending – all the ingredients to be successful.
“We shouldn’t be worried about who’s in their line-up. We need to play our game. Colorado came out a lot harder in the first period (than the first game of the series), even though they only had five shots.”
Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov moved to 6-1 in the post-season, allowing just Milan Hejduk’s goal 7:01 into action. The Sharks made a slow line change, leaving just one defenseman on the ice when the Avalanche pounced on a turnover in the neutral zone for a 2-on-0 rush at Nabokov.
“It’s going to be a tough one,” Nabokov said of tonight’s encounter. “We know how good they are on home ice. If we are really disciplined, that will be a key to our success. The game is not different, just a little more intense.”
Wilson praised the performance of the 36-year-old Damphousse.
“For the past month, this is the best we’ve seen Vinny,” said the coach. “He seems invigorated. He’s leading by example.”
Damphousse’s best example came 11:14 into the second period. Patrick Marleau’s cross-ice pass was tapped in by Damphousse to tie the score just nine seconds into a power play.
Damphousse assisted on Marleau’s go-ahead goal at 19:36. Niko Dimitrakos controlled the puck while skating inside the Colorado blueline. Dimitrakos found Marleau unmarked in the low slot, with Marleau turning the assist into a point-blank goal under goalie David Aebischer.
Jonathan Cheechoo added a highlight reel goal 6:27 into the third. Brad Stuart’s soft pass from the left point found the net after Cheechoo put his stick between his legs and redirected the puck behind his right skate, then into the cage. Wayne Primeau provided an empty-net goal with 54.3 seconds left.
