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Game, set,
match
Sharks season sputters to an
end
5/7/07 - by Mike Lee
2nd round
exists are becoming old news in San Jose. For the second consecutive year, the
Sharks rolled over to a team they should have easily beaten. After winning two
games in the series, San Jose packed it in against the Detroit Red Wings with a
heartless 2-0 loss at home. Reminiscent of their debacle against the Edmonton
Oilers last season, the Sharks played uninspired hockey against a Detroit team
that made quick work of San Jose.
Former Shark Mikael Samuelsson
scored a pair of goals 4 minutes apart in the 1st period, then the Red Wings
leaned on Dominik Hasek, who turned aside all 28 shots he faced for the
shutout.
"It's obviously a tough feeling," said Joe Thornton on San
Jose's second straight 2nd round exit. "You never want to repeat what we did
last year, but that's how it ended. We came out with a great start and believed
we could win this game. They got some timely goals and we couldn't get anything
past [Hasek]."
The Sharks get to spend another summer pondering their
lackluster performance, which was capped by a shutout loss at home in an
elimination game. All the talk of taking a talented team to the next level,
turned out to be nothing more than lip service for a team that has
underachieved once again.
"I'm shocked where we put ourselves in the
series and how we let it get away," said Sharks head coach Ron Wilson. "But I'm
not shocked that Detroit beat us. They finished ahead of us in the standings
and they had a great season."
Detroit moves on to play Anaheim in the
Conference Finals after keeping their game plan simple. Weather the storm the
Sharks were sure to throw at them in the opening period, then capitalize on San
Jose's mistakes. The plan worked perfectly.
The storm came in the form
of sustained pressure by the Sharks, but a high-sticking double minor by Joe
Thornton at the 9:19 mark prevented the Sharks for cashing in. Referees Don
VanMassenhoven and Dan O'Halloran showed a little Red Wing envy by calling the
penalty after Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock complained that Danny Markov
had been cut after play had stopped for an icing call.
Hasek turned
aside all 11 shots in the 1st period, then Samuelsson bit his former team with
his 2nd goal of the playoffs. After slipping past Sharks defenseman Matt Carle
at the blueline, the Red Wings forward took a lead pass from Johan Franzen then
raced in on Evgeni Nabokov and depositing the puck for the 1-0 lead at 15:2 of
the period.
Hasek teased the Sharks with a patented fumble of the
puck in his own end three minutes later, when he turned it over to Mike Grier
after skating out of his crease. Grier scooped up the puck then raced around
the back of the net in an attempt to wrap the puck around the left post, but
Detroit defenseman Niklas Lidstrom hustled back to the net and blocked Grier's
scoring attempt with an outstretched stick across the goal line.
Stung
by the missed opportunity, the Sharks let down their guard late in the period
and faltered with another defensive lapse. Pavel Datsyuk sprung Samuelsson up
the right wing boards as time was winding down in the period, on a 2-on-1
break. Samuelsson carried the puck up ice before snapping a shot over Nabokov's
left shoulder with 8 seconds remaining in the period.
"I think sitting
back is what killed us," said Sharks captain Patrick Marleau. "We did a good
job of getting up in the games, but we sat back and let them come at us. We've
talked about it all series, the games they won, we were in control most of the
game."
Detroit would sit on the 2-goal lead, led by the ageless
wonders, Lidstrom, defenseman Chris Chelios and Hasek. The Red Wings netminder
faced 10 shots in the 2nd period, including a breakaway attempt by Steve
Bernier that was snuffed with a circus save.
San Jose came out flying
in the final period in a last ditch effort to extend their season, but the
chaotic attack was easily controlled by the Red Wings trap. San Jose began the
period on the power play, but as has been the case the entire post season, the
Sharks 2nd ranked power play was a farce.
San Jose went 0-for-4 on the
man advantage, ending their playoff run with a pathetic 7.5% conversion rate on
a combined 4-for-53 performance in the post season.
"I thought we
competed hard," said Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock. "They threw everything
at us, and we knew that was going to happen. We thought if we were patient,
they would over-pinch, and be over-aggressive and we would get 2-on-1's and get
our opportunities and in the end that's what happened."
Notes:
The Sharks lost a 5th consecutive game when facing elimination in the
playoffs. In contrast, Detroit won for the 11th consecutive time when faced
with a chance to advance.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| DET |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| SJ |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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| 1st period - 1, DET,
Samuelsson 2 (Franzen, Chelios), 15:26. 2, DET, Samuelsson 3 (Datsyuk,
Chelios), 19:52. |
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| 1st period - Cleary, DET
(roughing), 3:11; Michalek, SJ (roughing), 3:11; Calder, DET (hooking), 6:48;
Thornton, SJ (high sticking - double minor), 9:19; Cheechoo, SJ (interference),
15:39. |
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| 2nd period - Calder, DET
(hooking), 3:11; Checlios, DET (hooking), 19:51. |
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| 3rd period - Hannan, SJ
(roughing), 3:19; Quincey, DET (slashing), 5:48. |
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| Overtime - Schneider,
DET (hooking), 6:28; Rivet, SJ (delay of game - puck over glass), 14:52. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| DET - Hasek |
28 |
28 |
| SJ - Nabokov |
22 |
20 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| DET |
10 |
5 |
7 |
22 |
| SJ |
11 |
10 |
7 |
28 |
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| Referees: Dan O'Halloran, Don
VanMassenhoven. Linesmen: Mike Cvik, Brian Murphy. |
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