Friday, April 09, 2004

Niko the Strong

Niko Dimitrakos picked the best time possible to showcase his abilities, as he used his first playoff game to score the winning marker in Overtime sending the San Jose Sharks on to first win of the quarterfinal. Evgeni Nabokov turned aside 26 shots from the Blues for the win, Chris Osgood perfect on 28 of 29 during the entertaining battle between the two rivals in the West

This is the third time in five years the two teams have squared off in the playoffs, and that kind of familiarity brings interesting results. Chris Pronger found himself on the receiving end of cascading boos every time he touched the puck in the game, a tradition the Shark’s fans have developed over that five year period.

The match up features speed against physical force and tonight the Sharks speed was worth more than the Blues hits. But don’t expect any change in direction from the Blues; they’re style almost pulled out the win on the road. A few bounces going the other way on Saturday night and this series could be tied at 1-1 heading back to St. Louis.

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