Saturday, May 03, 2008

Stars let series clincher slip away


It’s a most improbable comeback, left on the dock less than a week ago as a rotting fish with little in the way of life; the San Jose Sharks have suddenly clawed their way back into their best of seven series.

Friday night, the Sharks overcame a two goal deficit to knock off the Stars for the second game in a row, a 3-2 overtime victory that pulls them to within one game of the Stars and shifts the pressure back towards the Longhorn state.

Dallas looked to be set to celebrate a series ending victory as they headed towards the third period, having controlled the play for the first two periods and looking every bit ready to move on to showdown with the Red Wings for the Western Conference title.

But the Sharks apparently had other plans instead of the traditional post game handshake session that comes with the end of a series.

Milan Michalek started the Sharks on their way back in the series with a goal six minutes into the third period, followed by Brian Campbell’s marker after eleven minutes of the third.

With Evgeni Nabokov shutting the door for the Sharks in the third, the game moved on to the third overtime session of this series, a short lived bit of extra time as Joe Pavelski gave the hometown crows hope for more hockey this spring with his overtime winner sixty five seconds in the first overtime period.

Nabokov faced 24 shots on the way to his victory, while Marty Turco only had to deal with 19 shots, three of which found their mark and extended the life of the is series.

You never want to let your opponent pick themselves up off the ice in the playoffs, where momentum shifts can change the dynamic of an outcome with just the slightest bit of movement. The Stars have had the Sharks destined for the bait locker for two games and now and will be particularly disappointed in their lack of focus in the third period of Friday night.
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Should the Sharks come back to snatch what should have been sure victory from them in this series, then Dallas need look no further than game five as the turning point, a game that was there for the taking, only to be handed back as if a gift for a friend.

San Jose Mercury News-- Forget the odds; Sharks can win
San Jose Mercury News-- Sharks emerge from the darkness
San Jose Mercury News-- Sharks make it happen
San Francisco Chronicle-- Sharks stay alive
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NHL.com-- Stats Pack

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