San Jose sends Detroit packing

SAN JOSE, Calif. – The San Jose Sharks held off another late Detroit rally to earn a hard fought 3-2 victory to earn a trip to the Western Conference finals for the second straight year.
 
Devin Setoguchi opened the scoring with a power play goal at 12:20 of the opening period to give the Sharks an early lead. With Jonathan Ericsson in the box serving a holding penalty, Setoguchi fired a slap shot past Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard, converting a perfect pass from Joe Thornton, who was stationed behind the Red Wings net. Dan Boyle also collected an assist on the goal. With the period winding down, the Sharks gained some extra momentum heading into the first intermission, when Logan Couture stole the puck from Henrik Zetterberg and fired the puck into the net to earn an unassisted goal at 19:01.
 
Zetterberg made up for his turnover that lead to San Jose’s second goal when he scored on a backhand shot to get Detroit right back in the game at13:10 of the second period. Zetterberg converted a pass from Valtteri Filppula and sent the puck to the back of the net. Both teams had several good scoring opportunities, including short-handed chances, but both goalies came up big to keep their teams in the game. Detroit dominated the play in the period, keeping continual pressure in their offensive zone, while outshooting the Sharks 16-6 in the period.
 
Patrick Marleau finally broke through in the scoring column when he scored the eventual game winner with his first goal and first point of the series to give the Sharks a two goal lead at 12:13 of the third period. Marleau shot in a rebound from a Setoguchi shot that was sitting in the blue paint. Boyle earned his second point of the game on the goal. Pavel Datsyuk continued his amazing play in the series by sending a backhand shot past Antti Niemi, at 13:59 to again get Detroit right back in the game. Brad Stuart and Ericsson assisted on the goal. Detroit continued to pressure with several other scoring chances, but Niemi kept the puck out of the net, to earn the hard fought 3-2 victory.
 
San Jose will travel to Vancouver for the start of the Western Conference finals. The Sharks will face-off against the Canucks at the Rogers Arena on Sunday.
 
Contact the writer at Jack.Lima@prohockeynews.com