DENVER, Colo. – Reality TV does not get any better than the San Jose versus Colorado conference quarter finals. Tonight at 10:24 of the first overtime period Joe Pavelski of the San Jose Sharks solved Avalanche goaltender Craig Anderson to tie the series at two.
The Sharks opened the scoring at 1:12 of the first period on the power play with the first shot on net. Dan Boyle, who was the goat after the last games overtime loss for accidentally putting the puck into his own net, found a shooting lane and beat Anderson to get the Sharks rolling early.
At 3:27 of the second period, Colorado’s Paul Stastny tipped in a John Michael Liles point shot to tie things up, also a power play marker. The game winning goal came off of Pavelski’s stick like a bullet from a gun, past Anderson‘s glove. Douglas Murray entered the offensive zone with the puck and even though he lost control of it he cleared a path for Joe Pavelski who made no mistake. The final score in another goaltenders battle was 2-1.
Unlike the last two games, tonight’s contest was evenly fought. Shots and scoring chances were fairly equal both ways.
The Avalanche came with more grit tonight and showed the hockey world that someone besides the goalie deserves to be paid. The momentum switched back and forth and both goalies were named stars along with the man who scored the game winning goal. All of the games in this series have been decided by one goal and all but the first contest have been settled in overtime.
In the playoffs, secondary scoring is a must for any team’s success. In San Jose, the secondary has done all the scoring. To get the forwards going coaches often mix up the forward lines. Tonight was no exception.
Coach MacLellan took Dany Heatley off the top unit and replaced him with Torrey Mitchell. Heatley missed last game due to an undisclosed injury but judging by his lack of energy tonight it may have been the flu. This seemed to turn the momentum around for San Jose.
Mitchell brought great speed to the top line and their best scoring chances came with him on the wing. The third line also showed some promise driving the net hard. The best trio for the Sharks in this series has been Devin Setoguchi, Ryane Clowe and Joe Pavelski, who have all stepped up their play in the postseason and have become the team’s top line, unofficially of course.
However the numbers don’t lie. Nobody saw the ice more than the Pavelski line and the way they played they deserved it. They have been the Sharks’ best playoff performers so far. The query still remains on how to ignite the team’s regular season leading scorers Joe Thornton, Heatley and Patrick Marleau who are still without a goal and have been kept off the score sheet for the last two games.
Game five takes place back in the Shark Tank in San Jose on Thursday night. Momentum is on the Sharks’ side and another couple of days should give time for Heatley to recover. Evgeni Nabakov appears to be more confident and the kid line form Worcester gets better with each shift. If tonight was any sign, the Sharks are back on track with the bad bounces behind them.
Contact cam.gore@prohockeynews.com
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