The San Jose Sharks and the Colorado Avalanche are tied 2-2 heading into game five at the SAP Center today The Avs pulled even with a 3-0 win on Thursday night.
Colorado was the beneficiary of some of the Sharks sloppiness and it resulted in a blown opportunity for the road team.
In game three, the Sharks were the aggressors and dictated the pace and play of the game. In game 4... they got away from that and resulted in some uncharacteristic turnovers. Despite being outshot in the game, the Avs were victorious because they were able to capitalize on their chances, while the Sharks did not.
Nathan MacKinnon scored the games first goal and GWG at 10:34 of the second period. Before the start of the second period, I had a sobering thought. I said to myself, "the longer this game goes without a goal, the better the Avs chances are of winning the game."
Much of the Sharks success in this postseason has been predicated on emotion. In game four I saw a lot of frustration and a lack of positive emotion. From Lucas Radil stopping midplay on a muffed shot to arguing every whistle, Colorado had the Sharks right where they wanted them. The arena sound folks even took jabs at San Jose by playing an obnoxiously loud rendition of "Baby Shark" in the final minute of play.
The first period was the tightest period of the series. San Jose has done an excellent job of clamping down defensively. Once the Avs grabbed a 1-0 lead the strategy changed. Coach Pete Deboer admitted afterward that he and his staff felt like the first team to score was going to win the game. That's how it played out and now the Sharks find themselves in a best of three for a trip to the Western Conference Finals.
San Jose let a golden opportunity slip away, but they can change that and get back in the driver seat with a win today.
If the Sharks are going to win today they need to do three things...
1. Extreme attention to defensive detail - crisp outlet passes, protect the area around Martin Jones and strong neutral zone presence. Do the best you can to slow down Colorado's big line. That's really all the Sharks can do at this point. MacKinnon is playing possessed. He's scored a goal in three consecutive games and is in the midst of an eight-game point streak. MacKinnon's 13 points (6g 7a) is tied for the NHL playoff lead.
2. Get the special teams back on track. In game four, the Sharks power play went 0-for-2 and failed to get a single shot on goal. San Jose is just 1-for-10 in the series. They have too many weapons on the PP to NOT get that going.
3. Score the games first goal. The Sharks has shown an ability to come back in a game (duh), BUT the look so much more comfortable when they have a lead. A lead combined with the home crowd will go a long way towards a game five win.
Thanks for reading, Steve