I really hope you were lucky enough to witness the San Jose Sharks ridiculous 5-4 overtime win in game 7 against the Vegas Golden Knights.
I hope you were able to look past the stats, good calls or bad calls, trash talk and the genuine hatred these teams have for each other and enjoy that game for what it was -
the exact reason why we love sports in general and more specifically, why we love the NHL playoffs above all others. Reality TV at its finest. Survivor has nothing on playoff hockey.
The first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs ended with the defending Cup champs knocked out at the hands of another Cinderella. It's been a heck of a ride and this one round puts the entire NBA playoffs to shame.
But, for the sake of this blog and this fanbase, I have to say the Sharks/Knights series had it all. It had the scoring, the comebacks, the viciousness and the drama we all love. San Jose was down and out, and a bad Martin Jones had his fingerprints all over a 3-1 series deficit.
It really felt like the Sharks were dead and buried, but hockey is not like that, and certainly not in these 2019 playoffs.
Jones found his game. Tomas Hertl guaranteed his team would turn things around and Gerard Gallant and company tried to win the war of the words.
Who looks like the clown now Gerry?
Vegas was a nice story last season. No, it was a great story, but this season they became the heel, the villain and a team I love to hate. Goodbye and good riddance to Vegas and its entitled fanbase.
What did we learn about the Sharks in this series?
First off, we learned that they never give up. This group picks each other up, as much, if not more than any group I've ever seen.
"The leadership is the best I've ever been around. ... Very fortunate as a coach to be around people like [Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski]. You don't have to say a lot. They are driving the bus." -- Sharks coach Peter DeBoer
The teams' reaction to their motionless captain on the ice was riveting and awe-inspiring. Once Pavleksi left the ice, it was game on, and Logan Couture led the charge with two of the four power-play goals. Those four-plus minutes of hockey were like something out of a movie. In fact, that same storyline is probably part of rejected Hollywood script shoved in some dresser drawer somewhere in the Hollywood Hills.
Whether you believe a five-minute major should have been assessed or not, what the Sharks were able to do at that moment was bigger than hockey, bigger than sports, They rallied around a fallen player and willed themselves to victory. Vegas had no chance, the Hockey Gods would not allow it.
What happens next is very important for THAT moment and for Sharks hockey going forward. They have been given a second chance and I know the "team of destiny" thing has been thrown around, but Dallas, St. Louis, Colorado, Columbus, New York, Boston, and Carolina all feel the same exact way.
The only thing left to do for San Jose is to win the whole damn thing, but first things first.
If the Sharks are going to beat the Colorado Avalanche, they have to get the goaltending and must carry over that belief in each other from game 5-7 into this series. Colorado is fast and rested. It's not a great match-up for the slower Sharks.
Wait a minute... where have I heard that before?
San Jose can win if they continue to get scoring from all four lines. They had nine players with more than four points in the opening round.
The defense has to be at it's best at both ends. We know what a healthy Marc-Edouard Vlasic does for the Sharks. We also know that both Erik Karlsson and Brent Burns have to keep the offensive pressure going. Even at 50%, EK was a force with the puck at times.
That said, STOP WITH THE BLIND CLEARING PASSES THAT GO RIGHT TO THE OTHER TEAM IN FRONT OF YOUR OWN CAGE! *deep breath*
Finally, Martin Jones must stop the shots he's supposed to. He is prone to leakiness at the worst of times. (opening minutes, on the power play, when making a comeback, late in games), If he can plug those holes, the Sharks' dam will hold enough water to stay afloat in round two.
Thanks for reading,
Steve
San Jose Sharks Blogger • 
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