The San Jose Sharks weren’t happy about giving the Red Wings a
3-0 cushion in the first period. They certainly were upset about
giving up the game-winning goal at 18:33 of the third, but with a
3-1 lead in the series after Friday’s 4-3 loss, they weren’t
devastated.
DETROIT
The San Jose Sharks weren’t happy about giving the Red Wings a 3-0 cushion in the first period. They certainly were upset about giving up the game-winning goal at 18:33 of the third, but with a 3-1 lead in the series after Friday’s 4-3 loss, they weren’t devastated.
“It’s not like we blew a lead or anything,” said forward Ryane Clowe, who assisted on all three of the Sharks’ goals. “(The Wings) scored at the end. It was a game they deserved to win. They were better. They probably deserved to win last game.
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“We came back, we had a couple power plays in the third and didn’t get too much. It would have been a good opportunity.”
Clowe said getting a split at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit was still a positive.
“You kind of look for that on the road,” he said. “We’re going back home still in command, up 3-1. We won last game, we lost (Friday) in the last minute and we weren’t close to being on top of our game. We gotta regroup. Give them credit. They played a good game, but we’ll be better.”
The Sharks were chasing the Wings from the start. Todd Bertuzzi scored 6:22 into the game and Nicklas Lidstrom added a pair of goals to give the Wings a 3-0 lead before Logan Couture scored at 18:16.
“We harped so much on being good on the walls, having some composure early, detail early because they’re do or die right now,” Clowe said. “It kind of went the opposite way. Just little details. Didn’t have the coverage, weren’t very good on the boards in our own end and they had a lot of momentum. We were chasing too much.”
Dan Boyle added a goal in the second period and Dany Heatley tied the game at 1:14 of the third.
“I like the fact that we were resilient when we weren’t playing real well,” said Sharks coach Todd McLellan. “We found a way to claw our way back into it.”
But it was the Wings who finished strong, peppering Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi in the minutes before Darren Helm scored at 18:33 to break the 3-3 tie in the third.
“They had a couple shifts where they had sustained pressure,” Clowe said. “At that point, you’re breathing heavy and you gotta get the puck out. That’s just one of those things where you’re tired and lose coverage and obviously it was a wide-open cage.”
Clowe did show his displeasure after the game, punching Wings forward Justin Abdelkader. The players were assessed 4 minutes in roughing penalties at the 20:00 mark of the third.
But Clowe really wanted Niklas Kronwall, who had the big hit on Heatley in Game 3. Asked what happened at the end, Clowe said: “Oh, just a little scrum. I wish it was Kronwall lining up against me. That’s all right.”
— Story by George Sipple, Detroit Free Press
