This Red Wings-Sharks series could be decided by anybody on the
ice at any time. But it will likely come down to one simple,
pointed question: Will the Sharks crack under pressure? That
probably sounds unfair to the Sharks. But they have earned their
reputation for being able to swallow only liquids at playoff time.
If somebody ever writes a book on the last decade of San Jose
Sharks hockey, the last 30 pages immediately will disappear. In the
last 10 seasons before this one, the Sharks won their division six
times and finished second three times
— and made the conference finals only twice. They have never
made the Stanley Cup finals.
DETROIT
This Red Wings-Sharks series could be decided by anybody on the ice at any time. But it will likely come down to one simple, pointed question:
Will the Sharks crack under pressure?
That probably sounds unfair to the Sharks. But they have earned their reputation for being able to swallow only liquids at playoff time. If somebody ever writes a book on the last decade of San Jose Sharks hockey, the last 30 pages immediately will disappear. In the last 10 seasons before this one, the Sharks won their division six times and finished second three times — and made the conference finals only twice. They have never made the Stanley Cup finals.
Then, Sunday night, the Sharks won Game 5 in every way a game can be won . . . except for, you know, actually winning the game. Even championship-tested teams would struggle to get over that. It was fitting that when they left the ice, they were already wearing black.
“We’re already starting the recovery process,” Sharks coach Todd McLellan said Sunday night. “I believe if we play that way again, if we produce that game, we give ourselves a good opportunity to win. We’ve gotta do that. We’re looking forward to doing that on Tuesday.”
Saying that this series will come down to whether the Sharks crack probably seems unfair to the Red Wings, too. It implies that they can’t win it on merit. But let’s be honest here: The Wings needed Game 5 desperately, and they were severely outplayed for much of the night.
This was partly because the Wings’ three best forwards are injured. Johan Franzen is skating on one good ankle, and he was so ineffective that he was benched in the third period. (That was a good, gutsy call by coach Mike Babcock, although perhaps Franzen said he couldn’t go.)
Henrik Zetterberg missed the entire first round with a knee injury. Pavel Datsyuk’s injured wrist is apparently so weak that he couldn’t even take face-offs Sunday, even though he is, along with Kris Draper, the best face-off man on the team.
Put all that together, and it obviously hurts the Wings, especially on the power play. But think of what it should do for the Sharks. They should have the puck more, because Datsyuk can’t control face-offs. They shouldn’t have to worry about Franzen, who has won playoff games almost by himself. And Zetterberg, the last Wing to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, has been very good at times in this series, but he is still not quite himself.
The Sharks should be the better team, and they still hold a 3-2 series lead. But we cannot ignore their playoff history. They have tried everything to break through in the postseason. They traded for powerful center Joe Thornton, the kind of player who seems built for the playoffs. They stripped mild-mannered star Patrick Marleau of his captaincy. They let gifted goaltender Evgeni Nabokov go and replaced him with Antti Niemi, who won the Stanley Cup with Chicago last year.
There are signs that they are figuring it out. The Wings and Sharks have played 10 postseason games in the last two years, and nine of them were decided by one goal. The Sharks won seven of those nine.
And yet … well, winning at the Joe, after what happened Sunday, is going to take some steel guts. Before Game 5, Babcock said that if a team failed to close out a series, it could start thinking too much. But Sunday night he was asked about having a mental edge now, and he said, “I’m not a big believer in any of that stuff.”
I assume he said that because he doesn’t want his team getting comfortable. But Babcock had it right the first time. The Sharks have every reason to worry they are collapsing yet again. They have two games to prove they aren’t.
— Column by Michael Rosenberg, Detroit Free Press
