The Chicago Blackhawks are relentless; give an inch and they
will take a mile
— or, in this case, a 2-0 series lead over the San Jose Sharks
in the Western Conference Finals.
A first-period goal by Andrew Ladd momentarily sucked the life
out of a packed HP Pavilion on Tuesday night, but more
surprisingly, the tally seemed to stun the Sharks so much so that
they never fully responded
— again, mindboggling.
SAN JOSE
Hockey has a special way of toying with emotions.
The ebb and flow of momentum, the irony of an offensive rush by one team quickly morphing into a goal for the other seconds later, or the psychological affect one goal can cast upon an entire squad. It’s mindboggling.
It is a game of inches and bounces and breaks.
The Chicago Blackhawks are relentless; give an inch and they will take a mile — or, in this case, a 2-0 series lead over the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference Finals.
A first-period goal by Andrew Ladd momentarily sucked the life out of a packed HP Pavilion on Tuesday night, but more surprisingly, the tally seemed to stun the Sharks so much so that they never fully responded — again, mindboggling.
The goal came moments after Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton nearly created a breakaway at center ice, the puck took a Blackhawks’ hop and that was that.
“That goal took a lot out of us for some reason,” San Jose head coach Todd McLellan said postgame. “I was disappointed because we have had that resiliency in our hockey club. It took us a while for us to climb back and get the energy level back up to where it needed to be.”
Disappointing is correct, Mr. McLellan.
San Jose came out the aggressor in the opening 10-plus minutes, yet its chances found little success against Chicago netminder Antti Niemi.
After Ladd’s wrister found its way past Evgeni Nabokov’s left shoulder to light the lamp at the 12:48 mark of the first, that energy and urgency the Sharks had exhibited before the 1-0 deficit didn’t resurface until it was too late.
While San Jose spent most of the latter half of the first period and a majority of the second regaining their composure, the Blackhawks stayed true to their gritty form and expanded the advantage to 3-0 in an eventual 4-2 victory in Game 2.
“I felt that we let our guard down for a little bit after the first goal and they took the game over for a while,” McLellan added.
At this point in the playoffs, having a one-goal deficit shouldn’t have that type of impact on the rest of the game. Falling into a trap of flipping the urgency-switch on and off is a dangerous ploy against a talented Blackhawks team that knows how to play with, and protect a lead.
Frustration is expected, as evidenced by Thornton’s slashing penalty on Dave Bolland midway through the third period that caused a stir in some skates, and there needs to be more of that. But some have stopped expecting the Sharks to come out with a noticeable chip on their shoulders.
The Sharks found a way to make things difficult on themselves, looking first to squeeze in an extra pass instead of putting a shot on net. The finesse game didn’t pay off as Niemi only faced 27 shots.
Shouts of “shoot the puck,” which rang out from the anxious fans as the clock became the enemy in Game 2, may serve as sound advice moving forward.
“Sometimes we tried to do too much,” centerman Joe Pavelski said. “Hopefully we can come back together and re-establish our game that has made us successful so far.”
With the series shifting to Chicago for Game 3 and 4, the Sharks’ No. 1 priority is to get a win. Minimizing the early damage will be immeasurable. The only way to do that is to put the puck in the net.
“We have three goals in two games. That’s not gonna cut it against a team like that,” Dan Boyle said. “If it’s not working for you, do something else. If you’re not scoring, there’s got to be a reason.”
That reason may be as easily identifiable as Niemi’s play in net and the defensive pressure the Blackhawks produce in the neutral zone. Looking inward at themselves, however, the Sharks just aren’t getting the quality chances they need. Shots are missing the net, and when they are on target, a Blackhawks defender is there to direct it away from his goalie.
“I don’t think the group is down,” Pavelski said. “We are still trying to win four games and we are trying to get there before them.”
A 2-0 series hole will most certainly unleash panic among the teal faithful, but consensus among the guys in the locker room is that they are close to putting it all together. That provides little comfort coming from a team that only occasionally comes out looking the same on a game-to-game basis.
Marleau still has a nose for the net, earning both goals for the Sharks in Tuesday’s loss, extending his point-scoring streak to six games and giving him four scores this postseason.
“I don’t think we caused enough havoc in there,” Marleau said. “It comes to what we are doing as a line. I think when we are getting the puck in deep and using our bodies to get the puck to the net, it’s hard for teams to defend against us. We probably didn’t do enough of that tonight.”
The Sharks do have some statistics in their favor heading into Game 3 today, Friday. Despite being the hottest road team in the postseason, the Blackhawks’ meager 3-3 home mark bodes well for San Jose, which is 5-2 on the road during the playoffs.
“It’s not a must-win until you are down 0-3,” McLellan said emphatically. “It’s not a must-win, but we are going to approach it like it is.”
If the Sharks don’t find a way, Tuesday’s loss will be the last memory the hometown fans will have of their 2009-10 team at The Tank, because the series won’t return to San Jose for Game 5.
