Sharks Lacked Passion
Predators tie the series 1 - 1
Last night's game felt eerily familiar...let's take a look at the situation. The San Jose Sharks are leading a very physical playoff series, a player goes down because of a cheap shot, and Team Teal goes on to lose the game. If you're a Sharks fan, you probably know that I'm referring to last year's playoff series against the Edmonton Oilers. Unfortunately for San Jose, that game was the beginning of the end.
After Raffi Torres knocked Milan Michalek out of the playoffs last year, the Sharks simply could not get back on track. San Jose let the meaner, more aggressive Oilers push them around and that led to four consecutive losses. As I mentioned in a previous post, the Sharks are even bigger this year making them the largest team in the NHL. However, after watching last night's game against the Nashville Predators, it was difficult to tell. After Alexander Radulov hit Steve Bernier from behind, it seemed like San Jose just couldn't get anything going. They let the smaller Preds push them around and showed zero aggression which was absolutely dumbfounding. I kept asking myself, "Aren't they mad?! Don't they want to win?!"
I thought the Sharks were going to come out fighting after losing Jonathan Cheechoo in Game One; to some extent, they did. San Jose went to the body early and played a very physical game to earn the one goal lead. However, as soon as Bernier went down, Team Teal lost all of their momentum. Not only did they miss their chance to score during the five minute major, the Sharks also wasted a two-man advantage. To make things even worse, San Jose allowed a short-handed goal putting them in a two goal hole.
The Sharks did not show any passion until the very end of the game; finally, Team Teal decided to try and re-establish themselves as the larger, meaner team. Unfortunately, it was too late. I was happy to see them show some emotion at the end of the game, however, I would rather see them do their damage on the scoreboard. I can't remember the last time I was so disappointed with a Sharks performance.
Fortunately, the series is tied and Team Teal has the home ice advantage over the next five games. However, if Nashville finds a way to win just one of the next two games, the advantage will swing the other way. Let's hope that the fans in San Jose can give Team Teal the adrenaline boost they need.
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Comments
Very interesting... as always! Cheers from -Switzerland-.
Posted by: Dog training | November 27, 2007 02:54 AM