Season Ends On Penalty Kill

Stars win series 4-2

Well, the San Jose Sharks showed a lot of heart, but in the end, they couldn't get it done. That had to be one of the most exciting/longest games I have ever watched in my life. Thanks to an absolutely amazing performance by Evgeni Nabokov, Team Teal found themselves in quadruple overtime with numerous chances to move on to a Game 7. Unfortunately, San Jose's special teams simply weren't up to par in this series and it was clearly the difference between these two evenly-matched teams.

Over the six games against the Stars, San Jose went 2-25 (8.0%) on the powerplay. Definitely not good enough. With a chance to score a huge powerplay goal in the third overtime, San Jose couldn't generate any real scoring opportunities. In fact, the majority of the Sharks' scoring chances came five-on-five. However, Marty Turco was equally impressive on the other side of the ice, posting 61 saves on 62 shots.

As for San Jose's penalty kill, this may have been the biggest disappointment of the entire playoffs. After posting the second best PK throughout the regular season, the Sharks allowed the Stars to score 5 powerplay goals in 22 chances (22.7%). Obviously, the one that hurt the most was the one that ended the season. With Campbell in the box, Dallas went to work and kept the Sharks running around until the Stars' best player, Brenden Morrow, scored his 7th goal of the playoffs. On the play, Nabokov didn't have much of a chance to make his 54th save on the night.

I'm disappointed that the Sharks lost on a penalty kill, especially since the refs put their whistles away for almost all four overtimes. However, as mentioned before, San Jose had their chance, but simply didn't convert. They skated hard, they fought for pucks, and they didn't go down without a fight. They made me proud.

However, with that said, not all of the Sharks played well. There were a number of guys out there who simply didn't show up...whether it be injuries or fatigue, I don't know. But, I have a feeling that a lot of them won't be around next season. After another second round exit, something has to change in San Jose. I'm not exactly sure what has to change, but regardless, you can be sure that the same team will not be taking the ice next October.

Overall, great season...good series comeback...bad results.

Notes:

I would have liked to see Seto out there instead of Curtis Brown...Number 37 wasn't much of an impact out there and I'm pretty sure he's played his last game as a Shark.
After losing two in a row to the Sharks, Dallas took a page out of Edmonton's playbook and knocked out Milan Michalek before knocking San Jose out of the second round. It would have been nice to have Milan's young legs in those four OTs...
I'll be interested to learn who had injuries in this series because a lot of guys just didn't show up against Dallas.

A San Jose Sharks Blog