Cry of the Fishmonger #4: Ignore the Knocking, Just Close the Door
So, backup to before Monday night, before Game 3. Two games into the series, two key Sharks
players injured and brought off the ice on two dirty hits. Scott Hartnell got a game misconduct in game 1 for elbowing and then kneeing Jonathan Cheechoo. In Game 2, rookie and budding Shark hunter Alexander Radulov checked Steve Bernier from behind, earning himself a game misconduct and a one game suspension. Clearly the Predators were paying attention to last year's Sharks-Oilers series in the second round, when Raffi Torres ran Milan Michalek in Game 3 after the Sharks were up 2-0 in the series. Michalek was knocked out of the playoffs, and the Sharks lost four straight to join him. Torres' hit wasn't penalized, and the Sharks ompletely collapsed.
In Game 2, the Sharks seemed to react similarly to the Bernier hit, never really getting their game back and losing 5-2. That evened the series 1-1, with games 3 and 4 back in San Jose.
So, we here at Fishmonger Central were concerned before Game 3, and eager to see how the Sharks responded and adjusted. The Predators have pretty well neutralized the Sharks power-lay, which was one of the best during the regular season. Nabokov has played reasonably well at times, but also let in some bad, untimely goals.
By Ian, contributing
The Predators scored first in Game 3 in the first period on a tick-tack-toe one-timer by Ryan Suter, the nephew of former Shark Gary Suter, and the bad memories of last year's playoffs eappeared. Fortunately, Ron Wilson and the boys didn't panic, continued to pepper Thomas Vokoun with shots, and relied on their size and speed to wear down the Predators defense. A point shot from Craig Rivet that was redirected by Michalek put the Sharks on the board, tying the game 1-1, and shifted the momentum back.
Then Paul Kariya made one of the most stupid plays I've seen in the playoffs. The Predators had just killed off a slashing penalty on Kariya, but the Sharks were still pressing in the offensive one. Kariya skated across the ice toward the bench instead of joining the play, perhaps reaming of cherry-picking a break-away. Instead, Ryan Clowe was left unmarked in the slot, and let go a quick wrist shot for the go-ahead goal. What a selfish non-play by Kariya! Patrick Marleau got another tipped-shot goal for the Sharks, effectively putting the game out of reach, especially with the Predators run-ragged by the Sharks puck-control. Nabokov finally turned in a game to be proud of, making timely stops, even ones where he should have been beat.
That's how you win in the playoffs.
We'd like to see the Sharks use the same strategy in Game 4, and get higher-percentage shots on Vokoun. As the Sharks should have learned last year, a series isn't over until the handshake line, and the Sharks are good enough to dictate the pace of the game, and eventually the outcome.