Cry of the Fishmonger: Hockey as a Case-Study in Ugliness
We're three games into the Sharks-Red Wings series, and so far it's been like watching a couple of dogs tussle in Duboce Park: it's competitive, but not exactly fun to watch. The Sharks got two quick goals in Game 1, then endured a Wings onslaught for the win, thanks to stellar goaltending from Evgeni Nabokov. In Game 2, the Sharks went for seconds, going up by two goals in the first period before going into a shell. But that second plate never is quite as good as the first, and Detroit dominated play, battled back to tie the score, and got a late goal by Pavel Datsyuk on a broken play for the win.
The Sharks decided to switch things up in Game 3 back at the Shark Tank. Sounds good right? Except their new game plan was to go down by a goal in the first after looking confused for long stretches of play that didn't involve Joe Thornton. For almost exactly 30 minutes, San Jose couldn't put a clean pass through the neutral zone, couldn't get much extended pressure, couldn't win a battle on the boards in their own zone, and just generally looked like they didn't know what they were doing. After they tied the score, the roles reversed, and the Sharks completely controlled play for the remaining 30 minutes.
Dominik Hasek, the Wings goalie, has looked beatable when the Sharks are able to work from the hash-marks in, leaving rebounds on the weak- side, and doing his trademark prone-flopping-around act. But unlike when the Dominator was in his prime, his reaction time is a tad slower, and he relies on the tight Detroit defense to clear off the rebounds and tie-up the Sharks shooters. When Ryan Clowe tied the game, he fluttered a weak shot just past the glove of a sprawling Hasek. In 1997, that's not a goal.
Photo courtesy of P.J. Swenson at Sharkspage
By Ian, contributing
Jonathan Cheechoo scored the go-ahead goal on the power-play with just over 5 minutes to play in the third period on another slow- motion shot. With three Red Wings flanking him, Cheechoo's stick got lifted to prevent an open-net shot after Hasek was down on the ice, but he managed to keep his balance, fight off the defenders, and push a bad-angle back-hander over the line for his second goal of the series.
Give credit to the Detroit defense: they've kept the Wings close in this series. Due to the way Detroit reads the emerging plays, the Sharks have seemed to play at half-speed for long stretches, sending soggy passes cross-ice, shoving the puck toward, but not over the blue-line, skating right into two-man coverage, and waiting far too long to pull the trigger when they have an open shooting lane.
When that happens, the Sharks spend too much time thinking about how to make the play, rather than just making the play. When the Sharks play with confidence and rely on their instincts, they overwhelm, and eventually wear down, the Red Wings.
Tomas Holmstrom, shot-tipper and goalie-screener extraordinaire, is returning to action in Game 4 for the Wings, so the Sharks need to control the play, and Nabokov has to control his rebounds, to prevent a sustained Detroit attack. As is often the case, Game 4 is the key game of this series: head back to Detroit in the driver's seat, or all-even for a best-of-three? Let's hope it's better hockey than has been played in the previous three games.