NHL Hockey Bet Colorado vs San Jose: The Sharks spent the days leading up to the series opener talking about how this group of players had never experienced the playoffs together and comparisons to past Sharks teams were unwarranted.
But it’s hard not to dwell on those past failures when history seems to repeat itself every year. The Sharks lost a series opener at home for the fourth straight playoff series, losing Game 1 to the eighth-seeded Avalanche when Chris Stewart’s(notes) centering pass deflected off Sharks captain Rob Blake’s(notes) skate and into the net for the game-winning goal with 50 seconds left.
The play started when Joe Thornton(notes) lost a faceoff in the defensive zone and the Sharks were unable to gain possession of the puck. Along with being on the ice for the deciding goal, Thornton’s line with Patrick Marleau(notes) and Dany Heatley(notes) was unable to score a goal against playoff novice Craig Anderson(notes).
The Sharks managed just three shots for the entire second period, getting completely outplayed by a team that had to fight just to make the postseason.
“We have to be better,” said Ryane Clowe(notes), who scored the only goal for San Jose. “This is how playoff hockey is. We were solid defensively but offensively we have to get inside, close to the net and move quickly against a team like that.”
The Sharks have been the second-best team in the NHL the past five years, averaging nearly 109 points per season. But they have failed to make it out of the second round in that span.
They lost three straight second-round series before being knocked off in the first round by Anaheim last season after finishing with the best record in the league. They were just the eighth No. 1 seed to lose a first-round series since this format started in 1994, and are looking to avoid joining the New Jersey Devils of 1998 and ’99 as the only top seed to lose in the opening round in successive seasons.
“I think it’s a must-win situation for us,” Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov(notes) said. “Down 1-0 in the series, lose 2-1, or 7-1, what’s the difference? You can’t expect that a series like this will be high scoring. We have to contain them and take advantage of our chances.”
Colorado vs San Jose Preview @ NHL Betting
0 comments:
Post a Comment