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Game 5 will be pretty much the pivotal game of the series. If the Wings manage to steal one on the road, it's back in D-town for a series that will have seen a complete momentum shift, with lots of hope left. Come on boys, just try and push it to a game 7 and see what happens. You only lost by 1 goal in each of the first three games, even with the ice tilted completely the wrong direction because of the ridiculous number of penalties, specifically 5-on-3's. You have the Sharks flustered, despite only having one game in the series. Come out strong in game 5 and see what happens. As of right now, they were very fortunate to be up 3-0 in the series. If you watched the games 1-3, you wouldn't think either team would be up 3-0 in the series, as it was just that close. I haven't seen such a close, hard-fought series start out 3-0 in quite a long time. Just keep bringing it like you have every game this series. You guys haven't played bad hockey. Fight through your, what are frighteningly becoming a regular thing, 5-on-3's on Saturday, and capitalize on your opportunities. Know that when you have a 1 or 2 goal lead, you're going to be penalized, probably in the bunches. Don't let that stop you. Put even more points on the board like you did tonight. Refs can't influence a 7-1 game; they can influence a 3-2 game where both teams are playing very close.
With all that said, Detroit is still toast. San Jose has only outplayed Detroit one game so far in this series, with two of SJ's other wins being very close games. What I'm saying is that San Jose is due to have a dominant performance where they clearly outplay their opponent. I look for San Jose to come out strong and score some even strength goals for a change. Both teams are bound to have a great performance in at least one game of the series. San Jose's turn is up next.
An interesting statistic from this series so far:
Of their 12 goals in this series, San Jose has scored 6 PP Goals so far. With 6 PP goals, you'd think they've had a fantastic PP percentage for the series. In fact, they are only 6 for 33 (18%), which puts them last among active teams in the playoffs for PP%. Now, consider that 3 of those 6 PP goals occurred during a 5-on-3, and you begin to see that their PP really isn't that great...it's just the sheer number of penalties being called that attribute to half of their goals being PP goals. In fact, two of the game changing goals in game 1 and 2 (meaning the goals that either tied the game up or gave SJ the lead) occurred by virtue of one of these 5-on-3 powerplays. If they don't get those 5-on-3's, it could be an entirely different series. Judging by Detroit's play of this series, it wouldn't be out of the question for them to have already swept San Jose based on their performance. It really has been that fine of a line in this series. Both teams are pretty equal, but it's been an interesting series. It goes to show that performing pretty well isn't always enough, and one goal can mean a lot.
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