Recapping the Magic, Game 3. Sharks 4 Wings 3 in OT
Throughout this series the Sharks have been fairly dominate with the puck, which has been a large contributing factor to their wins. They haven't dominated all 60 minutes every night, but they've been able to take control of the game and reign things in when it counts. Last night saw a slight reversal of the Sharks domination as the Wings largely controlled the play for 40 minutes. Maybe 30 to 35. The first 10 minutes of period one were kind of a wash, but either way it was the Wings who came out swinging and scored first.
Despite the Wings coming out and playing strong, like we all knew they would (and could) the Sharks stayed with them.THIS is the biggest and most important difference between this year's Sharks and past year's teams. They aren't crumbling, they aren't folding, they're sticking to the plan and fighting for every game until the very end. They might have come out slow last night but they recovered and played well enough in the third to tie it. Don't forget Seto's goal with 1.8 seconds left in the first. Or Nabby's pivotal stop on Zetterberg's penalty shot. That goes in and who knows how the game ends.
Going into OT you know anything is possible. OT games are largely won because of mistakes. The Sharks had a horrid change that could have cost them the game, but somehow it worked out in their favor and the puck ended up on Joe Thornton's stick. Howard went out to challenge Joe, who passed the puck to Marleau. Marleau, with a nice open net in front of him, shot in the game winner. Cue thealaldksfllfkas;fllsf explosion on twitter.
To say Sharks fans are on cloud 9 would be an understatement. The amazing feeling of suddenly being up 3 games to none in this series is nearly enough to make you cocky. But only nearly. We're all keenly aware that this series is far from over. As Dan Boyle said last night, "If there's one team that can come back from a 3-0 deficit, it's them." (from a retweet of a tweet by Craig Custance)
Todd McLellan had a similar take, "It should allow us to be confident, not arrogant." (from @brodiebrazilCSN)
He's right as well all know it.
There may be something different in the air in San Jose this year, but the Wings are always a dangerous team, and their backs are against the wall. To think tomorrow will be easy, or even set in stone is to dangerously underestimate the Red Wings. But what a ride this has been. Let's all try to enjoy these past three games because tomorrow, it's ON.
