I don’t know what curse, jinx or hex has been put on the Sharks, but they need to figure it out quickly, or they could be looking at yet another early exit in the postseason after a very impressive campaign. For the 2nd time in 3 games, the Sharks lost to Colorado with the winning goal going in off of a San Jose player.
Colorado goalie Craig Anderson turned in a fantastic effort, stopping 51 shots throughout 3 periods and the first 51 seconds of overtime, giving the Sharks just enough time to score on themselves. Dan Boyle gathered a loose puck in the San Jose zone and attempted to backhand it around the end boards, but inadvertently shooting it right through the pads of his own goalie, leaving Evgeni Nabokov and the rest of the Sharks dumbstruck with disappointment, and sending a packed house in Denver into a frenzy.
The Avalanche won despite putting just 16 shots on goal in a game that was thoroughly dominated by the Sharks, even though superstar Dany Heatley missed the game with an undisclosed injury. Heatley was missed most on the powerplay, as the Sharks went 0 for 6 on the night, including two failed powerplays in the last 6 minutes that seemed like prime opportunities for them to finally break the scoreless deadlock.
The heroes of Game 2, Devin Setoguchi and Ryane Clowe, led the Sharks with 8 shots each, and Manny Malhotra, Scott Nichol, Patrick Marleau and Rob Blake all finished the game with 5 or more shots, but it was all in vain, as Anderson was absolutely unbeatable in this one. The Sharks’ biggest failure was a lack of presence in front of the net, but even when they did get bodies in the slot, Anderson still managed to get a handle on the puck.
A bad sign for the Avs was the loss of veteran scorer Milan Hejduk, who collided with Paul Stastny in the first period and did not return after banging his jaw on Stastny’s shoulder. His status remains unclear for Game 4, which should be a great game to watch on Tuesday.