Things in San Jose just went from good to better. After sweeping both games at home in San Jose, the Sharks got two goals in the 3rd and added another in overtime to put a stranglehold on their series with Detroit. The Wings led for most of the game, but were unable to hold on against a late surge from the Sharks and will now be playing for their lives the rest of the way.
Tomas Holmstrom and Daniel Cleary both scored goals in the first by planting themselves in front of the net, but Devin Setoguchi’s spinning shot along the ice with just 4 seconds left to play cut the Wings’ lead in half heading into the 2nd. Evgeni Nabokov’s save on Henrik Zetterberg’s penalty shot and a goal that was disallowed off Zetterberg’s skate also helped keep San Jose in the game after a first period where they were outshot 14-8.
Zetterberg got his revenge early in the 2nd, putting Detroit up 3-1 with a shot from the corner that somehow squeaked between Nabokov’s pads. Give the Sharks credit for not folding after that, especially in a very formidable Joe Louis Arena. A big reason why they didn’t fold was Joe Thornton, often criticized for failing to contribute in the playoffs. Jumbo Joe scored the Sharks’ first goal of the 3rd period at the 6:42 mark, battling for a loose puck and using his huge reach to work it all the way around the net and into the slot where he just flung it on net and hit paydirt. Rookie Logan Couture continued to produce in his brief postseason career, scoring the tying goal in a similar fashion to Zetterberg. Jimmy Howard was expecting Couture to pass the puck out of the corner, and cheated just a little bit in anticipation of the centering pass. The youngster showed great patience and awareness though, and opted to whip it through Howard’s legs to ties the game.
In overtime, it was Thornton playing a big role yet again, as the Wings got caught deep in the San Jose zone and left him and Marleau open for a 2-on-1. Jason Williams’ slapper went over the net and caromed off the lively end boards in Detroit all the way out of the zone, where Thornton gathered it up. He then held the puck long enough to get Howard out of position and hit Patrick Marleau streaking to the net for the game winner.
While only two teams have managed to come back from a 3-0 deficit in NHL history, these Red Wings are still very much a threat. Every game has been very close, and a couple of bounces the other way and this series could be 2-1 or even 3-0 Detroit. The rest of this series should be very interesting, to say the least.