Takes and trash talk from both ALL sides of the NHL's most obscure PATHETIC* rivalry

* Thanks, Kevin Lowe!

Sunday, April 27, 2008

A few Game 2 observations

  • Game 2 was a more watchable game, even if sloppiness provided the entertainment.
The Milan Michalek goal was a defensive breakdown followed by an overly aggressive move by Marty Turco, although you cannot expect (only hope) that your goalie can make a miraculous save in that kind of situation. That wasn't the case here, as Michalek seems to be a bigger threat in this series (obviously).

The Sharks were guilty of just as many, if not more, bad mistakes.

Mike Ribeiro scored a goal off of Evgeni Nabokov's skate, a play that made me say "San Jose better start treating him like he's Joe Thornton and completely smother him." Ribeiro had a lot of danger on his stick in this game.

  • The Brad Richards goal, not to mention being involved in all 4 of the Stars third period goals, shows that his quality playoff skills translate to the Western Conference. He was an absolute difference maker.
  • Brian Campbell is looking better than he did in the first round, but I cannot help but mutter "is someone really going to spend $6 million per year on this guy?" when I watch him play. This is the same thing people will be wondering when they watch Dan hockey-playing-not-film-directing Boyle. Seriously, quality offensive defensemen are almost as overpaid as NFL 1st round draft picks these days.
  • I try not to bitch too much about officiating because it's always such a no-win situation, but the back-to-back Modano and Ehrhoff penalties were among the worst I've seen in a while. It's hard to call games fairly, but those calls altered the landscape of that game - and late penalties have been playing God with quite a few close, late games lately. What can be done to find a happy compromise?
  • The one positive that came from the bad penalties was the Zubov to Modano goal, which was both beautiful and nostalgia inducing. Not bad.
  • This series is flat out weird. Are the Sharks the most mind boggling team in the NHL this year or is it just me?
  • OhmyGod, I forgot the Sharks employ Brian "don't call me Bobby" Boucher! I miss his brickwall helmet. Can you believe this guy owns the all-time NHL shutout streak????
  • Going 2-0 on the road twice in a row in the playoffs is quite the accomplishment and you've got to think that some demons are being exorcised. If nothing else, the win allowed Razor Reaugh to say the Stars were "swimming around in their birthday suits" at the Shark tank. You gotta love Razor.
  • Game 3 should be a heart attack of a game. It's going to take some testes for the Sharks to come back. So, what do you think Nabby? More of the same or Boyz 2 Men?

11 comments:

RudyKelly said...

I swear I've seen this episode before... did I watch it last week?

Mr. Plank said...

I've been watching the reruns for yearsssss now.

Anonymous said...

The Stars this year remind me an awful lot of another team from 2003 ... great goaltending, solid defensive scheme, and fast transitional game with good mix of character guys and an awesome #1 line. Hmm. Throw in overtime winner from game 1, and the Stars look like they have that "it" factor this yr.

Or maybe I just jinxed them. :)

Daniel said...

I don't sting as much now that I see the Stars take two from the Sharks at home as well. I thought it was a team who couldn't pull it together when they did it to the Ducks, but you have to give Dallas full credit now. They are simply playing smarter and playing harder than the other team, almost every night.

I wont call this one over, but I can't wait to see Detroit and Dallas to battle it out. We just need Bowman and Hitchcock to get behind the bench for one series, then all is well.

I think San Jose should sign Darren McFadden, get someone to stand in front of the net.

Ryan said...

Amen on your point about Campbell and the D market. What you are seeing now is what made Soup getting shipped off easier for us Sabres fans to take.

Mike Chen said...

I won't say it's totally inconceivable for the Sharks to win two on the road, but it'll be totally impossible if they have a "oh crap, we made a mistake? now let's panic!" response again.

You know a team is crumbling before your eyes when they either try to force a pass through five guys or they want to skate through five guys themselves.

jamestobrien said...

The Stars are far, far, far from being done with this series. They've "earned their bounces" but 2-0 is definitely not game over.

Getting cocky would be the last thing a less talented, harder working team should do.

Anonymous said...

jamestobrien - Are the Stars really less talented, though? The opponents underestimating Dallas seem to think so and so do most hockey journalists, but I beg to differ - this is the best team Dallas has put on the ice in several seasons and they're proving it by shoving it in the face of two Southern Cali Cup favorites.

Turco - better than Giguere and better than Nabokov so far.
Defense - even though Dallas relies on 3 rookies, they're getting the job done and getting it done well. Zubov's return is icing on the cake.
Offense - with Richards, Dallas can now score from 3 lines, something that's been missing in past seasons.
Special Teams - Dallas is lethal on the power play.

All this is from one Stars fan's perspective, but the pundits that looked at Dallas vs. Anaheim on paper and claimed Anaheim was better were wrong. It's looking the same for Dallas vs. San Jose.

Andrew Brautigam said...

Campbell is not worth 6 mil a year - take it from a Buffalo fan. He is a defensive liability - on top of his tendency to disappear.

Mike in OC said...

The most surprising thing to me is Dallas's speed. My Ducks looked at times like they were in slow motion, I figured it was because they were built for size. I really thought San Jose would fly past them and expose something. Dallas so far is the faster team.

Go figure. It looks like Dallas is for real!

Earl Sleek said...

I really thought San Jose would fly past them and expose something. Dallas so far is the faster team.

This also is somehow Ron Wilson's fault.