You know, based on the first two games of the series, (And all the games of the playoffs so far) the Sharks are really going to have to earn it. That was a hard faught game last night, and I think I realized I can't count on Nabokov at all. Given his performance in playoff past and in the olympics, he's not a big game goalie. Hopefully he shapes up in the upcoming games, but I don't feel comfortable with him in net. With that said, putting in Griess would also be a mistake, since he doesn't have the experience like Nabokov does.
The best players on the Ice last night were Clowe, Pavelski, Nichol, Mitchell, and Manny Malholtra. Everyone else was either average or not very good, especially Marleau. I don't know what it is, but he's been awful in this series. He was average last night, but he fanned 4 shots and was a -1. He turned over the puck and just looked lazy out there. He better shape up too.
Some thoughts on the rest of the playoffs
-Like him or hate him, it is entertaining watching Sid play. That final goal where he was playing cat and mouse with Spezza was awesome, and that save he had on goal was fantastic. I'm starting to think he's a player you love to hate. You'd hate to play against him, but you got to respect the guys skill
-What happened to Chicago. 4-1 Preds? That's surprising.
-I'm loving all these playoffs. Every team that lost on Wednesday won last night. We're guaranteed at least 5 games in, what 4 of the series? I've got a feeling we're going to get quite a few Game 7's in these playoffs and that's awesome.
)
Avs up 2-1 and can you imagine what's going through San Jose's collective hockey minds right now?
