Well, it's All Over; Sharks Win Series 4-1

It's only befitting that the series-winning goal comes when the Sharks should've been short-handed but another non-call results in a Patrick Marleau winner. Sorry, I just couldn't help myself with the badly drawn MS Paint Sharks logo... it was just too easy.

I'm sure there are plenty of others that'll do it, so I'm not gonna harp on the officiating anymore, promise. The fact is, the Sharks were a great team in this series. They scored the big third-period goals and got it done when needed. Detroit had a chance with a 50-second 6-on-4 powerplay at the end and didn't get it done. That about sums the series up. They are not the shakey Guppies of the past. They've got guts and hunger. Sadly, I've gained a lot of respect for Jumbo Joe and I can no longer call him Joke Thornton. He was their best, most consistent player throughout the series and they wouldn't have won without him.

Still, I'm not ashamed of my Wings. It's been a tough season. We were decimated in the off-season and then once more during the regular season. My hope is this loss instills a fresh new passion into the Red Wings for next year. We'll get a chance at a new forward or two after July 1 and I truly believe Jimmy Howard can be a Cup-winning goalie with a little more experience and polish to his game.

Howard had a tough time in a few games these playoffs but he successfully managed to bounce back and keep his head straight. The thing about being a Red Wings goalie is you don't need to channel Terry Sawchuk to go all the way. It's a great team you have in front of you and as long as you can make some timely saves in the tight games, you'll probably win. Okay, so that's not what happened last night, whatever. Jimmy played a brilliant game and he has nothing to be ashamed of. Stuff like Game 3 will be [hopefully] eliminated from his game with experience and if so, the Wings have themselves the right man between the pipes.

So back to the Sharks series...

Yeah the more you think about it, it's a tough pill to swallow. In three of our four losses we had a lead. In 2 of them that was in the third period. In a lop-sided 4-1 series loss, we actually outscored them by three goals. But it just wasn't our series. For some reason, it just wasn't meant to be.

After three straight to the West Finals and two to the Cup Finals, the boys have earned this summer, I hope they enjoy it. It's a chance to re-charge, re-group, re-focus and come back for the next Cup run in 2011.

Congrats to the Sharks on a great win.

Congrats to the Wings on a great season.

Sharks 3, Red Wings 2 (SO)

Last night at the Joe, the Red Wings were forced to meet their mortal enemy. No, not the Sharks, the shootout.

After a much more inspired and hunger-filled effort from the Wings, they still couldn't quite manage to squeeze two points from the affair, as they fell to a 4-8 record in shootouts for the season, and 27-21-12 record overall. The loss was made even more costly as the Stars leap-frogged Detroit in the standings with their 3-1 victory over Calgary.

Despite the setback, the overall performance from the Red Wings was quite positive, particularly when compared to preceding lackluster performance in St. Louis on Tuesday.

"We played well. We played with good tempo. We looked like a hockey team," said Red Wings' coach Mike Babcock. "We had every opportunity to win."

Against the top-of-the-West San Jose Sharks, Detroit was for the most part dominant, doubling up the Sharks shot total, 52-26. That lop-sided statistic was not translated on the scoreboard however, as some defensive lapses and some outstanding goaltending from Sharks' goalie, Evgeni Nabokov, saw the game tied at two at the end of regulation.

Further positives for the home team were the performances of Johan Franzen and Jimmy Howard.

In just his second game back from a four-month layoff due to a major knee injury, Franzen again showed he hasn't lost a step. Amazingly, timing seemed to be as normal as the Mule registered 6 shots and 1 powerplay goal on the night, with a touch under 21 minutes of ice-time. His line combo with Datsyuk and Zetterberg looked very dangerous all night, and was only kept from doing more damage by the superlative efforts of Evgeni Nabokov.

Not to be outdone, Jimmy Howard was also fantastic allowing only 2 goals in 26 shots, neither of which he could be blamed for. One, from a powerful play in the crease by Thornton, and one from an ugly defensive lapse from Howard's teammates. The Sharks, while heavily outshot, had some huge chances themselves but were also stymied by the play of their opposing goalie.

Goalscorers for the night were Franzen and Jason Williams for Detroit; and Joe Thornton and Michigan-native Dwight Helminen for San Jose with Patrick Marleau netting the game-winning shootout goal for the Sharks.

The Wings hope to continue to build on these positives, when they host the red-hot Ottawa Senators on Saturday night, and try to go into the Olympic break with a win and maybe even with a provisional playoff spot.