The San Joes Sharks skated into Game 5 ready to win, and all but literally made shark meat out of the Avalanche. The Avs were sloppy and on their heels for the majority of the game and the only reason it wasn’t a blow out on the scoreboard was due to the superior net minding by Phillip Grubauer, who made 37 of the 39 shots the Sharks put on net. Comparatively, the Avs only generated 22 shots.
The way in which the Sharks were terrorizing the Avs from the very beginning was enough for me to want to stop watching because I didn’t see how the Avs were going to make it out of this one. However, it was like trying to look away from a bad car crash. You can’t. Besides, it not like I could ever willing turn off a playoff game, not matter how awful we looked. However, the hockey gods must have been watching out for the Avs in the first period. Things were looking bleak, and then bleaker, when the first goal of the game came from the Shark’s Kevin Labanc early in the first. Yet, the goal was was disallowed due to a hi-sticking prior to the goal by Timo Meier against Mikko Rantanen, and the Avs were able to skate out of the first with the game still tied at zero.
Surprisingly, it was the Avs who would light up the scoreboard first with a deflected shot by Tyson Jost. Shortly after, Barrie was called for Interference on Evander Kane, and it would be Tomas Hertl who would get the equalizing goal on the Power Play. The Avs entered the third period with the game still tied at one, and it was beginning to feel as if perhaps the Avs may be able to steal the win if they could get one more lucky bounce. However, that lucky bounce never came. The Sharks kept up their relentless drive and got the go-ahead goal with Hertl’s second goal of the game. There were a couple of good chances late in the game by the Avs, but it wouldn’t be enough to get another goal, and the Avs would fall 1-2 to the Sharks. The Avalanche will now face their first elimination game of the playoffs on Monday night in Denver.
While we can’t say there was a lot of positives to take away from last night’s game, aside from the fact that the Avs didn’t allow more than 2 goals, the Avs are coming back home in what should be a much more even game. It is widely known that The Shark Tank is a tough arena to win in. The Sharks went 25-11-5 at home in the Regular Season and are 5-2 so far in the playoffs. It is obvious that the Sharks play with more intensity at home, just as Grubauer so aptly put when talking about last night’s game “I gave two up – I think two lucky ones but they pushed way harder than they did in our building. Different team in their own barn.” Except that their barn is a tank. While the term “Shark Tank” has a threatening connotation, I prefer to think of it as the “Shart Tank”, where rather than a menacing tank full of killer sharks, it is more of what a fish tank looks like when it needs to be cleaned. Yellowish scum clinging to the glass and a slight putrid smell arises when you open the tank.
Johnson’s missing teeth only makes him seem less harmful, unlike his gap-toothed counterpart, Couture.
This foulness is only heightened by what is inside the tank itself. It doesn’t get much seedier than Karlsson, Burns, Thornton and Sorensen. Maybe I should do the Shark franchise a favor and send the entire team a gift certificate to a barber. I know “hockey hair” is a thing, but what they have going on is more like a rough biker gang that I would be scared to come across in a dark alley. Not only is their hair in dire need of trimming, but they could also use some good dental work. I know it is common that hockey players lose their teeth, but when they smile you generally laugh and it is almost an enduring trait (a la Erik Johnson). When Logan Couture smiles, if he ever does, you cringe. I mean, yikes! And how could we forget Joe Thornton, who looks like he is about to die on the bench. Maybe we need to be concerned with him playing at altitude. Not that 39 is old, but that beard is not doing him any favors. He looks more like Grand Maester Pycelle in Game of Thrones than a hockey player, and with the way he was roughing up with Grubauer last night, I’d say he is just as much as a sinister turd as Pycelle was.
Ok, I guess can be a little more civilized and just refer to them as a “gritty” team, and it is this gritty team that the Avs are going to need to beat on Monday. The fate of the Avs’ season is in our own hands. We can do one of two things tomorrow night: sit back and play like the rookie team we did last night, or come out and play with the intensity that we have shown since March. Yes, the Sharks are a more seasoned playoff team, but let them use that confidence to write us off.
This is now the 5th time that the Avs have meet San Jose in the Post Season. The Avs won the first two contests in 1998 and 2002, but have lost the subsequent series in 2004 and 2009. I think it is about time that the Avs regain their dominance over the San Jose Sharks. The Sharks came out with their full flurry last night, and while it may not have been graceful to watch, we still kept it a one-goal game, and it still came down to the final seconds of the game. Let’s not allow ourselves feel like we are done just because we had one bad game. It is a Best of 7 Series for a reason. The Avs can now have a chance to face real adversity tomorrow night, and I can’t wait to see how they respond. We knew this was going to be a different series than Calgary, and had Game 7 written all over it from the beginning. Let’s show the Sharks (and those obnoxious NBC Sports announcers) who we are and bring the game back to San Jose. Who doesn’t love a Game 7, especially when we can drain that tank once and for all.
