What an epic game the San Jose Sharks played and won last night in Denver, 2-1 in OT. Joe Pavelski is quickly turning into my favorite player. The gritty, gutty, and feisty player from Wisconsin has willed his way to the upper echelon of NHL talent. He will never make an "all airport team," standing just 5'11 and registering 194 pounds. That did not stop him from making big plays in the Olympics and so far against Colorado he has notched 4 points, including two clutch goals. Pavelski has dramatically improved his game when it counts the most.
In a contest that previous Sharks teams would have crumbled and the weight of expectations, San Jose “survived and advanced.” While the series is tied 2-2, the Avalanche are getting a standing 8 count. The Sharks have worn them down, and 4 games of diving in front of pucks is starting to take it's toal. If the Sharks can come out early in game 5, take control, and let the emotion from the home crowd take over this series will be in the bag.
It was also great to see Dan Boyle, with the ultimate redemption goal. Boyle was able to quickly erase the stigma from his OT blunder, and move on. It could not have been a more fitting way for the Sharks to exorcise their playoff demons.
Speaking of playoff demons, critics and fans need to lay off Joe Thorton. While “jumbo” will never be the alpha dog scoring machine like Kobe, Jordan, or Gretzky, he is an amazing team player. Thorton is more of the point-forward, deft passing star that needs to be surrounded by other great players. One question, why have they not matched him up with a big, physical, (park himself in front of the net and cause mayhem), forward? Patrick Marleau is not that player and now that it is April, he has once again enter the witness protection program. I would love to see a line of Thorton, Heatley, and Pavelski. Jumbo would be like a point guard passing to two fearless slashers.
No comments:
Post a Comment