Wings Stuck In A Replay Of Their 2010 Nightmare
The Red Wings can't escape the sense of deja vu in this year's Western Conference semifinal against San Jose.
There are so many striking similarities to last year's series with the Sharks. Just like a year ago, San Jose won two games at home by one goal. And just like last year, Detroit blew a late third-period lead in Game 3 at home, losing in overtime by the same 4-3 score.
The Sharks have Detroit's number. They've won 11 of the last 13 games between the teams, including seven playoff games decided by one goal.
Now the Wings find themselves in a familiar 0-3 hole. They can only hope the pattern from last year continues for Game 4 on Friday. Last year they whipped San Jose 7-1 to force a Game 5, which the Sharks won 2-1.
"We still believe in what we have in here," Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. "I thought tonight we took one step forward, and hopefully we can come out with an even better effort on Friday."
Still, the Wings are facing long odds. Only three teams have overcome a 0-3 deficit to win a series. Seeing Philadelphia do it last year against Boston, if nothing else, shows it's not impossible.
SHARKS 4, RED WINGS 3 (OT): It was a tough pill to swallow for the Red Wings, who did almost everything they wanted to do -- spend more time in the offensive zone, make it hard on San Jose's defense and put pressure on goalie Antti Niemi. But San Jose pressed in the third period, outshooting Detroit 16-8, and got the tying goal from Dan Boyle with 4:08 remaining. In overtime, Joe Thornton made a nice move around defenseman Jonathan Ericsson in the offensive zone and passed to an onrushing Devin Setoguchi, who fired a hard wrist shot from the top of the faceoff circle that beat goalie Jimmy Howard on the far side.
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