It's About Time

The Sharks finally had their breakout game that they needed so badly. Any coach will tell you that each game is independent of each other, but even professionals can’t shrug off a severe beat down like the Avalanche endured on Thursday night. With each of the first four games being decided by only one goal, I was starting to think that whoever was praying to the hockey gods on a more regular basis, would win the series. Well, whether or not Armstrong forgot his lucky rabbit foot or just had a bad game, the Sharks finally cracked him and they got their mojo back.

It will be an interesting game tonight when the Sharks head back to Colorado to try and close out the series. The crowd will definitely be behind the Avs, but they’re most assuredly going to be a bit timid in the wake of such a dominant performance by the sharks. The more faithful fans will point out that the Avs hit three posts and Armstrong stumbled twice leading to two goals, but you can’t ignore the fact that the Sharks have out shot the Avs 211-131. Luck just finally turned the Sharks way and you can see what happened. But what can Sacco possibly say? It’s not like they can assign their shutdown line on Couture’s or Pavelski’s line. You leave arguably the strongest line in hockey to score at will. I don’t foresee McClellan doing a lot of messing with the lines, but I imagine Sacco has got to do something in the face of elimination.

Game 6 Picks:

Look for Boyle, Setoguchi, and Pavelski to have strong nights, but I think Blake will be the key to winning this game. He has tons of playoff experience and will know how to close out a series. Marleau may have a goal or two and he’ll start getting hot just in time for the second round.