NHL: Sharks Fall, Stars Smell Blood in the Water

Sharks are known for their killer instinct, but apparently things are too laid back in the Bay Area.

Stars at night are big and bright deep in the heart of Texas, and sometimes, if you look up, you can see one fall. But not tonight.

The Stars rode a pair of defensemen to a win, and they did it again on the power play.  Memo to their next opponent: practice a lot short-handed and learn to stay out of the box.

A five-on-three power play goal by Sergei Zubov, back for only his second game since January, in the third period tied the score.  A five-on-five seeing-eye shot by stay-at-home defender Mattias Norstrom gave Dallas its second overtime win, both goals coming less than five minutes into the respective periods.

Dallas now has a commanding three games to none lead in the series, and only two teams have ever come back from such a deficit.  The Sharks have never struck anyone in their right mind as the type of team to possess that moxie, and they seem to have even less in this series.

One constant for San Jose in these playoffs has been out-shooting their opponents (seven of nine times).  Another has been that they have had more giveaways than their opponents.

Tonight, however, Dallas had 24 giveaways to San Jose's 12, but the Sharks were still out-shot 29-20.  Perhaps they attempted to sit on a one-goal lead.  Perhaps they did not come ready to play at all.  It does not much matter at this point.

At least Evgeni Nabokov showed up for the first time in this series.  But he could not stop what he could not see.

The next game is Wednesday night and the Sharks are the best team in the NHL since the lockout in the second night of back-to-back games. 

I would not bet on that pattern holding—rumor has it there is a tee time for San Jose players reserved for Friday morning.