Sharks-Stars: The Playoff Beard Lives On

The Sharks bought me a couple days, at least, before I need to buy new razors.  I credit Patrick Marleau for getting me to pay day.

The Sharks were being dominated in the first period: they were out-shot 1-0 on a four-minute power play!  Seriously, does this team ever play a full 60 minutes? 

Both teams had an equal sum of giveaways and takeaways, and the Stars out-hit the Sharks by greater than a two to one margin.

These facts are a recipe for disaster, and that is why I remain pessimistic.

However, for the second straight game, Nabokov kept them in the contest. He gave up only one tally early in the second period.  For the second straight game, the person to wake his team up was Captain Marleau.

Sergei Zubov turned the puck over to Marleau on a Dallas power play just as he had Tuesday night.  The fastest player on either team poked it ahead and tracked it down, beating Marty Turco for the second consecutive night to tie the score.

I have been hard on Marleau, and for good reason.  Over the 98 games prior to tonight, he has been -26.  He was horrible (0 points, -5) in last year's second round, and followed it with a sub-par regular season, especially through the first 50-plus games.  He was -5 in the last five games of this year's playoffs with one point.

I have long felt that while Marleau has scored some big goals, he has not given consistent effort in the defensive end.  He is always cool, and you need guys like that, but the team seems to follow his personality. I have often felt the better captain is fire, not ice. 

Tonight, Marleau's cool under pressure lit the fire.

At that point, the Sharks' intensity picked up noticeably.  They held the Stars to just 18 shots in this game, compared to the 24 shots they got on goal even though Dallas blocked three more shots than San Jose. 

In the third period, Milan Michalek scored the Sharks' first power play goal of the series, and then the defense made that hold up as the game winner.

They lived to fight another day.  If they can show up at home Friday night, maybe this series will get interesting. 

Just maybe.