It's too bad that didn't happen.
Game 4 was the epitome of what this series was expected to be. It saw two evenly-matched powerhouses butt heads, with neither wanting to give an inch.
As has become the norm in this series, the team who scores first forgets to win the game.
Dallas notched the first goal early in the second period. It was the one-manned effort of Jere Lehtinen that gave the Stars their only lead of the game.
About four minutes later, a rare miscue by the Dallas Power Play unit allowed Patrick Marleau to get his second shorthanded goal of the postseason, in as many games.
- B/R Ticket Guide
Entering the third, it became a battle.
Roughly three minutes in, Mike Modano's attempt at clearing the puck sailed over the glass, and gave San Jose an opportunity they were more than ready to jump on.
Less than a minute into that power play, Milan Michalek beat Marty Turco on a beautiful setup from Joe Thornton.
That's all the Sharks needed.
Through the remainder of the period, it was a chess match of hard hitting, dump-and-chasing, grind-it-out, hockey that the playoffs are notorious for.
Dallas and San Jose both had opportunities to score, and it was Nabokov and Turco who decided no more goals would be allowed.
That brings us to Game 5 in San Jose.
San Jose knows every game has their playoff lives at stake. The Stars know that they need to put the proverbial "nail in the coffin" to keep this series from potentially getting ugly.
In the playoffs, this season, Dallas is 1-1 in games that they can eliminate opponents in.
Anaheim won the first "do-or-die" game, and Dallas made sure to quell any momentum they had the thought of mustering.
Will this Game 5 be the same?
Will Dallas open up on San Jose, and march into the Conference Championships with a few good days to rest? Or will San Jose continue to fight for their lives in this epic battle of Pacific Division foes?
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8 months ago
Actually, Dallas is 1-2 in elimination games this post-season because they lost last night. But this was very well written, and I hope we can make it interesting tomorrow night.
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