NHL Playoffs 2011: San Jose Sharks Find a Way To Thwart LA Kings, Win Series

San Jose has pulled top goalie Antti Niemi twice in the past three games.

Three games have been sent into OT and the Sharks are 1-2 at home. So, how do you win the series like that, especially before Game 7?

Simple: OT wins and endless fighting.

By grinding out their third overtime win this series, the Sharks found a way to shock the Kings and steal the all-California series.

San Jose will play Detroit in the second round.

San Jose had control of this game until the score was tied up late in the third period and a five-minute penalty was called on San Jose. However, even though LA had so many great chances, they could never get the puck in the net.

Finally, in the extra session, Joe Thornton had the puck, and he was backing up his defender. He quickly spun around, fired a shot and started celebrating once the puck went in.

Thornton has had a tough series, but the OT goal threw all that away.

In Games 1 and 3, Joe Pavelski added the winning goal to the Sharks side. Now, with Thornton doing it, the Sharks improved to 3-0 in OT, something they needed. But another funny thing is San Jose went 3-0 in LA, and 1-2 at home (the only win was lucky).

Was it really just the OT games that San Jose found a way to win, or was it something else. Perseverance.

That's what the Sharks used in Game 3. The crowd. The key to Game 1. Goals. The key to Game 4. Power play stopping. The key to the winning game.

In the third period, with about 30 seconds left, LA had a great chance, but Niemi stopped it. Almost every player was crowded around the net, but Niemi made the key stop.

Kyle Wellwood, Jason Demers, and Dany Heatley found the net for San Jose as well, with Joe Thornton racking up an assist to finish with a total of two points.

Will San Jose find a way to beat Detroit?

My prediction: yes.