Man, the Sharks just plain got beat.
I don't usually find myself agreeing with the musings of Sharks radio analyst Jamie Baker, but I'm completely with on the comments he made for post-game television last season.
To attempt to summarize his words...
"The Ducks played better than the Sharks this series and did so in each aspect of the game. They had better goaltending, a better powerplay, better penalty killing, better top line play, better second line play, better 3rd and 4th line play and better defense."
That may sound severe, but I think it's true. I watched much of the Vancouver-St. Louis series and saw the same concept at work with St. Louis being a very solid team, but one that was slightly outplayed in every aspect of the game.
In that series, the end result turned out to be a series sweep and this one resulted in a 4-2 series win, but... the result is the same, the team that played better in the series is moving on.
Showing posts with label St. Louis Blues. Show all posts
Showing posts with label St. Louis Blues. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
2009 NHL Playoffs: Day Three
Well, a couple of games in and a bit more is being worked out. Here's what was played today...
Pittsburgh-Philadelphia
Game two seemed quite a bit less one-sided with the Flyers and Pens pretty tightly matched. Same result, though... a Pittsburgh victory which now puts them up two games to none. Two thoughts I had watching this game:
1. I wish Bill Guerin was as good for the Sharks as he seems to be with the Pens. Two goals (including the OT game winner) and an assist in a 3-2 victory is pretty solid.
2. I thought Pittsburgh would be way chagrined after going offside entering the offensive zone during their OT 5-3 given how gassed (and injured) the Flyers were. Guerin then scoring on the next play I'm sure took the sting of that chagrin... just a touch.
3. Martin Biron played a good game in net with some 45 saves, but I suspect he would have liked to have back the OT goal. Not that every goalie doesn't want to have back every OT goal, but it went right through Biron... that whole stick on the ice thing.
Philadelphia is certainly still in the series, but I think back to the Sharks-Stars series last postseason. A team can be playing well towards the end of the series, but if they start deep in the hole, sometimes it's too deep to climb back out. The Flyers being down 2-0 are getting close to that point.
New Jersey-Carolina
Oh yeah... they did play. Wasn't televised on Versus so I didn't see it, but in the matchup of what to me are the two least interesting teams in the playoffs, Carolina won in OT to tie the series at 1-1. There ya' go...
Vancouver-St. Louis
Now that Philadelphia has shown themselves to be a solid adversary (as in being close to winning against) for Pittsburgh, that series reminds me of Vancouver-St. Louis. The Blues are a pretty good team that's sound in a lot of areas of the game, but Vancouver just seems a bit more sound in each and every area.
After a 3-0 victory today, the Canucks go up two games to zero. St. Louis will probably not back down all series, but in the end they appear to be a bit short of Vancouver.
Pittsburgh-Philadelphia
Game two seemed quite a bit less one-sided with the Flyers and Pens pretty tightly matched. Same result, though... a Pittsburgh victory which now puts them up two games to none. Two thoughts I had watching this game:
1. I wish Bill Guerin was as good for the Sharks as he seems to be with the Pens. Two goals (including the OT game winner) and an assist in a 3-2 victory is pretty solid.
2. I thought Pittsburgh would be way chagrined after going offside entering the offensive zone during their OT 5-3 given how gassed (and injured) the Flyers were. Guerin then scoring on the next play I'm sure took the sting of that chagrin... just a touch.
3. Martin Biron played a good game in net with some 45 saves, but I suspect he would have liked to have back the OT goal. Not that every goalie doesn't want to have back every OT goal, but it went right through Biron... that whole stick on the ice thing.
Philadelphia is certainly still in the series, but I think back to the Sharks-Stars series last postseason. A team can be playing well towards the end of the series, but if they start deep in the hole, sometimes it's too deep to climb back out. The Flyers being down 2-0 are getting close to that point.
New Jersey-Carolina
Oh yeah... they did play. Wasn't televised on Versus so I didn't see it, but in the matchup of what to me are the two least interesting teams in the playoffs, Carolina won in OT to tie the series at 1-1. There ya' go...
Vancouver-St. Louis
Now that Philadelphia has shown themselves to be a solid adversary (as in being close to winning against) for Pittsburgh, that series reminds me of Vancouver-St. Louis. The Blues are a pretty good team that's sound in a lot of areas of the game, but Vancouver just seems a bit more sound in each and every area.
After a 3-0 victory today, the Canucks go up two games to zero. St. Louis will probably not back down all series, but in the end they appear to be a bit short of Vancouver.
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