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It didn’t take long for Sharks ‘choking’ talk to return

Johan Franzen, Evgeni Nabokov

** CORRECTS TO THIRD GOAL NOT FOURTH GOAL ** Detroit Red Wings’ Johan Franzen (93), of Sweden, scores his third goal of the first period against San Jose Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov (20), of Kazakhstan, in Game 4 of an NHL hockey Western Conference second-round playoff series in Detroit, Thursday, May 6, 2010. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

AP

If any team can relate to the “What have you done for me lately?” feeling, it’s the San Jose Sharks. They bounced back from a heartbreaking loss against the Colorado Avalanche by never losing another game in the series. After going up 2-0 at home against Detroit, the Sharks managed to snatch Game 3 in a dramatic overtime victory. Yet one bombastic 7-1 loss brought out the “choking” claims and all sorts of buzzards of negativity. Puck Daddy’s Greg Wyshynski featured a nice roundup of the various viewpoints on the subject and offered his feedback.

Were this not the Sharks, a big loss and a 3-1 series lead headed back home wouldn’t amount to anything more than an anomaly at best and a recalibration at worst. But San Jose hasn’t earned the right to escape from a devastating loss like this without facing questions about their resolve and fortitude and ...

... oh, wait, yes they have: Lest we forget they already faced them in Round 1 against the Colorado Avalanche after the Dan Boyle/Ryan O’Reilly/OT Goal From Hell debacle. So beaten-down and debilitated were the Sharks that they only won their next six games by a combined score of 24-14.

So what that Heatley was shut down or that Thornton reminded us why he doesn’t wear the ‘C’. So what the Nabokov was shelled and pulled. It’s not on them to win Game 5: It’s on Pavelski and Clowe and Setoguchi and Mitchell and Couture. They’ve been the backbone of this team in this postseason, and there’s no reason to believe they’ll go spineless in three straight.

The other thing to consider: The Red Wings haven’t put together back-to-back dominating efforts in this postseason. They’ve looked this good before -- think Game 7 against the Phoenix Coyotes -- but haven’t followed through. And we expect back-to-back-to-back Cup-worthy efforts to win this series?

You could almost feel the relief of some lazy-minded folks who really wanted to dust off their tired choking jokes and go back to a world in which the Red Wings always “figure it out.” Now, I’m not saying it’s wholly impossible that Detroit could pull off a miracle comeback. Winning Game 5 would bring this series to 3-2 which could conceivably be followed by a series-tying win at the Joe. Then, of course, it would be a Game 7 featuring one epically nervous Sharks team (and fan base).

Still, my guess is that the Sharks come out with a thunderous vengeance in Game 5 and wrap things up either there or in Game 6. The Red Wings played too well in this series to be swept, but they’re going to have to pull off quite the turnaround to justify the surprisingly early sightings of Chicken Little.