Sharks hold serve, beat Red Wings 2-1 to take 2-0 series lead

Joe Yerdon

May 1, 2011, 7:32 PM EDT

6 Comments

Detroit Red Wings v San Jose Sharks - Game Two

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We’ve made a lot out of road teams doing their part to upset the order of things in the playoffs by winning games in an alarming number but the San Jose Sharks did their part to uphold order in the second round. The Sharks held down home ice taking the first two games of the series after pulling off a 2-1 win over the Red Wings this afternoon.

The game headed into the third period with the Sharks holding down a 1-0 lead but it would be a sneaky shot from defenseman Niclas Wallin 1:39 into the third that would handcuff Jimmy Howard and end up in the net to give San Jose a 2-0 lead. That second goal turned out to be a big one for the Sharks as Henrik Zetterberg would snipe a power play goal with 6:02 to play in the third that would cut the lead to 2-1. From there, Antti Niemi would make it all stand up stopping 33 shots in the game on the way to the win.

For San Jose the key here was holding down home ice. That said, there’s encouraging things for them heading into Game 3 in that their defensive game plan is working perfectly. They’re pressuring Detroit at all times and making life for the Red Wings very uncomfortable in the offensive zone. Turnovers, bad shots, poor chances are the rule of the day for Detroit while San Jose is rolling like this.

Detroit will need to find a way to push the flow of play back on San Jose. They showed spurts of that late in this game but overall they’ve been taken to school by the Sharks. If Detroit’s not able to turn things around in Game 3, a repeat of last year’s five game exit from the playoffs at the hands of San Jose could be in order.

Here are the highlights from today’s game.

After the game, Darren Pang spoke with Sharks captain Joe Thornton about the win.

In the postgame recap, Dave Strader and Joe Micheletti talk about how the Sharks win a “nasty” game

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6 Comments (Feed for Comments)

sanjosecupcrazy - May 1, 2011 at 7:54 PM

Hey Hockeytown, how did that taste going down? Enjoy paying for those Game 3 and 4 tickets to watch us sweep you.

It’s becoming enjoyable knocking the Dead Things out of the playoffs every year. Love that!
- polegojim - May 2, 2011 at 9:58 AM
  
  Tastes great, less filling. See you in Detroit.
  
  Great work by San Jose, they did what they were supposed to do.
  
  Are you surprised? Where were u hiding before now?
  
  Welcome to the game.
  
  Let’s Go RED WINGS!
  - sanjosecupcrazy - May 2, 2011 at 11:15 AM
    
    Where was I hiding before? Well, let’s see….. I was hiding in San Jose Arena when we knocked Detroit out in 5 games last year…… and was at both games there and one game in Detroit in December this year when we beat you 3 out of 4….. and was at San Jose Arena Friday and Sunday for both games where we sent Bertuzzi, Holmstrom and the rest of those classless rejects out of our building with their tail between their legs. But hey, I’m out of hiding now. Thanks for allowing me to jump back on the bandwagon to watch us sweep you.
    
    And no, I’m not surprised at all. When you’re the better team, period, it’s never surprising.
dreadpiratesteve - May 1, 2011 at 9:05 PM

This series has by no means been a blow out but I have to say, the Sharks just look better than the Wings. They are bigger, stronger, faster and Niemi is just a little better than Howard. I wish the refs weren’t so whistle happy but the Sharks PK seems to have found its legs after being mediocre at best up to this point. Looking like Sharks in 5.
- dreadpiratesteve - May 2, 2011 at 11:25 AM
  
  I have to laugh at the Wings complaining to the officials about the snow showers. IT’S HOCKEY! DEAL WITH IT! This is a big boy sport. If you can’t handle a little snow shower go play basketball. This Wings can’t handle the Sharks right now so they are forced to play a political game with the officials in order to try to find an edge of any kind. I don’t fault them, Babcock has to do something. His team is over matched at the moment. All SJ needs to do is take 1 out of 2 in Det and this series is done.
tommytd - May 2, 2011 at 11:35 PM

So much for clinching a series early and “enjoying” some time off to rest up. Maybe they had too much time on their hands to listen to how great they are and what a genius Babcock is! C’mon Hockeytown, man up and give us a series worth watching!

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