Detroit Red Wings confident of comeback against San Jose Sharks – NHL playoffs, game 4 preview
After an unexpected clean sweep of Phoenix Coyotes in the Western Conference quarterfinals, Detroit Red Wings are on the brink of being eliminated in game four against San Jose Sharks on Friday.
The Red Wings might have become prey to the Coyotes last wishes who would pray for their defeat after what they did to them. San Jose are leading the series with a 3-0 advantage and will have the opportunity to get rid of their Western Conference rivals
once and for all when they meet them at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan.
Game four just might become a repeat of the previous playoffs when both teams met the same situation and Detroit swept game four to force a game five extension. It was an extremely intense matchup as the Red Wings thrashed the Sharks at the HP Pavilion Centre
7-1. They eventually lost but were committed on recovering as they are now. Detroit Red Wings are still sure that they can add their name to the short list of only three National Hockey League teams who have bounced back after a 3-0 deficit in a playoff series.
The latest being Philadelphia in the 2010 Stanley Cup finals.
“If we do not believe, we should just go home,” Datsyuk said Thursday talking about their determination in winning. “We believe 100 percent.”
The Sharks on the other hand are all set to eliminate the Red Wings and want to finally advance to the Western Conference finals, missing their past three opportunities in the 20 years they have been a professional franchise. San Jose are extremely self-assured
but not overconfident.
“We also have enough respect for our opponent to know that if there's a team that can do it, it would be Detroit,” Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. “So, that should help us prepare. Our lesson that we were taught last year should help us. We know the storm
is coming, we've experienced that, but we'd like to be part of that storm.”
San Jose have adopted a strategy which has been working miracles for them so far. It is to physically and mentally tire out the opponent and then take advantage of the situation. Detroit goalie, Jimmy Howard knew that the Sharks were trying to annoy and
distract him in the previous matches but said that their tactics did not faze him and only made him more focused on the target ahead.
Sharks coach Todd McLellan has hoped his team will not become cocky during game play and repeat the same mistakes they made in 2010. It would be devastating for them to have worked this hard if Detroit manage to force the series into game six or even a game
seven decider.
Detroit have a number of players who are set to retire after these playoffs including Mike Modano and Nicklas Lidstrom who are nearing the age of 41 and are uncertain about their future playing career. Both are great players for the team and should be taken
full advantage of while they are active and playing. Neither team has any injury concerns to worry about and with a full line-up ready to go, both would not have any excuse of not winning, especially San Jose.
Most people say it is their goalie Antti Niemi who is leading them to victory after winning a Stanley Cup for the Chicago Blackhawks last time, but looking at Jimmy Howard’s save percentage (.925), it is definitely higher than Niemi’s, which means that the
Red Wings are lacking on the offensive end. Players need to pick up the pace and score more goals, especially in overtime.
Game four is scheduled for Friday in Detroit. The highly anticipated game will begin at 7:00 PM ET.
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