San Jose Sharks defeat Detroit Red Wings 3-2 - NHL Play-offs Update
Patrick Marleau lit the lamp late in the final session to lift the San Jose Sharks to a 3-2 victory against the Detroit Red Wings in Game 7 of the Western Conference semi-finals, at HP Pavilion on Thursday, May 12.
Devin Setoguchi and Logan Couture both also hit the net for San Jose, which survived some anxious moments at the end of this one after dropping three consecutive contests in the series. The Sharks avoided to be the fourth team in National Hockey League history
to blow a 3-0 series lead in the play-offs.
Dan Boyle assisted twice and Antti Niemi turned away 38 shots.
Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk both found the back of the net for Detroit, which faced a pair of two-goal deficits in the game but did not let San Jose get comfortable in their own building.
Jimmy Howard was outstanding between the pipes, but came up just short in the loss, stopping 27 shots.
Setoguchi put the Sharks on board first on a power-play with less than eight minutes left in the opening period, as he took a cross-slot pass from Joe Thornton behind the net and ripped a one-timer home from the left side.
Thornton led a San Jose break moments later, cleverly sweeping a pass to Dany Heatley for a shot that was saved by Howard, who covered the puck before it crossed the goal line.
As time winded down in the first period, Couture gave the Sharks a two-goal edge 2-0 when he hounded Zetterberg with a stick check near the Red Wings net and stole his soft pass, then drifted into the right circle and fired a wrist-shot that beat Howard
to the near side with 59 seconds left.
Zetterberg staked Detroit on board with about seven minutes to play in the second period, as he atoned for his turnover, rushed in from the left circle and blasted a backhanded shot into the net to make it a 2-1 game.
Red Wings got a power-play about seven minutes into the final period, when the Sharks were whistled for too many men on the ice, but Niklas Kronwall was called for slashing 74 seconds later to erase it.
Marleau recovered San Jose two-goal advantage 3-1 with less than eight minutes left in the third period. It started when Dan Boyle sent a cross-ice pass to Setoguchi in the left circle and Setoguchi moved in for a shot that was saved by Howard, but he let
the loose puck trickled through to the other side where Marleau was waiting to clean it up.
Datsyuk drew the Red Wings within 3-2 with six minutes remaining in the last period. Datsyuk beat Niemi with a great individual effort, as he was working against Thornton and the Sharks’ defenseman Douglas Murray on the low right side and unleashed a backhanded
shot past Murray that somehow beat Niemi, hitting off the far post from a tight angle.
San Jose then killed off a power-play, when Torrey Mitchell was sent for slashing with five minutes to play, to secure the edge. Niemi then stopped a tricky shot by Datsyuk in the last minute, as San Jose survived Detroit’s extra skater for the last minute
and a half after they pulled Howard.
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