For more on this series and the teams involved, check out our Wings blog, Winging It In Motown, and our Sharks blog, Fear The Fin. Be sure to head to Battle of California for alternative Sharks coverage.
Not Wasting Any Time: Sharks, Wings Kick Off Round Two At 9:00 P.M.
(Sports Network) - The top-seeded San Jose Sharks will host the two-time defending Western Conference champions tonight, as the Detroit Red Wings visit HP Pavilion for Game 1 of the conference semifinals.
Detroit faces a quick turnaround in the opener of this best-of-series, having just finished off the Coyotes on Tuesday in Game 7 of the conference quarterfinals. Meanwhile, the Sharks have been off since Saturday, when they closed out their opening round series against Colorado in six games.
The Red Wings are a dangerous fifth seed this year, marking the first time the club is lower than a two seed since 2002. Detroit has reached the conference finals in each of the last three years. The club won it all two years ago and lost to Pittsburgh in the Stanley Cup Finals last spring.
San Jose, which is in the playoffs for the fifth straight season, is trying to get past the second round for the first time since losing to Calgary in the 2004 Western Conference finals.
Detroit and San Jose have met three times previously in the postseason with the Red Wings winning the last two series. The two clubs last met in the 2007 conference semifinals, with Detroit advancing in six games.
The Sharks had an excellent 27-6-8 record as the host during the regular season, while Detroit was 19-14-8 as the road club. Game 2 of this series is scheduled for Sunday in San Jose.
The Red Wings took much of the drama out of their recent decisive game, pounding the Coyotes, 6-1, to earn their first road win in a Game 7 since beating Chicago in the opening round of the 1964 playoffs. It was also Detroit's first time competing in a road Game 7 since losing to St. Louis in 1991.
Pavel Datsyuk and Nicklas Lidstrom both scored twice to lead the Red Wings to the easy win in Phoenix.
“It was a great feeling to win a Game 7 on the road,” said Lidstrom, who turned 40 years old on Wednesday. “It was a tough series. Phoenix was a great opponent, and we’re very happy with the way the team responded tonight.”
Brad Stuart and Todd Bertuzzi also scored while Jimmy Howard made 32 saves for the Red Wings. Henrik Zetterberg and Brian Rafalski both posted three assists for Detroit.
Zetterberg led Detroit in the opening round with 11 points (6 goals, 5 assists), while Datsyuk was next with eight points on five goals and three assists.
Detroit’s second-round weakness might rest in goal, where Howard, a Calder Trophy nominee, posted a 2.59 GAA and .919 save percentage in the opening round. The rookie was making his playoff debut versus the Coyotes.
The Sharks made it to the second round without getting a great deal of production from their top line of Dany Heatley, Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau, who combined for just one goal and a minus-seven rating. While the trio also combined for nine assists in the six games -- though Heatley missed Game 3 due to a undisclosed injury -- it is a group that combined for 103 goals and 254 points in the regular season.
Luckily, Ryane Clowe and Joe Pavelski picked up the scoring slack with eight points each. Clowe notched seven assists, while Pavelski led the team with five goals and scored twice in Game 6, including his second game-winner of the series.
Goaltender Evgeni Nabokov also deserves some credit after posting a 1.76 goals against average, which was among the playoff leaders, and .926 save percentage in the series. He had a 2.82 GAA and .890 save percentage in last year's postseason, which ended when San Jose lost in the first round to eighth-seeded Anaheim.
Detroit went 3-0-1 in the regular season versus San Jose, which is coached by former Red Wings assistant Todd McLellan. The Red Wings won the first three meetings before a 3-2 shootout loss on Feb. 11 in which Nabokov made 50 saves.
Patrick Eaves, Zetterberg and Dan Cleary all notched two goals versus the Sharks, while Eaves, Valtteri Filppula, Zetterberg and Tomas Holmstrom each tied for the club lead with three points in the season series. Howard started three of the four meetings, going 2-0-1 with a 1.62 GAA and .946 save percentage.
The Sharks were limited to only six goals versus the Red Wings, three of those coming from Thornton. Nabokov started all four regular-season meetings, notching a 2.66 GAA and .925 save percentage.
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