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10:00 p.m.: San Jose Looks To Close Out Series Versus Detroit In Game Five
(Sports Network) - The top-seeded San Jose Sharks will try to shake off an embarrassing loss and end their Western Conference semifinal series tonight, when they host the Detroit Red Wings in Game 5 at HP Pavilion.
The Sharks were pummelled. 7-1, by the host Red Wings in Game 4, but San Jose still holds a commanding three games to one lead in this best-of-seven series. Still, the Sharks obviously would like to end this set tonight and not have to return to Joe Louis Arena -- the site of Thursday’s blowout -- for Game 6, which is scheduled for Monday night.
Despite the dominating performance on Thursday, the fifth-seeded Red Wings still have a nearly impossible task ahead of them. In order to reach the conference finals for the fourth straight year, Detroit will have to become just the third team in NHL history to win a series after trailing three games to none. The last time it happened was in 1975, when the New York Islanders charged back to defeat Pittsburgh in the quarterfinals.
Detroit was on the wrong end of the other 3-0 comeback, losing the 1942 Stanley Cup Finals against Toronto.
The two-time defending Western Conference champions jumped on the Sharks from the outset in Game 4. Johan Franzen notched a natural hat trick in a fabulous first period, sparking the Red Wings to the resounding victory. Franzen was a Todd Bertuzzi shin pad away from matching the NHL playoff record for goals in a period. He completed the hat trick in a span of 3:26, with his third tally giving Detroit a 4-0 lead just 11:16 into the game.
Franzen eventually picked up his fourth goal on a power play at 7:33 of the third to go along with two assists -- setting a franchise record for points in one playoff game -- and breaking the mark of five set by Norm Ullman in 1963-64 and Steve Yzerman in 1996.
“It was nice for (Franzen) to step up and shoot (the puck) in the net,” said Detroit head coach Mike Babcock. “He is like all scorers or anybody who’s hot, you shoot the puck and it finds a way in the net.”
Bertuzzi and Henrik Zetterberg both collected three assists for the Red Wings, who avoided getting swept out of the playoffs for the first time since losing a 2003 first-round matchup with Anaheim.
Valtteri Filppula and Brian Rafalski also scored for the Red Wings, while Calder Trophy nominee Jimmy Howard made 28 saves.
San Jose starting goaltender Evgeni Nabokov stopped just four of the nine shots he faced in the forgettable opening frame. Thomas Greiss replaced Nabokov at the beginning of the second period and finished with 26 saves.
“We’re all disappointed,” said San Jose head coach Todd McLellan. “Not so much the fact we lost, but the fact we weren’t prepared when we knew what was coming. We said all the right things but didn’t respond to it. We got away from our game. It wasn’t going our way, we didn’t stick with it. We have some work to do.”
The Sharks, who are trying to reach the conference finals for the first time since 2004, had won six in a row since defenseman Dan Boyle's own-goal in Game 3 of their opening-round series against Colorado.
San Jose is 4-1 as the host in this year’s playoffs and went 27-6-8 at the Shark Tank during the regular season. Detroit is 3-3 on the road in the postseason and struggled to a 19-14-8 record as the guest prior to the start of the playoffs.
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.
Red Wings defenseman Brad Stuart (lower body) and forward Patrick Eaves (sore right elbow) are both questionable for tonight's game. Stuart suffered an injury in Thursday's contest, while Eaves hasn't played since Game 1 of this series.
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