It's a rematch of the same series from a year ago, and on Friday night when the Detroit Red Wings enter HP Pavilion to battle the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference Semifinal, they'll look to get revenge for a quick, five-game postseason exit in 2010.
Red Wings Vs. Sharks, Game 1: Detroit Expects More Punch From Battle-Tested San Jose
Detroit looked dominate in the first round against the Phoenix Coyotes, rolling to a sweep in more-than-convincing fashion. But let's not mistake the Coyotes, who needed to rely on goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov in the first round and instead got a miserable performance from him, with the Sharks.
San Jose boasts a ton of strength in their attack, but the one question mark is in still in goal. Antti Niemi didn't have the best of first rounds, and as Fear The Fin writes, the second round is a great chance at redemption.
The postseason is the perfect example of “it’s not what you’ve done, it’s what you’ve done for me lately” in action, and tonight, he can singlehandedly change not just how we view his series against Los Angeles (“on second thought he was better than I thought he was”), but also how we view him as a goaltender (“the guy just comes up big at the right time”).
Jimmy Howard is in the net across the ice, and while the Wings goaltender wasn't tested much by the Coyotes, there will certainly be more thrown at him by the Sharks. The puck drops on Game 1 at 10 p.m. ET on Friday night, and you can catch the action on Versus and TSN.
For more on the series, check in with FTF and our Wings blog, Winging It In Motown.
See More:
