Red Wings Vs. Sharks, Game 7: San Jose Avoids The Collapse With 3-2 Win

It took four games to do it, but the San Jose Sharks finally got that fourth win over the Detroit Red Wings and move on to their second consecutive Western Confernce Final. The Sharks won the game 3-2.

The San Jose Sharks looked as if they were going to easily cruise away with the game as Patrick Marleau scored with 7:47 left in the game to give the Sharks a 3-1 lead. Marleau was able to find the puck in front of the net after a fantastic pass from Dan Boyle started the scoring chance.

The Detroit Red Wings were not going down without a fight though as they closed the gap back to one goal 1:46 later. Pavel Datsyuk scored an impressive backhanded goal from an odd angle that beat Antti Niemi over his head and eventually caught the far post and went in.

The Red Wings had their second powerplay chance of the period with 5:03 left in the period after Torrey Mitchell took a slashing penalty. The Red Wings were able to get a couple of shots off on the powerplay, but the Sharks penalty kill has been effective all night killing all four powerplays the Red Wings have had in the game.

Detroit mounted their final attack as they pulled Jimmy Howard with 1:22 left in the game, but just as the Sharks penalty kill was effective in this game, so was their extra attacker defense against the Wings. The Red Wings finished the third period with a flurry of shots as they outshot the Sharks 12-7 in the period and outshot San Jose 40-30 in the game. San Jose’s Antti Niemi made 38 saves in the win while Detroit’s Jimmy Howard made 28 saves in the loss.

The San Jose Sharks will now have two days to rest before they head to Vancouver for Game one of the Western Conference Final on Sunday night.