Red Wings Vs. Sharks, Game 5: Detroit Comes Back To Beat San Jose, Force Game 6

Well, it is a comeback now. The Detroit Red Wings have won two consecutive games on the ropes in their Western Conference Semifinal series with the San Jose Sharks. They have now defeated San Jose on the road, to send the series back to Detroit for Game 6 at 3-2. They came back from 3-1 down in Game 5 to win it 4-3 on a Tomas Holmstrom goal at HP Pavilion in San Jose.

San Jose finally broke through late in the opening frame when Dan Boyle let one go from the point. Devin Setoguchi re-directed it on the way and it went past Jimmy Howard to make it 1-0 San Jose at 17:18. It was Setoguchi’s fifth goal of the post-season, while Boyle and Thornton set it up to get their seventh and eighth assists of the playoffs, respectively.

Late in the period there was controversy when Johan Franzen went off for slashing, while Joe Thornton was called for a dive on the play. Franzen was complaining to the refs that the Sharks were targeting his injured ankle. The fire burns with fury in this rivalry, and got even uglier as the game went on.

Joe Pavelski extended San Jose’s lead to 2-0 at 15:32 of the second period. It was notable for yet another assist from Ryan Clowe, who continues to have a remarkable post-season. That was Clowe’s ninth assist of the post-season, while Pavelski got his fifth goal of the playoffs.

However, Detroit has many men on their squad with the heart of a champion, and Nicklas Kronwall is one of them. His wrist shot at 16:25 gave the Red Wings a puncher’s chance in the third period. The goal was just 43 seconds after Pavelski’s, and Kronwall’s second of the post-season made it 2-1.

Early in the third, a slick Logan Couture back-hander on a feed from Dany Heatley made it 3-1 Sharks. The goal came at :54 seconds and looked to give the Sharks a bigger cushion, but the Red Wings meant business and launched a comeback. Jonathan Ericsson’s first goal of the post-season made it 3-2 at 3:43. Dan Cleary’s ripper of a slapshot tied it at 5:29.

Then, Tomas Holmstrom did what Tomas Holmstrom has done for most of his life on this planet: he tipped in a shot from the point by going to the front of the net. It was - as I’d imagine it has been many of those times - a Nicklas Lidstrom shot that he got a piece of to make it 4-3. They completed the comeback despite the Sharks best efforts late, and now have a chance to force Game 7 by winning on their home ice in Game 6 on Tuesday.