Sharks Move On

Going into Thursday night, the Sharks were on the verge of becoming only the fourth team in NHL history to lose a series after winning 3 straight games. The Sharks would have no such history attached to them. The Sharks managed to hold off the Red Wings in game 7 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals to advance and face the Vancouver Canucks. A main factor in game 7 was the play of "Jumbo" Joe Thornton. Thornton has been criticized over the years for his poor play come playoff time, but game 7 was not the case. "People have criticized Joe Thornton, said he's not a playoff guy," said Devin Setoguchi to Fearthefin.com. "But the passion he played with [in game seven] is just a clear example of what Jumbo brings to our team. He's our Captain, he's got to be our catalyst. It's going to start with him. He worked extremely hard and it rubbed off on everyone else." Thornton played with a gritty, physical, style of play that was unmatched. It was Thornton who set up Devin Setoguchi for a powerplay goal 12:20 into the 1st. With just under a minute left to play in the 1st, Henrik Zetterberg turned the puck over to Logan Couture who fired a shot over the left shoulder of the unexpecting Jimmy Howard. Zetterberg would make up for his mistake when he connected on a center lane drive style 3 on 2 with a beautiful backhand. The Sharks would go up 3-1 on a Patrick Marleau goal 12:13 into the third. Down 3-1, the Red Wings did everything they could to claw themselves back into the game. Pavel Datsyuk had what may be the best goal of the 2011 playoffs when he took a backhanded shot from the top of the circle that went in the words of George Pantazopoulos "Bar." Datsyuk would fight for his playoff life for the remainder of the game taking shots and battling for pucks, but his effort could not save the Wings. The Sharks move on to face the Vancouver Canucks.