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Hungry Sharks take first bite out of Red Wings
Source: Agencies |
May 1, 2010, Saturday
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THE San Jose Sharks took the first step towards eradicating four years of pain with a 4-3 victory over the Detroit Red Wings in the opening game of their National Hockey League Western Conference second-round series on Thursday.
Seeking to avoid elimination at the conference semifinals stage for a fifth straight year, the Sharks took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series on the back of Joe Pavelski's two-goal effort, including the winning strike early in the third period in San Jose, California.
"This is an exciting time. This is the time of year you want to be playing," Pavelski told reporters. "We won the battles and pucks and got to the net. We worked hard and got rewarded."
The home team started far livelier than the Red Wings, who played Game 7 of their first round two days earlier, racing to a 3-0 lead after Pavelski, Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi tallied in a brutal 79-second burst of scoring.
The shell-shocked Red Wings battled back into the contest when Dan Cleary reduced the deficit with a slap-shot goal at 11:40 of the first, before Johan Franzen slammed home a wrist shot early in the second to make it 3-2.
The in-form Pavelski eased San Jose's nerves with his seventh goal of the playoffs just 50 seconds into the third period as the Sharks held on for victory after Brian Rafalski scored for Detroit two minutes later.
"They scored three quick goals on us, and we were kind of back on our heels," said Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom. "We did battle back, but they played a solid game."
Goaltender Evgeni Nabokov finished with 20 saves for the top-seeded Sharks, who reached the second round by beating the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 with a Game 6 victory on Saturday.
The defending Western Conference champions Red Wings needed a full seven games to edge past the Phoenix Coyotes.
There will be two days off before Game 2 in San Jose tomorrow.
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