Ben Ferriero of the San Jose Sharks was the hero tonight scoring the game winning goal at 7:03 of the first overtime period on his twenty-fourth birthday. Ferriero is not a household name as far as the Sharks go, until now that is.

It wasn’t pretty or flashy but the bottom line is that Ferriero can add his name to the list of players who have scored overtime winners for the Sharks in the 2011 post-season. His name will be mentioned with the other heroes of the extra period, the others are names you would expect hear, Pavelski, Setoguchi, Thornton, and now we add Ferriero to the list.

Ferriero described the goal after the game “Couture poked it away (referring to the puck) I was able to swing in there and grab it. We tried to throw pucks at his feet all night long and get in there for rebounds. I turned out of the corner, threw it to the net it hit a stick or skate I couldn’t really tell and it took a good bounce and ended up in the back of the net.”


So far this year the Sharks have owned the extra frame and are a perfect 4-0 when games can’t be decided after sixty minutes. Sitting in the press box it appears that San Jose have an air of confidence about them in sudden death and when Logan Couture was asked about it he had these comments “Even in the room we know someone is going to step up and score a big goal for us. There is so much confidence you can feel it in the room in the intermission. As soon as the puck drops you feel someone is going to step up and score that goal.” The Sharks have won all four contests that have needed extra time and they have done it fairly quickly. Since game one against the Kings where it took almost fifteen minutes to end the game the Sharks have finished off their opponents in less than five minutes twice and seven minutes in the other game.

The Red Wings came out and showed no signs of rust after an eight day lay-off. The first period was for the most part even in all categories except on the scoreboard. Nick Lidstrom snuck past Marleau from the point and one-timed a slap shot past Niemi to open the scoring.

It wasn’t until 10:22 of the third period that the Sharks were able to tie the game. Joe Pavelski batted the puck out of mid-air and beat Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard with the man advantage. Joe Thornton fired a slap shot from the top of the circle and like the good goal scorer Pavelski is he was rewarded for going to the net with the rebound.

The Sharks showed good patience by sticking with the game plan and not letting Detroit’s net minder Jimmy Howard frustrate them with his stellar play. “Howard was spectacular” said Logan Couture after the game. “He had a lot of big saves.” Howard and Datsyuk were the best players for Detroit tonight. Howard faced forty-six shots and let two past him. The game winner was a lucky bounce for San Jose as it deflected off of Brad Stuart’s stick and in, however when you throw the puck at the net that many times a lucky bounce or two is not uncommon.

On many occasions people in the media make too big a deal of shots on net but tonight it told the story. The Sharks outshot the Red Wings 46-25 and they had the majority of the scoring chances. The play was all San Jose in the second period and for most of the night the Sharks controlled the tempo and the pace of the game.

That was the way the game went except for when Pavel Datsyuk was on the ice. He plays like he is from another planet and tonight he had plenty of room to manoeuver. Datsyuk assisted on Detroit’s only goal and was a threat every time he was on the ice. The Russian sniper is not the type of player you shut down, but merely contain. If the Sharks are able to contain Datsyuk to an assist in each game they have a great chance of moving on to the next round.

Sharks fans should be happy with the special teams effort put forward tonight. The power play was 1-6 for but generated the tying goal and finished the night with fourteen shots on net. The attention this post-season has been on the penalty kill which has disappeared at times but tonight was perfect. The Sharks played a disciplined game giving the Red Wings the man advantage on two occasions.

Tonight’s game was what you would expect between two highly skilled teams that play the same style. That is very entertaining. The game at the Shark Tank was a good one to watch from two teams that focus their energy on playing hockey. Neither team dresses a heavy weight enforcer, both clubs are very skilled at the forward position, attack the puck relentlessly, and both teams are healthy with their top players in the line-up.

Contenders

Ben Ferriero – gets credit for the game winner and the night’s contender. He didn’t play a lot of minutes, but made them count when he did. Ferriero has been to and from the minors all season and has not let it affect his attitude or his game.

Jimmy Howard – was great tonight stopping 44 shots, many of which were good scoring chances. He gave his team a chance to win after a long lay- off and deserves to be recognized for it.

Pretenders

Brad Stuart – is the only pretender after a great hockey game. The only reason Stuart gets knocked is for his reaction after the game winning goal went in off of his stick. Stuart tomahawked his stick at the boards showing that on this night he was a poor loser. I can’t say that I know what it feels like to be in his shoes at this level of play, but he is a veteran in the league and someone that young hockey players look up to and his reaction was unacceptable.

Worth Noting

Antti Niemi looks as though his game and confidence are on the rebound. He stopped 24 shots tonight and looked more comfortable between the pipes as the game went on.

Tonight was a big win for the Sharks for obvious reasons. Game two takes place Sunday at noon. This will be the Sharks first mid-day outing of the year and the first time they will play without a morning skate. The Red Wings are often on NBC’s game of the week and are experienced playing at this hour.

It was another game where the fourth line didn’t see a lot of ice. For all the success the Sharks have enjoyed so far in the post season they have played most of their games from behind. The result is that the top three lines have seen plenty of action and the fourth line has seen plenty of the bench. Hopefully this doesn’t become a factor further down the road. Coming into tonight’s game the fourth line for San Jose was minus -10.

The game tonight was probably the Sharks' best all around team effort. Nobody stood out for San Jose for better or for worse. This recipe for success will have to be duplicated in this series in order for the Sharks to advance to the Western Conference finals.

Keep your sticks on the ice,
Cam Gore

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