The way Tampa won yesterday was as impressive as any win by any team this season. To fight back from 3-0 against Tim Thomas and to fight through the wall the Bruins can put up showed us the Lightning have plenty of guts and experience.

Tampa also has something else going for them right now. Mojo.

The Lightning are getting huge games from role players at key times. Purcell yesterday was a great example, but while that kid may be considered a role player on a team full of the kind of offensive firepower Tampa has, I have a feeling we are only seeing the very beginning of Purcell as a future star, and that has to be another hat tip to the much maligned previous Lightning regime, who while they didn't get the results while they were a part of the team set up this team in fantastic ways. Purcell was the last move made by the outgoing ownership and they picked him up in what may go down as one of the better trades in the last 5 years when they moved Halpern to the Kings and grabbed Purcell and a 3rd round pick. Purcell was laboring in the minors for LA...in a similar way they stole Downie from the Flyers minor league system.

Game Four's loss will test Boston's fortitude for certain, because once again the Bruins showed how a loss in focus, even for a period, can cost you everything. The Bruins need to get back to the style of hockey they played in the first 4 periods in Tampa, and they need to do so at home where Boston doesn't love playing that style.

Meanwhile 3,000 miles away...

As in yesterday's Game 4 scenario for Tampa...today we get to find out what the Sharks are made of. The Sharks are the team I feel is most playing inside their own heads in this series.. They are getting sucked into some old habits this team HAS grown beyond. Mainly their ability to grab back momentum.

Yes, the Sharks won game 3....but the win was anything but a comforting win. It was concerning in some ways.

I don't blame the coaching for this team's momentary lapses of focus and discipline. The coaching staff showed, by sitting Eager, they were serious about the mental game, and yet the Sharks still showed lapses following the fantastic start they had in game 3....and I am not only talking about the hit that led to the 5 minute major. A hit, legal or not, which only some huge gutsy play from Niemi kept from sinking the season.

Discipline. Up 4-1..clobbering a guy, even with the most legal hit in the book, can only work against you by waking up a team who was probably subconsciously starting to look towards game 4...until you pissed them off.

But I am not laying this all on McGinn...

I am just talking about all the little things a team needs to do if they are a Champion. Patrick Marleau had a hell of a first half of the game, but after that there was a lazy off-side here, and late icing race where Marleau needed to use his speed but let up in the last 10 feet...I am not calling out just Marleau here either (believe me) but rather making a statement about the leadership of the majority of this team's core....Beyond Dan Boyle, who I never see lose focus in the slightest, I continue to see these intensity dips by star players at key moments, which are just baffling from a team who is only 8 wins from glory.

These Sharks are an awesome team.. We witnessed that in game 7 against Detroit, where the Sharks passed a major franchise test and turned the momentum of three straight Red Wings wins back around. And in game 2 they started off the same way....however, then the ghosts returned and it took amazing goaltending to save them.

There is no reason San Jose can't win this series. It takes goaltending and a strong power play, and their power play has been phenomenal (6 for 14) in this round. Niemi's numbers haven't been good, but he has been. Niemi is a competitor and a winner.

As for Vancouver...their biggest issue here may be "not believing their own press clippings." I would bet if I asked my readers who they think should win the Stanley Cup ad of right now, the readers not in any of the four cities, 90% would agree this Cup is Vancouver's to lose....and there is nothing a coach hates more than that scenario. Vigneault will do all he can to distract his team away from how good they have looked over the last several games.

My Pick

If the Sharks leaders can lead the way today, not by putting up numbers, but by putting on serious game faces and holding each other accountable for any lapse in the team's game which could lead to a major mistake and gives the Canucks any extra advantage they don't need....well IF all that happens this series will be tied, brand new, and all ready for a phenomenal finish.

If the Canucks can play this game like it is their last and make the Sharks lose discipline, then they may be unstoppable.

I think these Sharks, and this goalie in particular, will find that focus...and could use this game as a springboard for very big things.

Sharks 4-2


Your pick?

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