Ouch. All I can say is that without Kyle McLaren, the Sharks are in big trouble. Even if you could combine Tom Preissing and Rob Davison into some sort of mutant mega-player, I’d still rather have McLaren.

Flyers 6, Lightning 2. I know the Flyers are good, but 6 goals?! As Barry Melrose would say, this is the kind of loss that you want (if you’re TB), because there are a host of things the Bolts can look at on film and fix. I predict TB will win decisively in Philly on Thursday, even though the Flyers are unbeaten there this postseason. Over/under on penalty minutes in game 3? I say 100.

While the first rule may be to never start a land war in Asia, only slight less known is that the Sharks don’t win in overtime. They were 3-6-12 (.333) in in the regular season, and now 1-3 (.333) in the postseason. Can’t say it’s too suprising. I’m trying to pinpoint exactly what it is that predispose the Sharks to lose in OT, but for the life of me, I can’t find it. I guess in this game, while SJ was dominant in terms of puck possesion and shots, there were a disturbing number of odd-man breaks for Calgary. Odd-man breaks lose games in OT. All three playoff OT losses for the Sharks came from missed defensive assignments. I know saying that “odd-man breaks lose games” in hockey is about as pithy as “turnovers could hurt you” in football, but it’s time the Sharks realize that in order to win in OT, they need to play long enough to generate opportunities. They aren’t going to generate too many oppotunities in 8 minutes (the average length of the playoff OT losses).

Welcome to my new blog about the NHL. This could include news, views, opinions (both informed and uninformed), rants, laments, and celebrations about all of hockey, and my team, the San Jose Sharks, in particular.