The Marleau Years Have Been Kind When Up Three Games

Something to chew on before Game Six. Here is a record of San Jose Sharks teams with Patrick Marleau on them in playoff series they have lead going into Game Six.

1999-2000 vs. St. Louis – SERIES WIN 4-3.

Sharks are the eight seed here and were leading this series 3-1 going into Game Five. They dropped Games Five and Six and it appeared the heavily favored Blues would win, but the Sharks won Game Seven in St. Louis 3-1. Marleau didn’t play a factor in this series.

2001-02 vs. Colorado – SERIES LOSS 4-3

Sharks take a series lead with a win on the road in Game Five, but drop the final two games to lose the series to the favored Avalanche. Marleau had zero points in both the final two games after notching 11 points in the previous ten playoff games.

2003-04 vs. Colorado – SERIES WIN 4-2

This scenario should feel the most familiar and give us a degree of hope tonight. The Avalanche were huge bullies on the block and chock full of superstars and the Sharks ran out to a 3-0 series lead. The Sharks then then lost Game Four 2-1 in OT and Game Five 2-1 in OT at the Tank, sending the Avs home to Colorado believing they could win the series and causing Sharks fans to see deja vu. The Sharks went to the Pepsi Center and won Game Six 3-1 with a huge second period.

2007-08 vs. Calgary – SERIES WIN 4-3

The Sharks broke the series deadlock with a win at home in Game Five, but dropped Game Six in Calgary 2-0. We all remember the Game Seven win at the Tank and JR’s explosion of four points in the win.

2009-10 vs. Colorado – SERIES WIN 4-2

The exorcism of Dan Boyle and the Craig Anderson Lifetime movie finally ended in Game Six after the Sharks woke up and spanked the Baby Avs the final two games of the series. They won, on the road, in Game Six to close this **** out.

2010-11 vs. Los Angeles – SERIES WIN 4-2

Our memories aren’t this short are they? The Sharks had the chance to close out LA at home in Game Five and could not do it. In fact, they got embarrassed by Kyle Clifford, no less. The boys finished the job in OT in Game Six…and here we are…

2010-11 vs. Detroit – UNKNOWN

The track record from The Marleau Years is there. In this situation, the Sharks have won five out of six series historically, beating two damn good teams in St. Louis and the 2003-04 Avalanche in the process. I know, different roster means different results and Marleau is the only guy still around from that Colorado series, but the core of this team has been here twice before in the last 12 months – and won both times when they were up three games.

Keep the faith.