I know this is a really original thought, but man, there’s nothing like playoff hockey. The play is quicker, harder, and much more intense. The mood of the crowd is nervous- eager to cheer at the slightest good fortune or play. And on the flip side, the Sharks crowd gets pretty quiet when Nashville is running their power cycle in our zone.

Which happened pretty often.

Last night especially, the Preds could cycle deep in our zone almost at will in the first and second periods. Kariya would have it at the half-boards. Dump it low. Forsberg would be there, maybe go behind the net and kick it out to the point, which would shoot or go around back to Kariya. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. To the Sharks’ credit, they had strong coverage in the middle, and didn’t let a forward have a good swipe at an open puck (there weren’t many, thanks to Nabby) or slip out to the weak side and look for a pass.

At least in game 4, I think it just came down to better goaltending, and more clutch performances. If you looked at every possession that didn’t result in a goal and had to predict the score, you’d probably predict Nashville 4-1 or maybe worse. But Nabby came up huge, and the Sharks had good bounces and plays. Especially Pavelski’s goal. He really created something out of nothing there.

So the question is- is it really the Sharks’ size, as Rusonowsky and Baker are saying on the radio? Or is it Nashville’s horrible road playoff record (0-7)? Since the Sharks did take one in Tennessee, I have to think it’s a bit of both. I’m making a bold prediction here, but I think game 5 could be a decisive Sharks victory, not a nail-biter like the last two. Nashville will come out in full-court press mode, and will try to cycle and push. If the Sharks stay disciplined and counter-attack, they could put up goals quickly. And I think Nashville, after their all-or-nothing trades this year, could get desperate and take penalties. The San Jose PP has to start scoring soon, you don’t want to wake the sleeping giant. It might just wake up on Friday.

So I make it a point to read the Mercury News coverage of Sharks hockey, since it is the hometown paper here on the Sharks, and I have to agree with Mark Purdy. Mark, please do me a favor- STOP REFERRING TO THE SHARKS AS “LOS TIBURONES”. It was old about a decade ago, and it hasn’t exactly taken the country by storm. Anyway, Purdy’s column talks about how Barry Trotz said hit shouldn’t have even been a penalty, and opines that Hartnell should have been suspended.

First things first. Trotz, while not having a neck, is sticking up for his guy, and is completely ridiculously wrong. It’s a dirty hit. It came late, and was a bush-league effort. It was not designed to put body on body- it was intended to block Cheech by taking his feet out. As Purdy said, Trotz would be outraged if Forsberg or Kariya was on the receiving end of such a hit. So outraged he might actually grow himself a neck. Sorry, but that joke is just too damn easy.

Check out this post. It has stills from the video. Clearly Hartnell has his right knee forward, and from the video, we know he is gliding. That means he’s trying to hit Cheech with his knee. We also see his elbow contacting Cheechoo’s head. I believe Hartnell when he said that he didn’t try to take Cheech’s knee out, but it’s hard to argue that he wasn’t trying to take him out in a extraordinarily reckless way. He got ‘unlucky’ and took Cheech’s knee out, but did successfully elbow him in the head, knocking out a tooth.

I’m not getting my righteous indignation on here, because this kind of thing can and does happen to a lot of players. Hartnell is a tough, gritty player that made a shitty play. He deserves a suspension, and more than one game. He wasn’t calculating the attack angle on Cheech’s knee to determine maximum ACL damage, but it was a dirty hit that could have had career-ending consequences. Ask Cam Neely about how easy that happens.

The East

• Buffalo(1) vs. Islanders(8). Buffalo clearly overmatches Islanders in every category except possibly goaltending, but that’s only when DiPietro is healthy and he’s not. Polish up them 9-irons, you’ll be using them soon. Sabres in 4.
• New Jersey(2) vs. Tampa Bay(7). Can the creative and explosive Lecavalier, St. Louis, and Richards overcome a Devils defense that is designed to turn creativity and explosiveness into a yawning, 100-neutral-zone-turnovers-per-game snoozefest? Probably not, but New Jersey might have trouble scoring, now that half their team are nursing injuries. Plus the Lightning goaltending sucks. Devils in 6.
• Atlanta(3) vs. Rangers(6). Atlanta made deadline moves for Tkachuk, Zhitnik, Dupuis, and Belanger, and won the season series 3-1, but I think Lundquist being hot, and unmistakable scoring power in Jagr and Shanahan will be enough to stumble the playoff first-timers. Rangers in 6.
• Ottawa(4) vs. Pittsburg(5). Probably the most exciting series of the first round. You need a full hand to count the superstar scorers involved- Crosby, Malkin, Heatley, Spezza, Alfredsson. Ottawa are ‘chokers’ in the first round, but Pittsburg’s lack of defense will be their undoing. Crosby doesn’t give up, but he’ll have more trouble with Phillips, Redden, and Mezsaros than Heatley will have with Gonchar(who doesn’t play defense) and Orpik (who?). Ottawa in 6.

The West

• Detroit(1) vs. Calgary(8). Detroit’s gaudy record is fluffed by playing 24 games against the dregs of the west, St. Louis, Columbus, and Chicago. Zetterberg and Kronwall are out, and the Wings will hurt for scoring with only Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and the inevitable Nik Lidstrom with over 60 points. Calgary can finally score, but their D is weaker than years past. Yet they have perennial Vezina candidate Kipper to back them up, while the Dominator could go down at any time, he’s 42. And yes, I’m still bitter about the Kiprusoff trade, even though we drafted Vlasic with the pick we got. Calgary in 6.
• Anaheim(2) vs. Minnesota(7). Some people have picked Minnesota in an upset, and while I hate the Ducks as much as any Sharks fan, those people are on friggin’ crack. The Ducks, while not playing in a Jacque Lemaire-inspired robotic trance, are better at every phase except maybe PK. Every time Gaborik and Demitra are on the ice, they’ll be staring down the barrel of two Norris winners. Have fun with that. Ducks in 5.
• Vancouver(3) vs. Dallas(6). Vancouver was the matchup I didn’t want, and I’ll happily watch Dallas go down like a sack of dirt. They might be able to stop the Sedins for a while, sooner or later they will score, while Dave Tippett will be cursing management for saddling him with Ladislav Nagy. Turco would have to stand on his head, something he’s never done in the playoffs, but oh yeah, he’s against the Vezina favorite, Roberto Luongo. Later Stars. Vancouver in 5.
• Nashville(4) vs. Sharks(5). While the Vancouver matchup would be worse, this one is plenty bad. As Sharks fans all know, San Jose has a dismal record against all the other playoff teams, 1-3 against Nashville. This year we get the pleasure of facing Vokoun instead of Mason, and Forsberg added to their already-powerful lineup. If Cheech and Nabby can stay hot, we can win the series. But I’m so far away from objective it isn’t even funny. Sharks in 7.

Before Wednesday- full prediction of the first-round matchups.