Through Two

Canucks lead Sharks 2-0

It never ceases to amaze me how hockey analysts still can overrate the effect a fight can have on a game. I'm sure that there are times when a fight can help to change the momentum and possibly the courst of a game. However, I think that is far more common in the regular season than in the playoffs. There isn't much fighting in the playoffs to begin with, and the stakes are so high at this point that if you really need to see a teammate fighting to get you motivated, then you probably weren't a big reason your team is in the Conference Finals. Last night, Jeremy Roenick was all over the fight between Marleau and Bieksa. He went so far as to label it the potential "turning point" in the series. I don't know how much of this was attributable to his earlier comments calling Marleau "gutless," but I have to think that JR was trying to make amends with his effusive praise for Marleau deciding to drop the gloves. Of course I think everyone got a good laugh when Keith Jones told Roenick that Marleau was merely pretending that "he was punching your (Roenick's) head." Needless to say, it was the sloppy defense and penalties that were the real reason for the Sharks falling into a 2-0 hole in the series. The Sedins finally starting looking like the world-clas players they are, and the Sharks simply had no answers in their own zone.

Once the game got out of hand, the most entertaining thing to watch was Ben Eager's meltdown. If it wasn't his moronic attempts to get Maxim Lapierre to fight, then it was his laughable attempt to smack talk Luongo after scoring to cut the Canucks lead to 7-3 with a few minutes left in the third period. I've never seen an NHL player so blatantly stand over a goaltender in the crease and try to talk smack. The fact that his team was getting blown out made it a cringe-worthy incident. Thankfully, the linesmen and referess handled it perfectly. One linesman bolted to the net and cleared it out of the wayso Luongo could extricate himself from the mess, and the rest of the officials managed to calm the situation. I give Luongo a lot of credit for not going berserk there. He even handled the post-game interview with class, refusing to divulge what Eager said to him. My personal favorite was when Luongo said, "It's good that he's on the ice. He keeps taking penalties."

Finally, in what was the worst uncalled crease violation since Brett Hull, Alex Burrows somehow managed to get away with having both of his skates firmly in the crease on the fourth Canuck goal. It's impossible to say if it would have made a difference since the Canucks looked so dominant, but it was a 3-2 game at the time. I noticed the violation instantly and was shocked that it wasn't called. Darren Pang pointed this out immediately on the Versus broadcast (leave it to the goalies....). He noted on the replay that it was clearly goalie interference. I hate to say it, but in this case it would have almost been necessary for Niemi to draw attention to the fact that he was interefered with. One of the aspect of Niemi's game that I think makes him so successful is how calm and focused he remains in spite of the chaos that is going on in and around the crease. In this situation it worked against him. Surprisingly, not a single Sharks player or coach seemed to lobby for a call.

Right now, the Canucks look dominant. That certainly doesn't mean this series can't change. We only have to look back to the Canucks' near collapse in the first round to see that dominance in one or two games doesn't guarantee it will continue.