This was the Wings’ best game of the series…through two periods. Then they opted for the prevent defense for most of the third and it blew up in their faces. Then they owned overtime, but couldn’t bury the puck. And it blew up in their faces.
Even through the first two, the Wings, in my view, never really were firing on all cylinders. They were better than they’d been in Games 1 and 2, but they weren’t the world-beaters we saw against Phoenix. They let the Sharks hang with them, and let the situation be such that a few odd bounces going the Sharks way were enough to keep them alive. A bit more work toward opening up the throttle would have had those goals slide off their backs, but they didn’t do that work.
And now they face a 3-0 deficit against a Sharks team that’s going to budge very little. San Jose is doing everything right and they’re getting all the bounces. I hate their guts, but they’ve been the better team in this series by a wide margin. And now their goalie’s joined in to a degree.
Niemi was a lot stronger tonight than he’d been, and that was no doubt a major reason behind the Wings’ issues in the early going. They came out strong and looking to go up early, but Niemi shut the door and you could see the Wings trail off as the period went on. Niemi’s still the weak link in the Sharks’ armor, but it’s going to take a more sustained barrage to break him.
The Wings had an opportunity to make this a series tonight. They might have done it had the bounces gone more their way. But they could have made sure, in spite of the bounces, had they elevated their game a few degrees more, and they didn’t. I have to still believe they can pull it out in the end, but objectively speaking, the odds are incredibly slim.
If they’ve still got access to that switch, it’s time to flip it again.