Bad calls, bad luck, bad loss

The least penalized team in the NHL during the regular season was shorthanded for one-third of Sunday night’s Game 2 between the San Jose Sharks and the Detroit Red Wings.

Something is fishy here.

Joe Pavelski scored two more goals and San Jose was awarded a whopping 10 power plays in a 4-3 Game 2 win on Sunday, giving the Sharks a 2-0 series lead.

Joe Thorton scored the winner on a 3-on-2 break in the third period, completing a comeback for the Sharks in a Game where the Red Wings took the most penalties in franchise history since 1997.

Pavel Datsyuk had a goal and an assist for the Red Wings and Jimmy Howard stopped 41 shots for the Red Wings, who surrendered two power play goals for the second straight game.

Thornton netted the winner, his first goal of the playoffs, after Nicklas Lidstrom broke his stick taking a shot at the San Jose blue line at the 12:37 mark of the third period.  The stick-less Lidstrom was able to hustle back to play the ensuing breakaway for the Sharks, but Brian Rafalski was unable to block Thornton’s shot into a wide open net.

But the real story was the Wings’ inability to stay out of the penalty box.

The turning point came three minutes into the third period, when Todd Bertuzzi was called for holding Marc-Edouard Vlasic, a call considered weak even by the Versus announcing crew.  Forty-one seconds later, Niklas Kronwall was called off for hooking Joe Pavelski, giving the Sharks a 5-on-3 advantage for the second straight game.

Pavelski then made the Red Wings pay, knocking in a loose puck out of a mad scramble at the Detroit net.  Datsyuk was able to block the initial shot, but Pavelski found the back of the net on the second effort to tie the game at three.

Datsyuk kicked off the scoring, weaving his way through two defenders and firing a shot off the post and into the net, 6:57 into the first period.

The lead didn’t last long.  Just as in Game 1, the Sharks scored multiple goals quickly. Pavelski ripped a shot off a won faceoff past Howard for his first of the game just over two minutes after the Datsyuk goal.  Justin Abdelkader had been sent off on a questionable goaltender interference call just 31 seconds previously.

A little over a minute and a half later, Pavelski caught the Red Wings defense pinching in and fed a pass to Ryane Clowe on a 2-on-1 break to give the Sharks a 2-1 lead.

Detroit responded shortly thereafter, when Tomas Holmstrom tipped in a shot from Brian Rafalski on the power play, tying the score at two with 6:43 to play in the first.

Then just as a boarding call was expiring to Patrick Marleau, Nicklas Lidstrom fired a slapshot past Nabokov to give the Wings a 3-2 two minutes into the second period.  Marleau had been called off for boarding after the first period buzzer sounded.

Three Stars
1. Joe Pavelski, Sharks– 2 goals, assist
Yeah, four goals in two games is impressive, but when two come on 5-on-3 power plays you can’t give him TOO much praise.

2. Dany Heatley, Sharks— 3 assists
Heatley seems to have woken up in this series.

3. Pavel Datsyuk, Red Wings— goal, assist
I refuse to give all three stars to the Sharks, especially when the Wings were leading for a good portion of the game.

Trainwreck of the Game
Do I even have to say it?