The Detroit Red Wings will not go down without a fight ... that's what was said after game four. After game five, the Red Wings were simply making things interested. Now, following a dominating 3-1 win over the San Jose Sharks in game six to force a game seven, they should be heavily favored to take said game seven. From the get-go, Detroit dominated play, taking control in the first ten minutes with an offensive onslaught that was only kept in check by Antti Niemi. The Sharks got very few licks in during that first period, and although they improved in period two, they were dominated for the better part of forty minutes.
Then, Logan Couture somehow got the puck past Jimmy Howard in the third, and after a review, the Sharks were up 1-0. Their play improved after that, too, they started to get their legs back and began attacking the puck and trying to create more opportunities, but they were deflated ten minutes into the period, when Niklas Kronwall put the puck toward the net and Henrik Zetterberg tapped it in. Actually, that's not entirely accurate, they still played well following that, but Pavel Datsyuk once again displaying puck wizardry came through again, and he found Valtteri Flippula for the game-winning goal.
They'd later add one from Darren Helm via the empty net, but for all intents and purposes, we have another one-goal win in this series. But, like most of the games this series, that doesn't really tell the whole story. That story being: one team dominating the other through-and-through, but the other team coming up big with blocked shots and strong goalie play. Whether it be the Sharks dominating play and getting a one-goal win, or vice-versa, that's how it's been the whole series.
Antti Niemi was once again, very solid, and it's a shame that he has to keep taking these losses. Niemi stopped 42-of-44 shots for a .955 save percentage, and made several diving, scrambling saves. Jimmy Howard was very solid on his own, not wilting under the big pressure of the game, stopping 24-of-25 for a .960 save percentage. Jason Demers made some key blocks for San Jose, it seems like one player always deserves mention for that when it comes to the Sharks these playoffs.
So the series goes to seven games, with the momentum all on the side of the Red Wings, and the Sharks on their heels, fighting off cries of "choke" and "gutless". Game seven will be on Thursday. Stay tuned for more, folks, it's a bumpy ride already, it's about to get worse.