The San Jose Sharks are one game away from elimination, having lost three straight to the St. Louis Blues after taking game one of the playoff series. To make things worse, the Sharks lost both games at the HP Pavilion and are now heading back to hostile territory. It was a hard-fought game, in which the Sharks looked supercharged for its majority, unlike, say, game two, but they still came up short in a 2-1 loss.
So where do they go from here? Not anywhere in particular, really. What's most prohibitive in regards to having optimism is the fact that the Sharks have made all the changes necessary. In fact, CSN Bay Area's Ray Ratto puts it best:
But having changed all four of his lines, having tweaked the penalty kill, having gotten snippy at Wednesday's practice, and in general having emptied out the coach's traditional bag of tricks, he and the Sharks came up with deuces and treys again. They are now left with only platitudes to toss into the air in hopes that one will catch a zephyr to God's ears.
It's true, the Sharks have made all the changes. On top of that, Ratto also suggests that 91 percent of teams that end up down 3-1 in a series ultimately lose it. There's not a lot of optimism around these parts right now. Well, save for the fact that the Sharks fought really, really hard.
The team doesn't look lethargic on the ice - they don't look like they're a team that's already lost. That's been an issue in the past, but for the most part, everyone is putting forth an effort. The Sharks weren't dominated in game four of the series, they were edged out. The Blues were undoubtedly the better team, but it wasn't a blowout and that's something to hang your hat on going into game five.