After losing two strait, the Sharks decided that they weren’t going to lose another game. They jumped out to an early 3-0 lead at the end of the first. The score stayed that way through the second also. At this point it seemed fairly easy for the Sharks but, of course, nothing important in life comes easy. Just after a minute into the period, the Canucks scored. But even after this the Sharks still seemed like they would win, especially since the Sharks scored a powerplay goal just five minutes after the Canucks scored, giving the Sharks their three goal lead back. And as the game progressed the Sharks seemed more and more likely to win. But 11 minutes into the third things took a turn for the worse when Jamie McGinn took a five minute major and a game misconduct for boarding*, his second game misconduct of the 2011 playoffs.

That means that the Canucks got five minutes to score as many goals as they could in five minutes and they still wouldn’t lose their powerplay. In those five minutes the Canucks scored two goals making the score 4-3. Luckily the Sharks were able to fight off the surging Canucks to win the game 4-3.

* Today the NHL reviewed McGinn’s hit and didn’t give him any further discipline.

The 2nd round of the NHL playoffs was set tonight after the 4th game 7 in two days was ended. Here are the second round matchups:

Western Conference:                                                                                Eastern Conference:

Seed 1 Canucks vs Seed 5 Predators                     Seed 1 Capitals vs Seed 5 Lightning

Seed 2 Sharks vs Seed 3 Red Wings                                Seed 2 Flyers vs Seed 3 Bruins

For the second year in a row the 2nd round seeding has a pattern. Last year the two conferences had no seeds that matched, but this year it is the opposite. This year the seedings for the two conferences are the same for both conferences.

With their overtime win, the Canucks finished round 1 for the Western Conference. The 2nd seeded Sharks are going to play the 3rd seeded Red Wings. It is going to be the Pacific Division Champion vs the    Champion. It is a chance for Detroit to get revenge on the Sharks who knocked them out in the 2nd round last year. Let’s hope Pavelski can produce as big of a series as he had last year against the Red Wings.

Game 6 was an important game for the Sharks series. They went into the game with a 3-2 lead on the Kings and a chance to be the only NHL team remaining from California. And they capitalized on that opportunity and are now advancing to the second round to play either the Blackhawks or Red Wings, which is dependent on the outcome of the Vancouver vs Chicago series. That series is playing in a game 7  tonight.

The Sharks won their series in overtime at the Staples Center in L.A. Joe Thornton scored the series winning goal right after killing a five minute major that was called on Jamie McGinn  The Sharks last season beat the Avalanche in game 6 of the first round at the Pepsi Center only one day before the Sharks win last night.

As the end of the season draws near, the Sharks really have to fight for the Pacific Division title, and fight for a playoff spot. They only have 7 games left in the season and all 7 of those games are inner division. Each team in the Pacific plays each team at least once before the season is over. The Sharks play the Coyotes 3 more times, two of which are the last two of the season. The Coyotes are only two points behind the Sharks in the standings.

There are only 9 points separating the top of the Pacific Division (Sharks) from the bottom of the Division (Stars). There are also only 8 points from the Sharks, who are 3rd in the West, and 8th place in West, the Ducks, who the Sharks play 2 more times.

The Sharks are now down 3-0 to the Blackhawks. They will have to win all of the next four games in order to win the series. The Flyers did the exact same thing last round. But the Blackhawks are playing better than the Bruins are. The Sharks have gotten themselves into a very deep hole that I don’t think they will be able to get themselves out of. The next game is in Chicago at 12pm on Sunday. The only thing that we can possibly hope for is a game seven in San Jose. Go Sharks!

With their loss last night, the Sharks are down 2-0 to the Blackhawks. They will have to win in the Blackhawks Arena at least once just to stay alive in this series. The Sharks will also have to win 4 of the next 5 games in the series in order to advance to the Cup Finals. The Blackhawks only have to win 2 of the next 5 to advace. The Sharks will have to come out fast and put a lot of pressure on the Blackhawks right off the start in order to get control of the game.

The Blackhawks beat the Canucks in game six. They will face-off against the Sharks on Sunday at 12:00pm in San Jose. The rest of the schedule will be announced asap. The winner of this series will go on to the Stanley Cup Finals against either the Flyers or the Canadiens.

* Fun fact: The third round standings have a pattern just like the second round. In the West the top two seeds are playing each other and in the East the bottom two seeds are playing each other.

West: 1,2

East: 7,8

The winner of the Blackhawks and Canucks series will play the Sharks in the Western Conference Finals. As of right now, the Blackhawks are ahead of the series in 3-1. They faceoff at 8:00PM Eastern Time. If the second-seeded Blackhawks beat the third-seeded Canucks they will move on. It is do or die for the Canucks.

Interesting Fact: Look at the seeds for the two conferences.

Western: 1,2,3,5

Eastern: 4,6,7,8

The two conferences don’t have the same seed number left in the playoffs. Also if you put the seeds in numerical order they go 1-8 without missing a number!

The Sharks have advanced to the third round of the playoffs. The Sharks have only been to the third round only once, in 2004. They will play the winner of the Chicago and Vancouver series.  Chicago is currently winning the series 3-1.