If anyone was still wondering why we traded for Brad Richards
Posted by pguimaraes3 on April 29, 2008
Wow, thats all I can say after watching a team that in past years had to have everything go right for them in the playoffs to get results. They would always have excuses on why they could not come back on the road in the third period. Then they would blame the goaltender. This game is definitely a game that the Stars in the past 5 years would have lost.
The Sharks were dominating and as great as Turco was they took a 2-1 lead on a goal by Michalek. And the Stars, who had already accomplished their mission by winning game one could have just played the same way, hoped for a bounce to maybe give them a chance but just be happy with a split. But no, thirty seconds into the final stanza Brad Richards creates a steal and takes advantage of it by depositing a puck over the blocker of Evgeni Nabokov. Richards dominated the third period with three other assists and showed us all why he won the Conn Smythe trophy back in 2004.
One other thing to look at for those of us who think this series is going to be easy, the Sharks were actually a pretty average at home, as most teams are, but they were one of only two teams that won more games on the road than at home. The other was Phoenix but they did not win many at home. That worries me, plus so does the fact that the games are back to back, we need to win game 3 because a loss in game three and we have to play them the very next night. I do not know how big a factor that will be because its playoff hockey the momentum swings all the time. Plus, it really seems like this team welcomes adversity that is why we dominate the third period in these playoffs.
I say lets get greedy, let our three centers dominate and win game three, step on their throats.
