Sharks Sweep Up Vancouver

By Chris Glennon

One year after another disappointing early playoff exit, Patrick Marleau gave the San Jose Sharks a new postseason experience.

Marleau scored a power-play goal 13 minutes into overtime and the Sharks completed their first playoff sweep in franchise history, beating the Vancouver Canucks 4-3 on Tuesday night.

"I can honestly see them making a deep playoff run," said Santa Clara student David Marten, a forward on the club hockey team. "They've been playing all three zones well, and if they keep getting great goal-tending, I'm confident about their prospects."

Now instead of facing questions about their playoff fortitude like they did a year ago after a five-game loss in the first round to St. Louis, the Sharks will get a few days to rest up before the second round following their third comeback win of the series.

"We just plugged away," Captain Joe Thornton said. "It doesn't matter what the score is or what time of the game it's at. We just keep plugging away. We just have so much fun together. We're really enjoying it and we want to keep it going as long as we can."

Joe Pavelski scored his second power-play goal of the game to tie it with 4:27 left in regulation. Brent Burns also scored, Thornton had three assists and Antti Niemi made 32 saves for the Sharks.

Santa Clara student and avid Chicago Blackhawks fan Gabrielle Dougherty said the play of the Sharks in the first round got her attention.

"(A month ago) I'd have said that the (Blackhawks) would be able to take extreme advantage of the Sharks lack of shots per game, compared to Chicago," she said. "But as of late, the Sharks have been getting way more shots on goal which worries Blackhawks fans like myself."

The Canucks were unable to hold onto a late third-period lead for the second time this series. They will now head into the offseason after a second straight first-round exit with many questions surrounding Coach Alain Vigneault and the rest of the franchise.

"This year, this is not the way we wanted to end," Captain Henrik Sedin said. "It was almost like we were a first-time playoff team going to the box too many times. A lot of guys have been together for a long time. It's very disappointing because you only have so many chances."

Cory Schneider made 43 saves, but gave up the rebound that led to Marleau's series-clinching goal after Daniel Sedin was sent off for boarding Tommy Wingels on a call that irked the Canucks. Daniel Sedin got a game misconduct penalty for abusive language.

"It's the playoffs, it's shoulder to shoulder. I didn't talk to the ref, I screamed. I apologized to him later. But it was a bad call," Daniel Sedin said. "We didn't lose the series on that one call. We lost it earlier in the series."

The Sharks came through with their third power-play goal of the night and seventh of the series to win it. Thornton's shot hit off Schneider and the puck was bouncing in the crease when Marleau raced in and just got his stick on it to score the winner, setting off a wild celebration at the Shark Tank.

"I was kind of yelling for him to shoot it," Marleau said. "I don't know if he heard me, but it was a great play by him just to get it on net. It was just lying there on the side of the net and I was able to bat it home."

The Canucks have scored just 18 goals in their past 11 postseason games, including none for the Sedin twins in this series.

"This is the most frustrating a team I've been a part of," Daniel Sedin said. "We have a good team and what cost us? Little mistakes, taking penalties. We have ourselves to blame."

Vancouver took the lead with two goals in a span of 1:50 midway through the third period. The first came on the power play when Andrew Desjardins was sent off for roughing. Henrik Sedin set up the tying goal with a nifty blind pass to twin brother Daniel, who fed Burrows in front of the net for the easy tap in.

Then Burrows won a battle for the puck in the corner and fed Edler in the high slot for a slap shot. It beat Niemi and gave the Canucks their first lead since Marleau's tying goal in the final minute of regulation in Game 2 in Vancouver.

Vancouver again couldn't hold onto a late lead after Kevin Bieksa was sent off for cross-checking Wingels. Bieksa could only watch from the penalty box as Pavelski pounced on a rebound of Logan Couture's shot and knocked a backhand into the open net for his fourth goal in the past two games.

"Everyone has been playing their roles," said Marten. "I think that's been the biggest difference."

Bay Area fans have been spoiled in recent years with playoff success, but even Dougherty is happy about the series win for the Sharks.

"Having the Sharks locally really keeps hockey close to home," she said. "I love this sport - it's intense, it's passionate and it's real."

Contact Chris Glennon at cglennon@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852. The Associated Press contributed to this report.