Monday, May 10, 2004

Calgary 4, Sharks 3 (OT)

While the first rule may be to never start a land war in Asia, only slight less known is that the Sharks don't win in overtime. They were 3-6-12 (.333) in in the regular season, and now 1-3 (.333) in the postseason. Can't say it's too suprising. I'm trying to pinpoint exactly what it is that predispose the Sharks to lose in OT, but for the life of me, I can't find it. I guess in this game, while SJ was dominant in terms of puck possesion and shots, there were a disturbing number of odd-man breaks for Calgary. Odd-man breaks lose games in OT. All three playoff OT losses for the Sharks came from missed defensive assignments. I know saying that "odd-man breaks lose games" in hockey is about as pithy as "turnovers could hurt you" in football, but it's time the Sharks realize that in order to win in OT, they need to play long enough to generate opportunities. They aren't going to generate too many oppotunities in 8 minutes (the average length of the playoff OT losses).

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