One game in and already there are questions

Night 1 of the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs is in the books and who among us doesn't have questions to ask?

* Can the Pittsburgh Penguins' trio of Tyler Kennedy, Jordan Staal and Matt Cooke reclaim its unofficial title as "the best third line in hockey"?

Right now it isn't even the best third line in the series. They were done in by Chris Neil, Chris Kelly, and Jarkko Ruutu, a Sens' formation that accounted for 3 goals, 6 points, and a solid Game 1 win.

* Does anyone else think the hockey gods were sending a not-so-subtle message to Cooke?

* What is wrong with Marc-Andre Fleury?

His inconsistent play seemingly won't go away.

* How long before Mike Rupp is back in business for Pittsburgh?

Not soon enough.

* Speaking of the hockey gods, how about them picking on San Jose's Rob Blake in the final minute?

Blake, of course, eliminated Colorado's Peter Mueller with a late season hit from behind that resulted in the Avalanche forward being sidelined with a concussion.

Wednesday night, TJ Galiardi delivered his own knockout blow, all the while looking as though he was tied up by the Sharks veteran defenseman.

* How many points did the Sharks' big three combine for?

The same as in Game 1 a year ago -- zero.

more....

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=525593

about how they are doing this year. Funny isn't it!

The Sharks in the playoffs are NHL's biggest mystery. The dominate the regular season but come playoff time they just don't seem like they care if they win or not. They took half the game off last night. Game 1, at home in front of 20K, and they still looked bored. I don't get it, and I'm sure Sharks fans are bewildered as well. I still think they'll win their series, but no team has more pressure on them then the Sharks do right now. They got booed out of the building last night, deservedly so.

The game was so boring, and so disappointing, I actually fell asleep early in the third when the score was still 1-0. I didn't care...I've seen too many Sharks' failures, I knew how it was going to turn out.

I'm tired of trying to make excuses for them...this team just seems to lack heart..

You look at the team and all the parts are in place, and they function so good during the year. But come the playoffs and something seems to shut off inside of them. Losing is one thing, but to play so lifeless like they did in the last half of the first and the second leaves me shaking my head. They did play well early in the game and in the third, and to be fair, they lost on a tough fluke of a goal.

It's only one game in, we'll see how things unfold.

btw, the Sharks won a huge victory tonight, overcoming five different deficits, 6-5 in OT. But you probably missed it because you were asleep?:boring:

Or maybe you were busy watching San Francicso get their butts whipped by the Dodgers?

I didn't notice you around here after the Sharks lost the other night. You waited for a victory until you graced us with your almighty Manny* loving presence ..Come to think of it, I don't believe you've EVER offered your opinion on the Sharks yearly playoff struggles. I've never questioned your Sharks' fan credentials in the past....perhaps it's time I started..

As for the game, the win was a relief but the Sharks are making it difficult for themselves. The Avs scored about a minute into the game and again some 40 seconds into the second period. Nabokov played terribly. Randy and Drew were making a lot of excuses for him..until the 4th goal that is. Luckily Pavelski and Seto saved the day.

This should be an easy series. Yet they were 30 seconds away from losing the first 2 games at the Tank to a #8 seed. Of course, losing in the playoffs at home has become a Sharks tradition. Sure, Col played them tough during the regular season...but still.

Tell me honestly (I know, honesty is tough for a Dodger fan..but do your best), after watching the first two games, does this Sharks team really look like a Stanley Cup contender to you?

Edit: Nabby's save percentage for the first two games is .865. You're not going to win too many playoff games with shoddy goaltending like that..

Of course they look like contenders. They totally dominated the whole game, outshooting the Avs 52-22. Nabby had an off game for 60 minutes then came back after the intermission with ice water in his veins. He made two great saves in OT which allowed time for the Sharks to win it. If you had half the determination and grit that Nabby has you wouldn't be saying such stupid shit.

Douche.

but Nabby was clearly outplayed by Hiller. This year it's Anderson. Just when is Nabokov going to step up and play like he did in the first half of the season? Did he make one tough save in the first two periods Friday night? 4 goals on the first 10 shots, a save percentage of .865 for the first two games, and you're touting the job he did? Yeah, just great...he keeps that up and the Sharks will be out in 5 or 6.

It's not just this series either. How many easy goals has Nabby let in over the years? Remember the soft Red Wing goal in 2007 ( I believe by Robert Lang)when the Sharks were only about a minute away from going up 3-1 in the series? They never won another game.

I think this is the last year of Nabokov's contract...it's time the Sharks moved on..

is the "fans" who are ready to give up on their teams after only one game. Relax, these are best of seven series and a game one loss isn't a kiss of death. Example: The Blackhawks got beat last night and the fans in Chicago booed loudly. But if the Blackhawks come back and win this series, and they likely will, the fans will say "hooray!" and forget about the game one loss. So just relax people. The Penguins lost game one and won game two. And so on.

along with some mock cheers last night for Nabokov every time he actually stopped a puck...at one point he had given up 4 goals on only 10 shots.

Anyway, Sharks fans have good reason to boo and to doubt. We've seen playoff collapses year after year after year.