Only three teams in NHL history have come back from a 0-3
deficit but Detroit are vying to become the fourth. While nothing went right
for them in the first three games of the series, seemingly nothing has gone
wrong while they’ve climbed out of the gigantic hole.
Now they have a shot at sealing the deal and
reemphasizing that the Sharks are once again choke artists.
Can they finish it off or will the Sharks ease the pressure
with a big win at home in Game 7?
The Detroit Red
Wings Can Win Because…:
They can do no wrong these days.
While the Detroit Red Wings were close but with no joy in games one through
three, the tables have turned in games four, five and six and they are finally
getting the breaks. Furthermore, the Sharks are inside their own heads and the
Red Wings are playing with the house’s money. Nobody really expected Detroit to
come back from an 0-3 deficit and win this series and no one expected the
Sharks to blow this. Now that this is in fact a possibility, the pressure of
choking is once again on the Sharks and the Red Wings can come in and play
rather loose and relaxed.
The Red Wings are simply playing with a lot of confidence
right now and they feel they can win in any situation, which is evidenced by
their efforts. In Game 4, they had to fight to a 4-3 win. In Game 5, they had
to crawl out of a 3-1 hole to win. In Game 6, they fought out of a 1-0 third
period deficit to win. They simply know that some way, somehow, they are going
to come out on top. The Sharks feel the opposite and they are fighting uphill.
Not much is going right for the Sharks right now and it’s
tough to bet them – even at home in Game 7.
The San Jose
Sharks Can Win Because…:
It’s tough to win four straight games in the regular
season, let alone the postseason.
The Sharks have played with the lead in two of the last
three games and they know what it takes to get a win in this spot. All they
really need to do is show some intensity, show some heart and they’ll be fine.
For the San Jose Sharks, the scenario has been the same all
postseason long: when they play with intensity, they tend to win. When they
start to get lazy, they are punished for it. That theory played out in Game 6
when they worked hard in the start of the third period to take the lead, but
then they sat back and were taken advantage of by the Red Wings.
The Sharks are at home for Game 7, and that counts for
quite a bit. It doesn’t guarantee a win but it should lead to more energy and
more shots on net. That will be the key to Game 7.
Outlook & NHL
Betting Prediction:
This is one of those situations where home-ice advantage
might not be a real edge. The Sharks are known as choke artists and if they
fall behind in this contest, they could feel some real heat from their fans.
The truth is that while the Sharks outplayed the Red
Wings in the first three games, the Red Wings have outplayed the Sharks in the
latter three, outshooting them 108-95. The Red Wings have also figured out the
Sharks power play as they have limited them to no goals on their last 10
man-advantages after allowing four on their first 15 in the series.
It’s just tough to lay juice with the Sharks at this
point. This will be a tight-knit game so under makes sense, but the Red Wings
are the play here – especially as an underdog in the NHL odds.
Pick: Red Wings