Three wins to none, its a foreboding statistic and a position from which only three teams in the history of NHL playoffs have failed to advance. Tonight the San Jose Sharks will become the fourth team to trip at this hurdle and the Red Wings will advance.
For the second time this postseason and the third time in the past two years, a series has been pushed to a seventh game when a team was trailing three games to none. This time it’s the
Detroit Red Wings who have the chance to make history. The Red Wings were the very first team to fall victim to losing four straight when up 3-0, when they lost the final four games to Toronto in the 1942 Stanley Cup Finals. Overall this is the eighth time a team has forced a Game 7 when trailing 3-0, and only three teams have won Game 7 -- the aforementioned Maple Leafs in 1942, the Islanders in 1975, and the Flyers last season.
Trailing 1-0 with 10:00 left in their season, the Wings were able to rally from down a goal and avoid elimination for the second consecutive game. The Wings became the first team in NHL history to force a Game 7 by winning consecutive games—specifically Games 5 and 6—in which they trailed in the third period. Valtteri Filppula finally broke through for Detroit, scoring the GW goal with under eight minutes remaining and assisting on the tying goal. It was Filppula’s first goal and points of this series. Now the Wings have a chance to make history, and all the breaks and bounces that went the Sharks way in the first three games, have gone Detroit’s way the past three games. The Wings fired 45 shots on goal in Game 6, the most they have had in the postseason. Antti Niemi prevented Tuesday’s contest from being a blowout, and if Detroit is allowed to pepper the net with shots like it did in Game 6, this team will make history.
Another game, another zero for Partick Marleau. After scoring two goals and registering two assists in the Sharks’ five-game series win over the Wings last season, Marleau has no points and is a minus-1 in this series. The
San Jose Sharks had a golden chance to eliminate Detroit in Game 5 when they blew a two-goal, third-period lead, and allowed three unanswered goals in the final 18 minutes. They played like a shocked team in Game 6, getting knocked around the ice and outshot by 21 shots. Now they need to regroup or risk the humiliation of joining just two other teams in NHL history in blowing a 3-0 series lead. The good news for San Jose is that Niemi was spectacular in Game 6 after showing some bad signs in Game 5. If he repeats his performance, the Sharks will have a good chance to win. However, they need to shore up their defensive play and not let him face the barrage of shots he did in Game 6. The Sharks also need better play from Joe Thornton, who after getting three assists in Game 3, has just one assist and has a minus-3 rating in the past three games.
The fans at the Shark Tank should be rocking, but if they fall behind early, they might sit on their hands until something good happens. San Jose is 4-2 all-time in Game 7, while Detroit is 13-8 all-time in Game 7. I picked the Wings to win this series at the start and despite falling behind 3-0, didn’t change my tune. I like Detroit to make history and win Game 7
just as Dave Lawrence does, and open the Western Conference Finals in Vancouver this weekend.
The
NHL betting trends give two more reasons to pick the Red Wings.
DETROIT is 20-11 ATS (64.5%, +7.8 Units) in road games off a win or tie in their previous game this season. The average score was DETROIT 3.4, OPPONENT 2.8 - (Rating = 1*).
DETROIT is 27-17 ATS (61.4%, +8.5 Units) in a road game where the total is 5.5 this season. The average score was DETROIT 3.2, OPPONENT 2.7 - (Rating = 1*).