Postgame Notes: Sharks @ Red Wings – Game Six

Well, where do you wanna start?

I said back before Game Four, I didn’t think the Red Wings would be here right now. Not the way they were playing, not the way the Sharks were playing.

Detroit turned it around, though, and Game Six was an incredible example of that. Even when they couldn’t beat Niemi in the first two periods, even when Logan Couture beat Jimmy Howard early in the third, they never gave up. The Red Wings controlled play for virtually the entire game. This was their most dominant performance of the playoffs and it came when it was needed most.

The Detroit team that played in the first three games of the series wouldn’t have made this comeback. Tonight we saw the team we knew they could be, the potential they weren’t living up to.

And we saw some of the team the Sharks could be, too. Not the efficient, deep, team whose defense shut you down and offense ground you out. Tonight they were emotional and played scared. Their antics in the closing seconds show where their minds were.

Both of those could change by the time the puck drops on Game Seven. Neither team is going to go down without a fight. Whatever happens, though, I’m glad to have been wrong and to have gotten the chance to see this team show up.