Sharks Hold Off Elimination, Defeat Ducks in Overtime 3-2

The San Jose Sharks entered game 5 with all the statistics being shoved in their faces from the hockey world: less than 10% of all teams down 3-1 come back to win a series. After giving up two goals in the third period and being forced into overtime, the Sharks had yet another statistical odd to overcome: San Jose was only 6 for 20 in playoff overtime history while the Anaheim Ducks had the best record in that regard. Yet the Sharks stuck to their game plan, and it paid dividends as they crashed the net with the puck lost underneath Jonas Hiller, and the confusion caused Hiller to push the puck behind him and across the line to give San Jose the 3-2 victory in overtime.

The Sharks dominated 55 minutes of regulation play, but it was the first 5 minutes of the third period that nearly cost them their playoff lives. San Jose came out with their best start in the series so far. In their second power play opportunity of the game early in the first period, Joe Thornton found a loose puck that bounced off of Jonas Hiller's mask, which caused the rookie phenom to be temporarily confused, giving Thornton an open hole on the short side for a rebound goal to give San Jose the 1-0 lead.
In the second period, the Sharks came out with the same dominating play, keeping the puck in the offensive end and outshooting the Ducks 29 to 13 through the first two periods. And they got their second goal at the end of the second, as Devin Setoguchi used his speed to break free of an Anaheim defender behind Anaheim's net, and shoving it short side on Jonas Hiller again who was dealing with an immense amount of traffic in front, and the Sharks took their first two goal lead of the series 2-0.
But Anaheim came out determined to eliminate the Sharks, and scored two goals under 4 minutes apart in the first 5 minutes of the third period to tie the game. On the second shift of the third period, a falling San Jose skater created a turnover in the neutral zone, and Andrew Ebbett found Ryan Carter in the high slot, who blasted a one-timer underneath Evgeni Nabokov's legs to cut the deficit in half 1-2. Then Scott Niedermayer managed to stretch his legs to their limits to stay onsides, maintained his speed in the offensive zone, and found Corey Perry behind the San Jose defense, who beat Nabokov one on one under the pads again to tie the game 2-2. San Jose answered back in the third, with three situations with their forwards one on one with Jonas Hiller, but Hiller made all the spectacular saves to keep the Ducks alive through regulation.
In overtime, Nabokov made two huge saves early on as the Ducks came out with a purpose. But after an offsides call stopped the offense of Anaheim, San Jose took over, outshooting the Ducks 7 to 3 in overtime. The 6th and 7th shot by Joe Thornton was the game winner, as he shot the puck off Hiller, found his own rebound, and shot it off Hiller again. The puck creeped under Hiller's pads behind him, sitting right on the line for what seemed like an eternity. But the pressure by Patrick Marleau poking at the puck caused Hiller to fall backwards, and his glove sweeped the puck just across the line and into the corner of the net. The play was reviewed but was quickly determined as a good goal, as the back referee had a clear view of the puck the entire time, and San Jose survived to force a game 6 back to Anaheim with a 3-2 overtime win.

After the much maligned first line of San Jose failed to produce any points in the 4-0 shutout in game 4, They contributed to all the goals, as Joe Thornton had a goal and two assists, and Patrick Marleau had an assist and scored the game winning goal, giving him the game winner in every San Jose victory in the series. Devin Setoguchi also scored his first of the series, and contributed a secondary assist on the overtime winner. Jonathan Cheechoo and Joe Pavelski led all skaters with 7 shots on goal each, but Cheechoo had half the ice time of Pavelski. San Jose coach Todd McLellon, who was noticed for his ability to match-up lines with Ryan Carlyle, kept the defensive pair of Christian Ehrhoff and Douglas Murray on the ice the same time as the dreaded Ryan Getzlaf first line of the Ducks. As a result, Ehrhoff and Murray logged more minutes than Dan Boyle and Rob Blake, and did a solid job shutting down the first line until the game-tying goal by Corey Perry in the third period. Hiller was once again the best player for the Ducks, as he made 45 saves on 48 shots. There were no penalties in the third period or overtime, as both teams only had 3 power play opportunities. San Jose went 1 for 3 while Anaheim was 0 for 3 with the man advantage. Game 6 will be played Monday night in Anaheim, as the Ducks get a second chance to eliminate their upstate rivals at home.