San Jose did the impossible last night, only in the worst way imaginable. With their 5-1 loss in Game 7 to the Los Angeles Kings the Sharks officially blew a 3-0 series lead. They will go down in the history books as just the fourth team ever to blow that lead in the NHL playoffs. This is not the side of history any team wants to be on, and for San Jose it will just add fuel to the fire that surrounds them as playoff chokers. These were the first playoffs in years where it was looking like San Jose may finally emerge as the team to beat in the West.
They came into the playoffs without the external expectations of success breathing down their necks for the first time in years. Then they made the mistake of dominating the Los Angeles Kings through the first two games of this series, and on top of that taking a 3-0 series lead. They were one victory away from the second round. One win that never came. The Kings fought back admirably. The tide shifted in game three, which was an overtime loss for the Kings, but was the first time in the series they showed up to play hockey. The thing about sports is that there are physical demands no doubt, but the mental aspect is deep and prevalent as well. For San Jose, once the Kings started fighting back it seemed as though doubt started entering their minds and the memories of past failures accompanied these doubts. In the end the Kings sent the Sharks packing, an outcome nobody could've predicted just one week ago.
What Happened to San Jose?
This is the question of the day for everyone around the NHL, and the question for the Sharks for the next two months as they look from the sidelines once again. The scapegoating will start with the big players in San Jose; Thornton, Marleau, Pavelski and Couture in particular (all four of whom had zero points in the final three games of this series), goaltender Antti Niemi will be questioned, and of course Head Coach Todd McLellan will be called upon to shoulder some blame as well. Any time a team consistently fails to find success in the post-season the Head Coach is often given the boot (see Vancouver with Alain Vigneault and Washington with Bruce Boudreau). McLellan could find himself looking for new employment should GM Doug Wilson decide the failure rests on his shoulders. Then of course the GM himself will no doubt face some criticism for not bringing in the right mix. Far gone fans will likely blame San Jose itself, laying blame at the feet of bad mojo surrounding this Sharks team.
Then again, maybe the Los Angeles Kings are just a great team. That possibility needs to be considered as well. From Game 3 onwards the Kings finally seemed to get their game together. Jonathan Quick rounded into form and played some astonishing hockey, Anze Kopitar caught fire offensively with seven points in the final four games, and the Kings started to use their physicality to once again find success, and of course the Kings had two players on their roster who battled back from a 3-0 series deficit already (Mike Richards and Jeff Carter as part of the Philadelphia Flyers) so they had experience in this situation. This is a great Kings team who is just a couple seasons removed from winning the Stanley Cup. They have a great coach in Darryl Sutter who doesn't get rattled easily, he projects a calm demeanor that no doubt gave the Kings' a belief they could battle back.
At the end of the day the questions in San Jose will be many and numbered, but before blowing things up with their team, they should consider that maybe the Kings are just a very good hockey team, who not doubt had some luck along the way, but were simply the better team in the final four games of this series.