After Pavelski slips, Sharks take hard fall
TURNOVER LEADS TO STARS' FLURRY
 

By Mark Emmons
Mercury News
 

Article Launched: 04/28/2008 01:38:27 AM PDT

When Joe Pavelski slipped to the ice early in the third period, it resulted in more - much more - than simply a turnover that led to the Dallas Stars' tying goal.

No, it was a metaphor for everything else that would follow for the Sharks at HP Pavilion on Sunday night.

They hit the ice, hard.

"It was just one of those bad things that you wish never happened," Pavelski said.

That pretty much describes the final 20 minutes for the Sharks, where anything bad that could have happened, did happen.

Pavelski's miscue opened the floodgates as Dallas scored four unanswered goals to post a 5-2 victory in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals. Now if the Sharks are to dig themselves out of this 0-2 hole, they must do something that they didn't Sunday: respond to adversity.

The Sharks entered the third period with a 2-1 lead. Pavelski had done his part by redirecting Craig Rivet's shot past Dallas goalie Marty Turco for the opening goal in the first period.

But then came the fateful giveaway.

Right at the start of the third period, Pavelski was carrying the puck when he suddenly tumbled near his own blue line like he was wearing skates for the first time. The Stars' Brad Richards - a trade-deadline addition - pounced on the unexpected gift.

With nothing but free ice between him and goalie Evgeni Nabokov, Richards took a couple of strides and slammed home the tying goal 32 seconds into the period.

About three minutes later, Sharks nemesis Mike Modano beat Nabokov for a power-play goal that would prove to be the winner. Niklas Hagman added the final two goals.

It wasn't as if Pavelski, who has been a force in the playoffs with four goals and four assists, suddenly forgot how to stay on his feet. Coach Ron Wilson said his center simply slipped.

"They got a lucky break," he said. "Pavelski lost his edge and they were in great position and a great player took advantage of a bad break."

Pavelski made it a point not to blame the HP Pavilion ice, which at times this season has been criticized by players for being too soft and slushy.

"I went to cut back and my feet went out," he said. "I just lost the puck. I gave a good player a lane. He went right in and made a good shot . . . You hate to see it happen like that. You hate to be in that situation."

But his teammates were not blaming Pavelski.

"We didn't lose the game on that play," defenseman Douglas Murray said. "Absolutely not. It was still a 2-2 game."

And Nabokov, who was pulled with 2:45 left after the barrage of goals, shouldered his share of responsibility on the game-changing play where Richards beat him high to the stick side.

"We did turn the puck over," Nabokov said. "But that's why I'm there - to make saves. And I didn't do that tonight."

The question, of course, is where the Sharks go from here - other than to Dallas. They were the NHL's best road team this season. But this also was the kind of soul-crushing loss that is capable of sinking a team.

"I'm not going to lie," Pavelski said. "I'm going to think about it a little bit. But it's playoff hockey. You have to let those things go. We could have responded a little better. But it didn't happen that way. We're going to think about it tonight. Then we're going to let it go."

In other words, when you fall down, you have to get back up and brush yourself off.




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Contact Mark Emmons at memmons@mercurynews.com.