Posted on 05/25/2011 3:34:54 PM PDT by GSWarrior
With the San Jose Sharks down 3-1 in their series against the Vancouver Canucks, the Sharks had to win Game 5.
It was one of the hardest fought battles during regulation and it saw the teams draw even just as regulation came to an end.
After going an entire overtime without any offensive break troughs, both teams went into the second overtime utterly exhausted.
When you see these pro athletes dogging it the way they were, you knew it was going to take an ugly goal to win this Game 5.
The goal that won the game was just that ugly.
Vancouver Canucks defender Kevin Bieksa was holding his position on the blue line, when the puck careened off the glass at an awkward angle.
Most players on the ice at the time, from both teams, didn’t see the puck and it eventually found its way to Bieksa’s stick.
With the puck up on its edge and the goalie not looking at Bieksa, he loaded up and took the best shot on net he could.
Bieksa told the Vancouver Suns:
I just tried to put it on net. That's the first thought. When it went in, I just yelled out 'let's go to the Cup.' It's a good feeling. It's an ugly goal, but definitely one we'll take. Obviously it feels unbelievable. To go to the Stanley Cup finals is a dream come true.
It was truly a wild goal that could never have been drawn up or planned.
When a game goes that distance, each team is just hoping for a bounce to go their way and in this case, it went Vancouver’s way.
Sigh....Sharks are bridemaids again. But there is no disgrace in losing this series to Vancouver. What a crazy ending! Three different instant replays show the puck seemingly materializing in the net. The view in the link above shows what happened.
I think I’m rooting for Vancouver, since Canada hasn’t had a Stanley Cup Champion since 1993.
I had a heck of a time seeing what happened.
You see, I am from Los Angeles and we don’t have a hockey team so I am not very good at following the puck.
ping
I cant watch....
I thought it was weird because the only guy on the ice who knew where the puck was turned out to be the only guy in a position to slap it home and score the goal. It was gift wrapped for him.
Since the Stars stayed home, I was sort of for SJ and Van in the early rounds. When they finally faced each other, I sort of sided with Van.
I sort of sided with Boston and TB. Now that they are facing each other, I am sort of on the side of TB.
If it is TB and Van, I’m not sure. I wouldn’t spend good money to buy a T-shirt of either team.
The strange goal was the second element of the Sharks being eliminated. The first was the refs mistakenly calling icing on the Sharks with 20 or so seconds left which made the tying goal possible. Without that, we’d probably be having a game 6 on Thursday.
Replays vindicated the officials. Puck hit the stanchion not the player, so it was icing, with faceoff in the zone.
That was weird, everyone lost the puck, camera men, refs, and all the players, except one. And it was over.
Is the NHL secretly pulling for Boston?
Because Colin Campbell’s son plays for the Bruins?
Really? Thanks for straightening that out. The announcers kept saying over and over that they missed the call. Even so, it would have been another odd, fast incident and I certainly wouldn’t blame the refs for not seeing it.
All in all, I’m a Sharks fan, but Vancouver was clearly the team worthy of advancing in this series.
Thank you Sharks, for another enjoyable year.
Like you, I’m a long-time Stars fan and, since they didn’t make the playoffs this year, I’ve been following the Mavericks (who won Wed. night and will go to the NBA final). Also watch every Rangers game I can, since I’m retired.
I recall a playoff series between the Stars and Devils sometime in the late 1990s. I believe it was the 7th game (but could be wrong) and it went into something like the FOURTH overtime before the Devils scored and won. That was about 2-3 am and I had to be at work at 7 am! ...I obviously wasn’t very sharp that day.
I don’t believe the Stars will likely find another franchise/hall of fame player like Modano anytime soon, so they will be also rans regarding the playoffs for quite a while.
I haven’t liked the SJ Sharks for many years, as I felt they have had many dirty players, so I’m glad to see the Canucks win and move on.
Just saw this...and as an aside, I spoke to a guy in our store the other day who used to play for the Canucks and is
now the in-house “Voice of the Dallas Stars”, Gary Greer. He
is quite a character!
Back to my corner..........
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