Playoffs Baby - Series 2 Game 3 - Do or Die

Game three between the Sharks and the Red Devils, where the winner moves on to play in the championship series, and the loser is left to bathe in their own sorrow; never knowing, but forever questioning what could've been...

As expected the game started out fast paced. The Devils in red found their legs first as they struck twice within five minutes to go up by two goals. The Sharks were able to hold off other advances in the first period to go into the second down by two.

The second gave the Sharks some hope as the top line managed to score on the powerplay to pull the Sharks within one goal. Only to have the Devils regain a two goal advantage before the end of the second. Highlight of the period was when our captain took the puck while on a penalty kill, skated it into the Devils' zone and circled around three times killing off precious penalty time, the old Bobby Orr trick. The game was far from over with twenty minutes left to play, a two goal deficit wasn't insurmountable, but against a hungry confident team two goals was huge.

The third period saw both sides with chances early on, but neither were able to capitalize. The Devils continued to take penalties (five in the whole game), but the Sharks managed very few shots on goal.

Well under ten minutes to go, the pressure was mounting. Then with less then five minutes remaining, the Devils managed to squeak by the defense to put in the dagger in our hopes. #18 the goal scorer in a showing of sportsmanship skated by the Sharks bench calling out "Bitches." Classy player playing for a classy team.

Up 4-1, with under five minutes left, the Devils already had their minds on the championship game. The last few minutes was filled with frustration that was furthered by the constant "Whooooo!" from the Red Devils' bench.

The game ended 4-1. Seeing the whole team deflated reminded me of the Nucks in 2004, losing to Calgary in OT of game 7. So close.

After playing through most of the regular season, and two playoff rounds, I can say that street hockey and organized hockey are two totally different things. Most of the things I learned playing street hockey, I pretty much had to relearn playing on the ice. The old saying 'It doesn't matter whether you win or lose it's how you play the game' doesn't apply to competitive hockey. When you lose you're not smiling, the team's not smiling.

I have new found appreciation for the talent it takes to play the game of hockey, and from the looks of it, I'll forever be a student of the game. I'm looking forward to the next season.