Wings Nearly Clipped In Game Two; Was It Only A Temporary Stay?

Here's one skewed way to look at the Red Wings' second round playoff series against the San Jose Sharks: the Wings are 1-1 when they fall behind 2-0. But they're 1-0 when they fall behind 2-0 before they get a shot on goal -- not that they'd like to put that unbeaten streak on the line tonight in San Jose.

"Not the start we wanted, that's for sure," center Kris Draper told me after Saturday's come-from-behind, 3-2 win in Game 2. "We probably gave the puck away in our zone three or four times in the first shift."

The Sharks scored on their first shot, 36 seconds into the game, and had a 2-0 lead after 4:17. The Wings didn't record a shot on goal until 13 minutes had been played.

This was a very different type of playoff win for our Hockeytown Heroes. It wasn't the typical bushels-of-shots/something's bound to go in game we're used to seeing from the Red Wings. But then again, these aren't the Calgary Flames on the other bench, either.

"They're a good team," defenseman Chris Chelios said about the Sharks when I suggested that it was unusual for the Red Wings to be limited to such few shots -- and win. "They're solid all the way around. You gotta be happy with a win, no matter how you get it. We got a couple lucky bounces and I think two deflections, and that's the type of game where, whether you deserve it or not, you gotta come up with a win."

I still have grave doubts whether the Red Wings can handle these big, bad Sharks -- although had San Jose escaped with a win in Game 2, it would have been largely unimpressive. Aside from their two goals (the first, from the point, fooled goalie Dominik Hasek; the second was the result of a Hasek giveaway), San Jose was pedestrian. Give the Red Wings high marks for crawling out of a stunning 0-2 hole to grind out a win.

But the Sharks, when they care to be, can control things with their size and playmaking ability. They are the mirror image of the Red Wings when it comes to puck control in the attacking zone. But nobody said these playoffs would be easy. GM Ken Holland told me before the postseason even began that he felt each of the eight Western Conference playoff teams was a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.

The Red Wings stockpiled a bunch of points against the likes of Columbus, Chicago, and St. Louis. They took care of a pesky but unrefined Calgary club. They gutted out a win Saturday to perhaps rescue their season -- if only temporarily. Now the real test has arrived in teal and black.

Is it a bad omen that we have Sharks playing a team that wears blood red?