Don't think the Avs are getting lucky? Drink these digits in from the Sharks' perspective:
Time | Down 1 | Tied | Up 1 | SF | SF | SF | SA | SA | SA |
Game 4 | 0 | 2889 | 1335 | 0 | 57 | 24 | 0 | 43 | 16 |
Game 3 | 0 | 3651 | 0 | 0 | 93 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 0 |
Game 2 | 2438 | 1484 | 0 | 75 | 14 | 0 | 24 | 13 | 0 |
Game 1 | 971 | 2629 | 0 | 12 | 45 | 0 | 13 | 32 | 0 |
Totals | 3409 | 10653 | 1335 | 87 | 209 | 24 | 37 | 121 | 16 |
Corsi | 70.2 | 63.3 | 60.0 |
Of course, the shooting percentage chart by state is much more telling…
F/-1 | F/0 | F/1 | A/-1 | A/0 | A/1 | |
Goals | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 |
Shots | 87 | 209 | 24 | 37 | 121 | 16 |
S% | 6.9 | 1.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 6.6 | 6.3 |
Everything seems to be in order…except San Jose’s shooting percentage when the score is tied. Everybody who thinks the Sharks can continue to shoot 1.4% in tie games – including over many power plays – raise their hand. Yes, yes, I know the Sharks are cursed and Colorado’s the chosen team, but the Avs have been getting abused on the shot boards, and the Sharks have been putting pucks away at roughly 1/3 their normal rate. The most likely thing that happens is the Sharks bounce back over the next two games, and Colorado is finished…But as we’ve seen, the most likely outcome is not the same thing as the actual outcome.