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Maybe the American Airlines Center has room for just one broom per day, which is unfortunate for the Dallas Stars because the basketball team that shares the building beat them to the punch by sweeping aside its coach.
So while the NBA's Mavericks can begin looking to the future after losing their first-round series in five games, the Stars must continue focusing on the present after failing to sweep the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday night.
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| Headstrong Evgeni Nabokov keeps the Sharks alive with a big Game 4 effort. (AP) |
"But we like the way we're playing. The majority of their chances tonight came when we were in the box, and we were still in it right to the end. Besides, I think that until (Game 3) we were always expecting to go back to San Jose."
No doubt there are worse things in life than a return trip to California, especially since the visitors have come out ahead in 14 of the 18 games played between these Pacific Division rivals this season. Still, this journey could have been avoided because Dallas had enough chances to win Game 4, only to be frustrated by the best game of this series from Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov and his friend named "goal post."
The combination was enough to prevent the Stars from getting their first sweep in nearly a decade, not to mention a few valuable days off. But the bright side for Dallas is the knowledge it has won four of its five postseason road games so far, including the first two of this series.
More important, home ice has been anything but an advantage this season for the Sharks, who finished second overall in the league standings yet managed fewer wins in their own building than all but three of the 16 teams that made the playoffs.
"We're happy to be in this position, but we don't want to give them momentum," said Stars defenseman Stephane Robidas, who has emerged as one of the playoff heroes for Dallas. "It's far from over."
True enough, but all in all it's a pretty good situation for the Stars, who have some intangible factors working in their favor as well. In the last 33 years, only two teams have come back from an 0-3 deficit. And Dallas, led by revitalized efforts from veterans Mike Modano and Brad Richards, has been nothing if not consistent in its overall game since beginning the postseason by running all over the defending Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks.
In other words, despite losing Game 4, the Stars remain firmly in the driver's seat, even if they are not particularly comfortable with it.
"They're going home and they're going to get some life out of this," Stars coach Dave Tippett said.
Lest anyone forget coaches are paid to have those concerns, in this case it's worth pointing out they might be a bit premature. The desperate Sharks played well enough to stave off the sweep, but the Stars did them a great service as well in Game 4 -- the second in as many nights for the teams -- by taking an inordinate amount of lazy stick penalties.
Dallas allowed only one power play goal to the Sharks, but the bigger factor for the Stars was having their short-handed unit, minus injured key member Stu Barnes, spend so much time on the ice. It took away much of the flow the Stars have been able to create throughout these playoffs, yet the Sharks still had to struggle, which has never been uncommon for them at this time of year.
In fact, in this postseason San Jose has rarely looked like the team that finished second in the overall standings. However, the Sharks did win 11 in a row and picked up points in 20 straight games late in the season, so they can get hot and streaky in a hurry, particularly if their best players are clicking.
That hasn't been the case lately, although captain Patrick Marleau had short-handed goals in each of the games in Dallas, while Joe Thornton made a key play to set up the winner in Game 4. Milan Michalek and a few of the defensemen showed signs of coming around as well in Dallas, so San Jose cannot be entirely written off just yet.
"We're going to relax and try to meet the challenge of having the chance to make history," San Jose coach Ron Wilson said. "We haven't really played Sharks hockey yet -- we've been good but not great -- and we know we can be better."
They'll have to be.
