I quote Vickie and Marianne as they returned from their college campus road trip: "It's so nice to be home!!"

That's what the Sharks were thinking as they returned to the Tank for games 3 and 4 of the series with the series tied at 1. Hey, Vickie and Marianne had a good time on the trip, and so did the Sharks. It's good to a win a game on the road.

What more can I say about Game 3? If you're a Sharks fan, the gamut of emotions that you felt during the game was at times too much to bear. Being up 3-1, to suddenly being down 4-3, to coming back and winning 6-4. Un-stinking believable!

A couple of other notes from Game 3:

• The Sharks' disallowed first goal was due to the refs losing sight of the puck. Hmmm, that's usually called only when there's a gazillion players in front of the goalie crease and the puck is somewhere there. This call was made on a clear rebound. Can someone tell me how that call was made at that juncture? And how many other times did this occur during the game when there was NO call?
• The third period was the Sharks best period this playoff season. Besides an ultra-aggressive forechecking game, the power play clicked for two goals. And, it was a key Nabokov save on a Joe Sakic breakaway early in that period that kept the Sharks from falling further behind.
• Borrowing from the movie "Biloxi Blues": "It's hot, real hot… like Africa hot…" That's Patrick "goal in four consecutive games" Marleau.
• Captain Owen Nolan "rediscovered" his old self by looking at game tape. He's again the classic power forward who was aggressive, feisty and all over the place. He drew a couple of penalties in the third, and scored two goals. He led by example, too. Owen is "da man."
• At the rate Patrick Roy is going, he's a shoe-in for the "Bonehead Goal-giver Award." Nolan's first goal was a gift from Mr. "I think I'm a good passer," and it rivaled the goal he gave away to L.A. in the first round.
• Think I'm the only person who thinks Bob Hartley is arrogant? Check out the Ottawa Sun's Chris Stevenson's article from March 6. In it, while discussing the Carolina Hurricanes' goalkeeping dilemma, he mentions Coach Bob's "suggestion" for the Sharks to change goalies after their Game 2 defeat. What's more interesting is his intro leading to this "suggestion." I quote: "Colorado coach Bob Hartley, who is quickly becoming the most despised coach in the league for his arrogance, stuck his nose into the San Jose Sharks goaltending situation Sunday."
• And from someone else, this time Sports Illustrated's Michael Farber on cnnsi.com: "Hartley made no new friends with his comment. It may be an NHL coaching fraternity but he's not a favorite brother. As one Western Conference coach told me, Hartley is generally regarded as hopelessly arrogant." I rest my case.

As for Game 4, it came nowhere close to being as exciting as Game 3. Both teams had their chances, but in a somewhat lackluster game, the Avs beat the Sharks 4-1. It was relatively close throughout, but you never got the sense the Sharks were going to score the tying goal when 2-1 down.

As for game notes from that game:

• While both teams weren't at their best, the better players took over the game…and they were all from Colorado. Sakic, Blake, Forsberg. The Sharks don't have anybody approaching these three in terms of talent, period.
• Our beloved goalie, Nabby, got off to another bad start letting in two goals in the first. Worst of all, he let in Sakic's wrister on the short side for goal number three, just as the Sharks were starting to apply pressure to the Avs in the third period. It's hard to come back against the best defensive team, statistic-wise, in the NHL.
• Just goes to show that the Sharks have to have all their players at their best to win. When one or more of the forward lines is having an off night, the Sharks can't hang with the Avs. When they do (as in games 1 and 3), they have a shot.
• Sharks color man Drew Remenda kept his sense of humor when Hejduk scored the empty netter with less than a minute remaining to seal the game. Drew said: "Why did he do that? Why didn't he look behind? Joe Sakic was behind him! He could have had a hat trick!"

• Analyst Darren Pang refers to Patrick Roy as "Patrick" - 1 drink
• Reference to Rob Blake's "heroic" comeback after missing Game 1 - 1 drink
• Use of word "terrific" for Joe Sakic, Rob Blake, Peter Forsberg or Patrick Roy - 1 drink
• Any time the word "balanced" is used when talking about the Sharks - 2 drinks
• Camera shot shows Sharks Coach Darryl Sutter doing his 'bitter beer face" - 3 drinks
• Any time the word "nasty" is used with the Avs' Darius Kasparitus - 1 drink
• Play-by-play guy Steve Levy refers to Darren Pang as "Panger" - 1 drink
• Any time you know the answer to the trivia question they ask during the game - 5 drinks
• If the announcers say "SportsCenter is next" - 1 drink
• Any camera shot showing Sharks Coach Darryl Sutter smiling - drink the whole can/bottle/case!
• Any mention of Chris Drury's overtime goals - 1 drink
• Any talk to Bob Hartley being a great coach - 1 drink
• Any time the announcers mention Teemu Selanne (such a cool name!) - 2 drinks
• Someone mentions that the Shark Tank is one of the loudest arenas in hockey - 2 drinks
• Any mention of the word speed, or any synonym of the word speed in relation to the Sharks' Patrick Marleau or Marco Sturm - 2 drinks
• You see the Sharks mascot SJ Sharkie - 3 drinks (best mascot in hockey, period!)
• If Alex Korolyuk plays for the Sharks - forget your drink. Bring out the champagne!
• If analyst Jim Schoenfeld calls the game - hurl
• Sharks win the game - it doesn't matter how much you drink. It's party time!

You'll notice a lot of drinks concerning the Avs player. Well, considering that ESPN wants to see the Avs win, you'll get a lot more talk about them than the Sharks. Yup, ESPN is biased. But hey, at least you get to have more drinks when the Sharks are mentioned! We'll talk more about conspiracy theories next time. So, until then, Go Sharks! Get out of the water!

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