Sharks 3, Red Wings 2
Devin Setoguchi had a goal and an assist and the much-maligned Patrick Marleau scored what proved to be the game-winner as the second-seeded San Jose Sharks posted a 3-2 home victory over the third-seeded Detroit Red Wings in Game 7 of their Western Conference semifinal series on Thursday.
Calder Trophy finalist Logan Couture also tallied, defenseman Dan Boyle notched two assists and Antti Niemi made 38 saves for the Sharks, who advanced to the conference finals for the second straight year.
Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk scored while Jimmy Howard stopped 27 shots for Detroit, which became the fifth team to force a seventh game after losing the first three but fall short of completing the comeback.
The Sharks cashed in on their first power-play opportunity to take a 1-0 lead. From the right corner, captain Joe Thornton dished the puck to Setoguchi, who fired it past Howard from the left faceoff circle at 12:20 of the opening period for his sixth goal of the playoffs.
Couture doubled San Jose's advantage with 59 seconds remaining in the session. Zetterberg turned over the puck in the right circle to Couture, who fired it into the top right corner of the net to extend his goal-scoring streak to four games.
Detroit halved the deficit with 6:50 to play in the second. Zetterberg received a cross-slot pass from Valtteri Filppula on a 3-on-2 rush and beat Niemi with a backhander from the left hash marks to stretch his points streak to six contests.
Marleau restored the Sharks' two-goal lead at 12:13 of the third, burying a loose puck near the right post for his first point of the series.
Datsyuk got the Red Wings back within one 1:46 later with a backhander from the right circle that sailed over Niemi's right shoulder, but the Sharks held on to avoid becoming the fourth team in NHL history to blow a 3-0 series lead.