2006 FLASHBACK: ROUND TWO

In the third installment in the series, our 2006 flashback heads to the left coast, as the Edmonton Oilers faced the San Jose Sharks. In what was an astounding outcome, the Sharks were the No. 1 ranked team in the Western Conference by the second round—despite finishing fifth in the conference!

Incredibly, Detroit, Dallas, Calgary and Nashville—all of whom posted more than 100 points during the regular season—lost in the first round of the playoffs. At this point, after round one, the Sharks, Anaheim, Colorado and Edmonton finished in a dead heat during the regular season.

The Oilers lost a close opening game, with San Jose overcoming an early 1-0 deficit on a Jaroslav Spacek goal in the first period. Patrick Marleau scored five minutes after Spacek and then in the second period Christian Ehrhoff scored the winning goal. The Sharks outshot Edmonton 30-16, with Spacek leading the team with three shots.

Another close loss, and the highlights show a lot of back and forth, two goals from scrums (at least one of which may not have counted) and a timeless Joe Thornton winning the game with a pretty good shot.

This is a game we all remember for several reasons. Raffi Torres tied things up in the third period and that’s when the classic part of this game kicked in. A glorious (probably save of the century) save by Dwayne Roloson in overtime against Jonathan Cheechoo (it was a stunning save, in the highlight package) is in my memory banks and in living color. The winner came from Shawn Horcoff, vintage exchange with Ryan Smyth and Ales Hemsky getting the assists.

This was a very crazy game, with both goalies looking wobbly at times. Jason Smith scoring a beautiful winner and adding two assists. The passing in this game (Smyth to Hemsky, lordy) and the fans in the stands are delightful.

It is easy to overlook goaltending in a 6-3 game, but Dwayne Roloson was outstanding again in this game. This is the team I love and remember, goals coming from several lines and fantastic passing at evens and on the power play. Two goals from Ryan Smyth, two goals from Fernando Pisani and a rocket 5×4 from Jarret Stoll—but that Horcoff shorty early in the third period was a killer.

What a fantastic game.

This was such a rollercoaster series, I didn’t think about the Oilers winning it—the games were so intense every game seemed epic and exhausting. Going back and reading the boxscores and seeing the highlights, these hockey giants emerge again and remind us about this beautiful and violent game.

Previously in the series: