When up in a series with a chance to clinch, hockey's No. 1 rule toward the opponent remains: Kill them with kindness. Pour out the praise and respect and admiration, and just hope that helps put them to sleep for good.
So it was Friday with the San Jose Sharks, who can advance to the second round of the Western Conference playoffs with a win in Game 6 Saturday night in Denver.
"We haven't gotten to them at all. Their best game will be tomorrow night," captain Rob Blake told San Jose reporters. "The most we've been challenged in the series will happen tomorrow night and we've got to be ready for that."
Blake's defensive partner, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, was on the same page.
"They're going to have their best game [Saturday] night. The fourth win is always the hardest one to get,"
"We want to win. We don't want to come back (to San Jose) and play Game 7. We're going to play the way we have the last five games. We have a chance to eliminate them and we want to do it. We have to match their intensity."
The Sharks are coming off a blowout 5-0 win in Game 5, and look hungry and focused on the task at hand. The Avalanche, meanwhile, are starting to look like a tattered, out-of-gas squad that, if not for goalie Craig Anderson, might have been sent packing by now.
But the Cinderella Avs said they won't go down without a hard fight.
"We've been a team all year that, when we've had a bad game, we've rebounded right away and played well," said NHL rookie scoring leader Matt Duchene. "You don't always win when you play well, but if we're going to go out, we're going out feeling good about ourselves."
"We believe in this dressing room that this series is long from over. This series is in a good spot for us. We're back home and if we get a win, the momentum goes back our way heading back to San Jose."
The Avs got a sliver of good news Friday when winger Peter Mueller skated for the first time in nearly three weeks, after being concussed from a hit by Blake in a regular-season game. Mueller is listed as "very doubtful" but that is better than the "absolutely no chance" status he carried for the last three weeks.
Mueller had 20 points in the 15 games he played for Colorado after coming over in a trade from Phoenix.
Avs winger Milan Hejduk, however, has no chance at a return in Game 6. He also is concussed, after running into teammate Paul Stastny in Game 3.
Avs coach Joe Sacco won't tolerate another effort like in Game 5, no matter who is in the lineup. The Avs looked not only ineffective, but listless and uninterested - as if they were playing the second game of a back-to-back in January, not a rubber Game 5 of the playoffs.
"We'll come out and play the type of game that we have all season long when our backs are against the wall. I don't see anything changing," Sacco said. "We have to play well enough to force a Game 7. Obviously, we just want to keep the focus on [Game 6] but we have to play well enough to force Game 7.
"All season long when we've played on our toes, when we've played an aggressive forchecking game and we don't sit back, we've had success. We have to come out and create the storm and show these guys we want to force a Game 7."
So it was Friday with the San Jose Sharks, who can advance to the second round of the Western Conference playoffs with a win in Game 6 Saturday night in Denver.
"We haven't gotten to them at all. Their best game will be tomorrow night," captain Rob Blake told San Jose reporters. "The most we've been challenged in the series will happen tomorrow night and we've got to be ready for that."
Blake's defensive partner, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, was on the same page.
"They're going to have their best game [Saturday] night. The fourth win is always the hardest one to get,"
"We want to win. We don't want to come back (to San Jose) and play Game 7. We're going to play the way we have the last five games. We have a chance to eliminate them and we want to do it. We have to match their intensity."
The Sharks are coming off a blowout 5-0 win in Game 5, and look hungry and focused on the task at hand. The Avalanche, meanwhile, are starting to look like a tattered, out-of-gas squad that, if not for goalie Craig Anderson, might have been sent packing by now.
But the Cinderella Avs said they won't go down without a hard fight.
"We've been a team all year that, when we've had a bad game, we've rebounded right away and played well," said NHL rookie scoring leader Matt Duchene. "You don't always win when you play well, but if we're going to go out, we're going out feeling good about ourselves."
"We believe in this dressing room that this series is long from over. This series is in a good spot for us. We're back home and if we get a win, the momentum goes back our way heading back to San Jose."
The Avs got a sliver of good news Friday when winger Peter Mueller skated for the first time in nearly three weeks, after being concussed from a hit by Blake in a regular-season game. Mueller is listed as "very doubtful" but that is better than the "absolutely no chance" status he carried for the last three weeks.
Mueller had 20 points in the 15 games he played for Colorado after coming over in a trade from Phoenix.
Avs winger Milan Hejduk, however, has no chance at a return in Game 6. He also is concussed, after running into teammate Paul Stastny in Game 3.
Avs coach Joe Sacco won't tolerate another effort like in Game 5, no matter who is in the lineup. The Avs looked not only ineffective, but listless and uninterested - as if they were playing the second game of a back-to-back in January, not a rubber Game 5 of the playoffs.
"We'll come out and play the type of game that we have all season long when our backs are against the wall. I don't see anything changing," Sacco said. "We have to play well enough to force a Game 7. Obviously, we just want to keep the focus on [Game 6] but we have to play well enough to force Game 7.
"All season long when we've played on our toes, when we've played an aggressive forchecking game and we don't sit back, we've had success. We have to come out and create the storm and show these guys we want to force a Game 7."
