I missed Game 3 of the Sharks-Hawks Playoff Series on Friday night (being a good husband is hard damn work sometimes), but was glued to the TV yesterday afternoon for Game 4. With a 3-0 series lead, the Blackhawks had a chance to eliminate the Sharks and move on to their first Stanley Cup Finals since 1992. The Sharks drew first blood and looked really strong in the first thirty minutes, clogging up the neutral zone and holding back the Blackhawks. Logan Couture scored in the first period and then Niemi nemesis Patrick Marleau scored his fifth goal of the series in the second while the Sharks were shorthanded. Just prior to that, Hawks defenseman Duncan Keith took a puck to the mouth and lost several teeth. Despite the injury, he returned to the ice. What a badass.

Those two goals were all Antti Niemi would allow for the rest of the game. Later in the second, Brent Seabrook managed to slip a puck through Evegeni Nabokov's legs during a mad scramble around the Sharks' goal. Davey Bolland, a thorn in the Sharks' sides all series, tied the game with a beautiful shot with just over a minute left in the second.

In the third, playoff hero Dustin Byfuglin would do it again, scoring his 8th playoff goal and his 3rd game winning goal. This is Big Buff's world, we're just living in it. The Sharks would pull Nabokov and go to the extra attacker to try and tie the game up, but Kris Versteeg was able to score an empty netter to seal the deal and send the Blackhawks to their first Stanley Cup final in 18 years.

This was a great series. Despite being swept, the Sharks played well in each game. People will say that they choked, but that's a bunch of bullshit. Any of these games could have gone either way. The difference basically came down to three men: Jonathon Toews, Dustin Byfuglien and Antti Niemi. They all deserve to be MVP of the playoffs. Toews led in post-season points and assists, Buff was an unstoppable force, and Antti Niemi defied all the pundits by playing at an elite level.

Four more wins to go.