NEW JERSEY VS. CAROLINA OTTAWA VS. TORONTO WASHINGTON VS. PITTSBURGH PHILADELPHIA VS. BUFFALO COLORADO VS. VANCOUVER DETROIT VS. LOS ANGELES DALLAS VS. EDMONTON ST. LOUIS VS. SAN JOSE

Thursday, April 26 Sharks do more than Wing it Joy Russo ESPN.com San Jose received an unfair gift for its first postseason appearance – an opening matchup with the Detroit Red Wings. San Jose 4, Detroit 3 Date Result Goalie 4/18 Sharks 5, Wings 0 Irbe 4/20 Wings 4, Sharks 0 Osgood 4/22 Wings 3, Sharks 2 Osgood 4/23 Sharks 4, Wings 3 Irbe 4/26 Sharks 6, Wings 4 Irbe 4/28 Wings 7, Sharks 1 Osgood 4/30 Sharks 3, Wings 2 Irbe It was the most lopsided pairing of the 1994 Stanley Cup playoffs. The top-seeded Red Wings were touted as one of the favorites to win it all, while the No. 8 Sharks were reduced to the happy-to-be-here category. But two factors weighed heavily in the Sharks' favor. The 3-year-old San Jose franchise had nothing to lose and Detroit was facing playoff demons after being ousted in the first round three out of the previous four seasons. The playoff curse was evident in the opening game after Vlastimil Kroupa (who?) scored the game-winner to give the Sharks a 5-4 win at Joe Louis Arena. It was the worst possible thing Detroit could do – give the underdog the confidence in knowing they can win. But the Red Wings rebounded with goalie Chris Osgood leading the way to a 4-0 shutout. The Sharks won two of the three games at San Jose Arena, before Detroit forced a decisive Game 7 with a 7-1 romp at home. The turnaround The five-man unit of Igor Larionov, Sergei Makarov, Johan Garpenlov, Sandis Ozolinsh, and Jeff Norton were dominant for the Sharks throughout the entire series, and things didn't change in Game 7 at Detroit. Makarov and Garpenlov each scored in the first period before the Wings tied it up in the second. It was at 13:25 of the third period that Osgood made the decision to play the puck. When he came out of the net, San Jose's Jamie Baker intercepted and scored into the empty net. The Sharks held on to win the series, and that move was a stigma that stuck with Osgood. Series MVP The Sharks defense. Sergei Fedorov's eight points led the team in scoring, but he was not the dominant force that he was during his 120-point regular season. Ray Sheppard scored over 52 goals during the regular season, just two against the Sharks. And Keith Primeau? Just two assists. The Sharks would lose in the next round to Toronto, but it took another seven games for their season to end. And after 1994, no team would doubt San Jose's playoff presence again. Joy Russo is a staff editor for ESPN.com Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories