SAN JOSE, Calif. – San Jose Sharks captain Joe Thornton was disappointed but still confident after Sunday night's 4-3 loss in Game 5 to the Detroit Red Wings at HP Pavilion. Thornton pointed to "careless plays" in the third period that cost the Sharks dearly.
As usual, he was the first Shark to face the media after the game, and he tried to explain what went wrong.
Q: There was a lot of scoring in the third period, but how would you describe what happened in the last 20 minutes?
A: We go up 3-1. We've usually finish teams off when that happens. They're a good club and they just came back and fought their way back. Just a couple careless plays. Against their skill, they're going to put those in. Just a tough third.
Q: The Red Wings kind of put it before the game that if they won this game that it would get a lot tighter in the San Jose locker room. Do you feel that way?
A: We're confident. We're a very confident team. We played well, I thought. We only gave them twenty-some odd shots. We're still feeling good about ourselves. Yeah, it's a tough loss, but hey, we just got to go and win in Detroit, which we've done in the past.
Q: It seemed like in the second period you guys had some good opportunities to put it in the net.
A: Yeah, we did. For whatever reason, we scored the one goal, but we did have some great chances. Just didn't find the back of the net, but we just got to keep throwing pucks there and it will eventually go in.