CHICAGO - Todd McLellan wasn't looking for a lot of solace when he walked up to shake Joel Quenneville's hand in the first few moments after the end of San Jose's 19th season in the National Hockey League.
McLellan got some, but he knows it won't linger long.
"His exact words were, 'This wasn't a four-game series,' " the Sharks coach said about the Chicago Blackhawks' coach after the Hawks finished their Western Conference finals sweep of the Fins with a 4-2 win Sunday. "But you know what? It was."
That was the lingering feeling in the San Jose dressing room after being Byfugliened one last time, and yes, it is now a verb, so live with it. The feeling was that the better team won, and that the closeness of the games didn't entirely reflect the real difference between the two teams.
And the more experienced the player, the more that tone became clear.
"This is very disappointing," defenseman Dan Boyle said. "Outside of Game 2, when we kind of lost our way a little bit, things were close, but there's no close in the playoffs. We missed chances, and they converted theirs, and that's it."
"They were faster, they played with more poise, they created energy, they determined the tempo the whole series," defenseman Rob Blake concurred. "I didn't think they played that well in the first period tonight, but they came back at us after we got up two goals, and they never let up."
In short, this was a four-game series not only because the facts say so, but because the Hawks didn't allow San Jose to ever make them feel truly uncomfortable. And that is the lesson the Sharks will, or at least should, take from Sunday, and the entire eight-day schooling they endured.
"I think today was one of those games where everything was kind of going against us," Quenneville said. "We give up a shorthanded goal (to Patrick Marleau that gave San Jose a 2-0 lead after 27 minutes), Duncan Keith gets hit in the face with the puck. ... I think we were in a little bit of a disarray for a few minutes."
But only for a few minutes, and that was the point. The Blackhawks did the dictating throughout the series, and though Game 1 could have been the Sharks' moment to change the series, whether they actually could have made that change last is at best arguable and probably closer to doubtful.
