from Mark Purdy of the Mercury News,

“We got what we probably deserved,” said captain Joe Pavelski. “And I was leading the way.”

Actually, the parade was pretty thick and didn’t need much leading.

But there was no “probably” about what the Sharks deserved.

And yes, Pavelski is correct in one respect. He did make the most visible mistake of his team’s Game 2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers. On an evening when the Sharks had a man advantage on six occasions, they wound up being outshot by the Oilers 6-5 during those power plays and scored zero goals–while the Oilers scored two. Which is how the beloved Los Tiburones wound up losing one of the weirder disappointing playoff games in franchise history, 2-0.

Kassian appeared to throw his shoulder and chest area into Couture’s head and he went down in a heap. Couture popped up quickly, though, and kept going without seeming effect and even did an interview between the second and third periods for the Canadian network broadcasting the game. Burns said it’s all part of the postseason package.

“It’s big-boy hockey,” Burns said. “Butr our guys are hanging in, sacrificing. That’s what playoff hockey is about.”

Kassian did not receive a penalty for his Couture hit. But the Oilers had plenty of other trips to the penalty box, which led to more and more frustration when the Sharks could not capitalize.

“We have to make them pay for taking liberties,” said Sharks coach Pete DeBoer. “We didn’t tonight.”

The problem is only compounded when a team doesn’t. If you don’t score on power play after power play–after your opponent is whistled for penalty after penalty–then the opponent in question will keep taking risks with physical hits because of the feeling that there will be no consequences for yet another whistle.

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Below, watch the Zack Kassian hit on Logan Couture and the game highlights...