Of the teams that didn't get it back to 3-3, you would have to say that the Sharks were clearly one of the bigger threats to join the 75'ers.
After all, they had finished 2nd in the West -- this entire series was extraordinarily close, and a Shark goal in OT #4 would have given them tremendous momentum heading home.
Congratulations to the Stars, who helped preserved the leagacy of thoe 1975 Islanders. (NHL teams have now won 151 of 153 series when leading 3-0, when you include NBA and MLB teams it is 266-3). By winning on Sunday they also earned a bunch of rest, because the conference finals won't begin until Thursday.
Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick. Eric has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, and celebrated his 26th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2008.