ST. LOUIS - They led, they trailed, they laughed, they cried. We loved it.
In a game that contained all that is compelling about the National Hockey League playoffs and illustrated in two-and-a-half hours why the ferocious two-month march to the Stanley Cup is the hardest championship road in professional sports, the San Jose Sharks played well enough to win, looked like they could lose but rallied to beat the St. Louis Blues 6-3.
It was flawed but fabulous hockey -- full of everything you could want except perhaps your own team.
And it gave the Sharks a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference final.