The San Jose Sharks have run smack into the path of playoff adversity, and the circumstances by which it has arrived have been exceedingly uncomfortable for players, coaches, and the fan faithful.

There will be those who wish to abandon ship. There will be those who wish to crawl into the fetal position in a corner of a room, or who prefer to engage in an endless session of hand-wringing, assuming that the worst is here. There are no such characters inside the San Jose Sharks’ dressing room.

In a sense, Game 2 was a case of the hockey gods giving one back to the Kings, in a returned favor from an even more unlikely Sharks playoff comeback at the Staples Center just two short years earlier.

It was Tuesday, April 19, 2011, and it was another playoff game between the Sharks and the Kings. Los Angeles had just won the previous game in the series, 4-0, with Jonathan Quick picking up the shutout. Unlike this season, it was Game 3 of the best-of-seven playoff series, but it was also at the Staples Center, since L.A. didn’t have home ice advantage.

Keep submitting Sharks Territory photos, because every week we will post the best 3-5 photos of the week on the Daily Chomp blog. Fans will vote on their favorite photo each week. The winner of the week's best photo will receive a mini Sharks Territory sign autographed by their favorite Sharks player!

Check out this week's top fan photos and be sure to vote on which one you think is the best in the form below. Watch the Sharks Territory Playoff video here.

Keep submitting Sharks Territory photos, because every week we will post the best 3-5 photos of the week on the Daily Chomp blog. Fans will vote on their favorite photo each week. The winner of the week's best photo will receive a mini Sharks Territory sign autographed by their favorite Sharks player!

Check out this week's top fan photos and be sure to vote on which one you think is the best in the form below. Plus watch the Sharks Territory Playoff video here.

It’s good to be a Sharks fan today.

Where to start after such an amazing game Tuesday and a dominant performance by the Sharks in their first round series against the Canucks? Yes, two of the games went to overtime but there’s no question that the best team won. Four straight , no matter how you get there, is a statement. And the 2013 San Jose Sharks made a statement that they are a force to be reckoned with in these Stanley Cup Playoffs.

I must admit when Alex Burrows and Alex Edler scored twice in under 2 minutes in the third period to make the score 3-2 Vancouver, it looked like we might be heading back to British Columbia for game 5. In fact, during the next commercial break after that I asked Drew Remenda if he was packed, just in case we had to take another flight to Vancouver. My eloquent broadcast partner scoffed at the suggestion. He wasn’t prepared to consider that possibility. And he was right! Tommy Wingels absorbed an ill advised cross check from “Canadian” defenseman Kevin Bieksa to put the Sharks on the power play. And when Joe Pavelski tied the game on the power play it set the stage for Patrick Marleau’s series winner in overtime.

What a game and what a series. Game one featured the beginning of Logan Couture’s stunning run as he scored the first of what would be a series high tying 8 points. Raffi Torres had only one point in the 4 games but it was the OT winning goal in Game 2. “The Big” Pavelski, Couture and the power play fueled Game Three and Game Four was a combination of everything and everyone.

The ongoing backdrop all series long was the stellar play of team MVP Antti Niemi in goal, the penalty killing (90%), the domination in the faceoff circle, and the team’s solid overall defensive play.

What a great start! And now the Sharks get the benefit of rest as the rest of the West playoff teams keep on grinding. But it’s just a start. No matter who the Sharks play next it will be harder to win. But at least for a day or two they can enjoy this accomplishment and the rest of us hope they can do it again in round two.

I’m Randy Hahn.