Just a few things that caught my eye:

• The Sharks didn't lose this series; the Hawks won it. Plain and simple.

• Duncan Keith has one up on Eric Belanger -- one tooth, that is. Belanger lost six and returned to the ice. Keith lost seven -- four on the top and three on the bottom. No wonder he didn't smile when he was interviewed after the game. 

• Patrick Marleau surprised me. He was one of the only Sharks who didn't give up until the final buzzer. I'm impressed; I didn't quite expect that.

• Four games, four goals, three game winners. Eight goals in his last eight games. Is there a more timely scorer than Dustin Byfuglien?

• Speaking of Byfuglien -- isn't he just Brian Urlacher on ice?

• Dan Boyle's own-goal in Game 3 against Colorado somehow boosted the Sharks' confidence in the first round and his own-goal Sunday pulled the plug. Things sure do come full circle, don't they?

• I wonder how good the Hawks would be if Marian Hossa showed up offensively?

• I don't buy Sharks' coach Todd McLellan's post-game comments that the Hawks made it through because they'd been there last year and lost... and learned from it. The Sharks have been close before, they've fallen short again and they're not exactly young. That ticking you hear is the timer on the bomb that's set to blow up the toothless teal wonders and there's no Jack Bauer to save the day. 

• Andrew Ladd played just 2:14 before leaving with what looked like a wrist injury. He'll be a big loss going forward if he can't dress. 

• Ever notice that even the conference championship trophies look better than most other leagues' overall championship hardware?