Penguins rookie forward Bryan Rust is day-to-day with an upper-body injury suffered in the third period of Pittsburgh’s 3-2 win over the San Jose Sharks in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals Monday at Consol Energy Center. We started playing the way we were capable of playing.
Advertisement
Though Sullivan’s hiring to replace Mike Johnston in December was widely criticized, mainly because of Sullivan’s reputation as the worse cop to Tortorella’s bad cop, Micheletti said he’s not surprised the Penguins have responded well to him. The Sharks hired a coach who made the playoffs once in seven seasons as an National Hockey League coach, traded a first-round pick for a goalie who had been a backup his entire career, added two playoff-tested veterans for depth at forward and defense and signed an unheralded Finnish rookie.
“I just tried to keep everything down”, Marleau said after the game. “Two teams who haven’t seen each other in a while, it’s Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals, I think that there’s always nerves there”. “Once Pitt finished the season the way that they did and got into the playoffs, and the way that we were playing, in the back of your head you know it’s a possibility”. Rust raced into the Sharks zone before finding teammate Justin Schultz trailing on the play. His shot, deflected by Marc-Edouard Vlasic, caromed toward the crease, toward Rust, who had slipped behind his defender.
With the score knotted up at two, Pittsburgh would get a couple of extra-man chances in the early going as Pavelski had a carry over minor from the second and Marleau would go off for a hit to the head of Rust.
The quandary confronting Bay Area sports fans Monday night: Watch San Jose’s first Stanley Cup finals game in the franchise’s 25-year history, or the Golden State Warriors’ pursuit of basketball immortality?
They were beaten in the possession game and out-shot badly (41-26), things head coach Peter DeBoer wanted to control against Pittsburgh, a team he considers the fastest in the league.
DeBoer thought his team was guilty of standing around and watching their opponent in the early going. San Jose’s Brent Burns summed up the first period. The goal came courtesy of a Sharks power play which led all teams in the post-season entering the final.
Bonino darted to the net and knocked in Kris Letang’s centering pass with 2:33 remaining, lifting the Penguins to a 3-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks in Game 1 on Monday night. Defensively, the San Jose Sharks are allowing 2.5 goals per game and are killing 80.5 percent of their power play chances.
Rust scored the Penguins first goal as Pittsburgh dominated play in the opening period. We’ve really contributed offensively and carried the play. Eventually, after Logan Couture won a battle for the puck in the corner, Burns got it back on his tape and fired from the point.
Marleau grabbed hold of a rebound and quickly zipped it around the net with a backhand into the net, just ahead of a sliding Murray.
The goal capped the Sharks comeback from a deep early hole.
The Sharks were outshot 15-4 in the first. For a while, you wondered if the beloved Los Tiburones were going to be left in Penguin dust. But the tying goal was trademark Sharks-all forecheck and hard work.
A key late penalty kill helped the Penguins, who were scoreless on three power-play opportunities, seal the victory.
The Sharks continued their push before evening the score at 2-2 with less than two minutes to go in the second. “We had one win, but it was a good performance in the amplified spotlight that the Stanley Cup final brings”, said Pittsburgh centre Matt Cullen.
Advertisement
“We’ve just got a play a little better next game”, Thornton added.
