Mobile fans and those without access to NBCSN can watch the National Hockey League live NBCSN video stream of tonight’s game 2 online. You’ll have to login with info from a cable subscriber to watch the stream.
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Again, it was a woeful start that felled the Western Conference champs for much of Game 2.
He only speaks about that period in only vague terms now, though Hornqvist is quick to point out Crosby is more judicious when it comes to deciding when to drive to the net and when to pull back than he was earlier in his career.
The nerves are gone.
The victory came 24 years to the day the Penguins won their second Stanley Cup in as many years in 1992 by sweeping the Chicago Blackhawks. The Sharks have two even-strength goal through two games, since they scored one of their goals in their 3-2 loss in Game 1 during a power play. Or, maybe theSharks allowed themselves to briefly get caught up in the moment. “The plays off the wall, they have done a really good job and we turned some pucks over and that leads to a lot of zone time for them”. “Every time he jumps over the boards, we feel like he’s a threat to score, just a threat as far as putting pressure on our opponent’s defense. Honestly, (in Game 1) we just weren’t on top of things”. The Penguins wasted little time while improving to 4-2 in overtime.
It’s unclear whether or not it was by design but Sidney Crosby and Company faced San Jose’s third line most often, accruing almost eight minutes of even-strength time against the likes of Joel Ward, Chris Tierney and Melker Karlsson. Pittsburgh Penguins’ Phil Kessel (81) scores a goal behind San Jose Sharks goalie Martin Jones (31) during the second period in Game 2 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals on Wednesday, June 1, 2016, in Pittsburgh.
“I think we were watching”, San Jose defenseman Brent Burns joked Tuesday.
While the Sharks were better Wednesday, the sustained push the Penguins were expecting from the Western Conference champions failed to materialize until it was almost too late.
The team that has won the second game of the seven-game series has ended up hoisting the Cup almost 74 percent of the time since 1939, when the Final expanded to the current format, and in nine of the past 13 Game 2s.
The Pittsburgh Penguins speed-skated through the first three rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs, needing only a single Game 7 while eliminating three of the NHL’s best teams.
“We’ve definitely shown we can play”, said San Jose captain Joe Pavelski. I don’t think everybody’s 100 percent, there’s obviously bumps and bruises.
“It was tough when they scored”, Penguins winger Carl Hagelin said. “We’re going to battle and come back here (to Pittsburgh for Game 5)”. For each, the chance to end years of frustration – certainly more for the Sharks than the Penguins – is here.
The Penguins are here due to a lot of the same reasons: They changed coaches and tweaked their lineup around their core.
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“[Nieto] brings us speed”, Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. “We weren’t happy with the quality of shots”. “If he doesn’t put it in, who knows if someone dives and gets it out”. Now, these Penguins – not even in playoff contention at Christmas – are in position for a finals sweep, too, though winning twice in San Jose will be a considerable task. For all his talent – he’s never finished outside the top 10 in points per game in any season in which he’s played enough games to qualify – he can occasionally be too unselfish with the puck on his stick, sometimes trading wide-open shots for hard passes in search of a teammate who may or may not be ready for them.
