“Their power play is really unsafe, so we’ll have to find a way to stay out of the box”.
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Though he was benched in favor of Marc-Andre Fleury in Game 5 against the Lightning, Murray remained poised, turning aside all but three of the 47 shots he faced in Games 6 and 7. Both are finally making their first trip to the Cup Final.
“With a lot of coaches, they kind of make a decision on the goalies and leave you to it (to figure out why)”, Murray said. “When we dictate the pace, that’s what happens”. Both teams play with pace. “It inspires you out there”, he said. Every game, it seems like one of these two guys catches fire and collects a handful of points. That’s not a huge margin, especially because they split the games, but it’s enough for a win.
The long, grueling National Hockey League season has come down to two teams as the Western Conference champion Sharks and Eastern Conference-winning Penguins prepare to face-off in the 2016 Stanley Cup Final with Game 1 slated for Memorial Day on Monday in Pittsburgh. The pace certainly accelerated once the second period started.
The two have had plenty of playoff success along the way as well, but it has been the failures that colored perceptions of them, none more than blowing a 3-0 series lead to Los Angeles in 2014 in a collapse that ultimately led to Thornton being stripped of the captaincy.
But Fleury wasn’t great – allowing four goals on 25 shots – and Murray stepped back in like he hadn’t missed a beat, stopping 44 of 47 shots over the final two games of the series.
Dupuis, who retired in December due to blood clots, remembers it taking “forever” for Crosby to come back, though he believes Crosby’s patience was key to eventually moving past the injury. “This is it. Seize this moment”. This isn’t a knock against Justin Schultz, Ben Lovejoy, or any of the other Penguins d-men, but the Sharks clearly have the advantage when it comes to possessing the more well-rounded defensive core in this Stanley Cup Final.
Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau have been linked ever since they went 1-2 in the 1997 National Hockey League draft to Boston and San Jose.
The Penguins took out the Rangers in five games in the opening round then eliminated the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Capitals in six games in Round 2 before knocking out the Lightning.
Which team will emerge victorious in the 2015-16 Stanley Cup Final? And, of course, he scored the only two goals in a pivotal game 7 last night to closeout the Tampa Bay Lightning. Murray has a.924 save percentage and 2.22 goals-against average. “But it’s going to be quite the series”. “We’ve kept it internal, we’ve kept it professional, we’ve kept it respectful”, Stamkos said. “Making sure those guys have what they need – that’s what we do”.
“I can tell you by watching him everyday that it’s not by accident that he’s as good as he is”, said Sullivan. Rust joined a select group of rookies to score two goals in a Game 7. Logan Couture then puts one into an empty net to send SAP Center into a frenzy.
Special Teams (Playoffs): Sharks: 27.0 percent power play (2nd), 80.4 percent penalty kill (7th); Penguins: 23.4 percent power play (6th), 83.6 percent penalty kill (5th). “It’s a great feeling. I don’t know how many miles we’ve logged (since the season began), but it still takes a toll”.
“After the game and before the media got into our locker room, my three boys were giving big hugs and high-fives for everybody”, Cullen said. Blues captain David Backes can’t help but show his emotions following the loss. That is pretty selfless.
Penguins’ fans will look to bring the same noise level and energy to game one against the Sharks Monday night.
Cooper opens his pregame press conference by saying he won’t talk about the lineup, specifically whether Stamkos will play.
He’s not Henrik Lundqvist, Braden Holtby, or even Andrei Vasilevsky (who was the reason Tampa took the series to seven games), but he’s still an above average goaltender. He’s been to the Stanley Cup Final twice, but to win again after a seven-year absence would enhance his legend.
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Penguins president and CEO David Morehouse’s first impression of Sidney Crosby 11 years ago was that he “was as mature and as wise as any 18-year-old I had seen”. Let’s not forget Coach Mike Sullivan and his ability to continually get his team ready for big games and exorcise the demons that have plagued the Penguins in recent memory.
