The power play was an issue for the Sharks nearly from the start of the Stanley Cup Final.
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Unheralded defenceman Brian Dumoulin opened the scoring in Game 6 on a power play, later joined on the scoresheet by Kris Letang, who scored the go-ahead goal and eventual game-winner. They force you into quicker decisions.
There are many elements of Pittsburgh’s championship run that other teams will emulate – cheap goaltending, mobile defensemen, depth at forward – but establishing strong puck possession might be the most hard.
The Sharks bounced back nicely after going down which is tough to do in a do-or-die game.
Bruins goaltender Matt Murray became the first rookie to win all four games in a Stanley Cup Final since Cam Ward for the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006.
So when Couture slipped a puck past Murray to tie the score at 1-1 with 13:33 left in the period, bringing the noise level inside the Tank to maximum volume, it seemed to be the start of something excellent.
It was Couture’s 10th goal and league-leading 30th point of the playoffs.
The same could be said of Couture, who scored or assisted on every Sharks goal in the final two games of the series (except an empty netter in Game 5). Brent Burns and Melker Karlsson notched their 17th and third assists of the playoffs on the goal. But Jones allowed just 14 goals (2.33 per game) to a team featuring Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and the risky “HBK” line of Carl Hagelin, Nick Bonino and Phil Kessel. They have a really good power play. It was goal number three for Letang and the 12th and sixth assists from Crosby and Conor Sheary respectively.
For all the roadblocks, you don’t win a Stanley Cup without years’ worth of good decisions.
The Sharks had to come out and play one of their best periods of the season in the final 20 to keep the dream alive, but unfortunately that did not happen.
The final piece of their puzzle came as a result of their 3-1 victory Sunday night in northern California, as the team with a slew of superstar offensive performers blanketed the San Jose Sharks with stifling defense.
But not less than two minutes later, Letang swooped around the San Jose net, stationed himself just above the goal line, and rocketed a Crosby pass into the Sharks’ cage for a 2-1 Pittsburgh lead.
“It took everybody to get this”, Crosby said, who earned the Conn Smythe as the playoff MVP.
Nevertheless, it was the collective effort of the Penguins that won the day and the series as they claimed their fourth Stanley Cup triumph.
“Matt Murray was unbelievable down the stretch, and in the playoffs he was an incredible piece for us”, he said.
Then, during the 2016 postseason with the Penguins, Murray was the main man in between the pipes as he took over for the injured Marc-Andre Fleury. “He mentioned in a interview that” What he can say about Crosby, he is the brilliant hockey player and even beter person”.
Here are five reasons why Pittsburgh is the Stanley Cup champion.
In 53 regular season games with the Penguins, Daley tallied 6 goals and 22 points.
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It hurts to lose when you’ve come this far. But led by coach Mike Sullivan, the Penguins recovered to make the playoffs as the second-place team in the Metropolitan Division.
