“It is going to be fast hockey”, said Penguins forward Sidney Crosby of the next round.
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Team Europe, consisting of players from countries not represented, most notably added a couple of veterans: Los Angeles forward Marian Gaborik and Chicago defenseman Christian Ehrhoff. Perhaps Pittsburgh’s underwhelming play for the first 70 percent of the season and the Sharks taking a back seat to more popular teams who had success in the regular season such as the Kings and Blackhawks in the Western Conference is why both teams flew under the radar this year. Very similar to Tampa.
It won’t be a “choke job”, it won’t take away all that they have accomplished this year, it won’t mean the season was all for nothing – but it certainly will be a missed opportunity. So we’ll need that again. “It’s going to be quite the series”. Two first-year starters have been called upon by both the Sharks and Penguins, and both have answered the bell. The Sharks beat the Penguins 3-1 on November 21 in Pittsburgh. The Penguins have outscored San Jose this postseason at five on five (32-23, according to war-on-ice.com) and controlled play (50.5% Corsi for to the Sharks’ 49.2%).
Matt Murray, goaltender – The rookie, who made just 13 starts in the regular season, has been the team’s No. 1 goalie in all but three of the Penguins’ playoff games. It was that trip that forged the Sharks’ identity as road warriors. That victory was the Penguins’ first in San Jose since 1997. It was one of their last games under coach Mike Johnson, who was sacked December 12. The Penguins were 15-10-3, but they stood fifth in the Metropolitan Division and ranked 28th out of 30 teams in scoring.
The Sharks are in the Cup final for the first time in their 24-season franchise history and in Peter DeBoer’s first year as coach.
The two-time Maurice Richard Trophy victor as the NHL’s top goal scorer can become an unrestricted free agent July 1, however he reiterated Friday that he’d like to stay with the team drafted him No. 1 overall in 2008 and came within one victory of reaching the Stanley Cup Final for the second straight year. There was talk they could be traded the summer after the 2014 playoff collapse, Thornton had a public feud with general manager Doug Wilson last season and there were reports that Marleau was seeking a trade earlier this season.
With Sullivan behind the Pittsburgh bench, the Penguins finished second in the division to Washington with a 48-26-8 record and was third in the league in goals with 245, just ahead of the Sharks (241).
But against the Penguins, Martin will be more than just a wingman to the NHL’s top-scoring defenseman.
Murray has a post-season shutout and legitimately stole several games for the Penguins to usurp a now healthy Fleury for the starter’s role.
He’s a popular player and has never won the Stanley Cup.
On the other side, Matt Murray came from out of nowhere to become the Penguins go-to guy between the pipes.
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Offense: The Sharks are leading all National Hockey League playoff teams with an average of 3.5 goals per game, and the Penguins are second at 3.22. Kessel is playing with Nick Bonino and Carl Hagelin on the second line, leaving Malkin to center Chris Kunitz and Brian Rust on the third line. Anybody that’s played with them sees the way that they work and what kind of teammates they are, what kind of people they are.
