They won Game 5 on Thursday night in Pittsburgh with a 44-save performance from Martin Jones and a first-period outburst that saw them score three goals on their first five shots.
Advertisement
There seemed a burden lifted after the game, even though the Sharks face another must-win game at SAP Center on Sunday (8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, TVA Sports), when they’ll look to extend their season, the Stanley Cup Final, to Game 7.
“I thought we had traffic at the net, we had pucks to the net; there were people there, we had rebound opportunities”, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said evenly after his team’s lead in the series got sliced to 3-2. “We’ve got to get a couple more in Game 6 here to give us a chance in Game 7”.
The win cut the Penguins’ lead in the series to 3-2 ahead of Game Six on the west coast, although teams that have taken a 3-1 lead in the Finals have gone on to win the cup 31 out of 32 times.
The Sharks sealed the victory late in the third period when Joe Thornton made a great play to get the puck out of their zone, and got it to Joe Pavelski for an empty-net goal with 1:20 left to make it 4-2 and send to the exits in Pittsburgh.
The Sharks put the brakes on the Penguins’ parade with two goals in the game’s first 173 seconds, but gave it all right back minutes later.
If you are still a Sharks believer, here is the most encouraging sight I witnessed in Pittsburgh: The Sharks players, too, truly do believe they can come back and win the Stanley Cup Final against the Penguins.
“I don’t think I played badly by any means”, Murray said.
San Jose forward Melker Karlsson scored what proved to be the winning goal at 14:47 of the first period. First the Penguins’ Evgeni Malkin scored when his weak-side pass to Sidney Crosby deflected off Justin Braun and past Jones for a power-play goal.
Two springs ago, the Sharks held a 3-0 lead in a first-round playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings when momentum turned.
“When he’s jumping in the rush, it adds a different dimension to our team”, Couture said.
According to statistics kept on war-on-ice.com, Pittsburgh had 19 high-danger scoring chances for the game to the Sharks’ seven. Patric Hornqvist. Bryan Rust.
“You’re in the Stanley Cup finals”, said Burns before the game, stroking his wild untamed beard. “We feel good about our game”.
The over cashed for the first time in the series for over bettors and for just the second time in nine meetings overall when San Jose’s Joe Pavelski found the back of the net with less than two minutes remaining.
Nick Bonino got the Game 1 victor for Pittsburgh when the other goals were scored by rookies Sheary and Bryan Rust. After giving up two bad goals in the first period and three in total, it looked like Murray was one bad goal from getting yanked.
Sharks assistant Bob Boughner reminded the group of the time his Windsor Spitfires rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the Ontario Hockey League playoffs opposite another one of the team’s assistants, then Kitchener Rangers coach Steve Spott. We wanted to come.
Things settled down – at least a little – until Karlsson’s shot from in front with just under five minutes left in the first, set up by a pretty backhand feed from Couture.
Sullivan says he’s seen Malkin’s performance improving both offensively and defensively as the series progresses.
“We know we haven’t scored many goals — or any — in this series”.
“We had a lot of chances”, Hagelin said.
“We’ll be better because we know they’ll be better”, Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic said after Thursday’s game.
Advertisement
The second line, centered by Couture, was the Sharks’ best Thursday, though. His save percentage is.933, Murray’s is.916 despite having not faced more than 26 shots in any of the five games.
