The Russian centre half-swung the pass into the upper reaches of an open cage. “Hopefully it hits him and goes in”.
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If many of those Sharks’ only experience with playoff comebacks hadn’t been on the negative side – almost squandering a 3-0 series lead to the Detroit Red Wings in 2011 before winning in seven games … blowing a 3-0 lead to the 2013 Kings and losing in seven … heck, Joe Thornton was even on the 2004 Boston Bruins when they let the Montreal Canadiens come all the way back from a 3-1 deficit – it would be easier to keep the collective chin up as they face their first elimination game Thursday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins. And while the Sharks are wholly capable of exploding for three games and I am fully willing to eat shit if I’m wrong, this is starting to feel inevitable.
The Sharks did like their defensive effort in Game 4 more than in any other game of the Cup final.
The city of Pittsburgh has announced that Murray Avenue in Squirrel Hill will be renamed Matt Murray Avenue on Thursday.
We should all know better than to declare a series over before the fourth game is won.
Kessel got the offence going for the Penguins in the opening minutes of the first frame. Against the Penguins, he’s just trying to create to get a single bonk.
“There’s no quit in our group”, coach Peter DeBoer said. “We’ll use it to our advantage”. He had the secondary assist on Malkin’s power-play goal. Coming alive some in Game 3, San Jose’s top line came up with a chance when Joe Thornton fed captain Joe Pavelski entering the Penguins zone.
Marleau set up Pavelski with a great look at Murray… and couldn’t convert.
And Couture in Game 4 managed just two shots on net, and another that missed. “When I say I think it’s the hardest hockey that I’ve witnessed in this league, it seems like both teams have to fight for every inch out there”. Pavelski was red-hot heading into the Cup Final after torching the Blues to the tune of four goals and five assists in six games. Before that, it had been 30 years since a rookie had scored in overtime in the final when Montreal’s Brian Skrudland did it in Game 2 against Calgary.
It was Kessel though who has consistently keyed the Pittsburgh attack throughout the playoffs. “We would get scored on and the whole team would just tank and be done for the game”, defenseman Ian Cole said.
Dealt from Toronto in a July 1 blockbuster last summer, Kessel’s first season with the Penguins has been steadily trending upward.
Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Nick Bonino are a close second with 17 points. Yet the Penguins stress they’re not quite there, that the midseason renaissance that coincided with Sullivan’s arrival on December 15 is not complete.
Malkin, Cole and Eric Fehr, who notched the 3-1 goal which iced Pittsburgh’s victory, are the seventh, eighth and ninth different Penguins to score in the series. We got a goal from Melker Karlsson last night.
After the puck total finished over in a combined seven straight games to wrap up the two conference final series, things have tightened up, with the under paying out in each of the four games so far in the Stanley Cup Final.
Some of San Jose’s top scorers are even having trouble finding the back of the net.
So often in the Stanley Cup playoffs, the best team is the one with depth.
“You never imagine something like this”, he said. Pittsburgh will now return home for a game on June 9th, one that could end the 2016 post-season.
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I still thought Fleury deserved a chance to redeem himself in Game 6 with the Penguins’ season on the line, but Sullivan knew better.
