The 36-year-old San Jose Sharks center, whose Cup final wait through 1,367 regular-season games and another 150 playoff contests is the third-longest among active players, was chosen for Team Canada along with teammate Brent Burns, a defenseman.
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San Jose: Brent Burns continues to lead all National Hockey League defensemen with 20 points, placing him third overall in playoff scoring, but it’s the defensive play of the Sharks against the opposing team’s best players that has really keyed their run.
The Sharks are in there and so are their four opponents during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
But the Sharks can also diffuse the Penguins’ offense by exploiting their biggest weakness – defense – which is why they’re probably really going to miss Martin in the series.
The Sharks, meanwhile, added goalie Martin Jones via a trade last summer and a clutch goal scorer in Joel Ward through free agency.
Murray is now 11-4 in the playoffs after heading into the postseason as the team’s backup netminder.
SHARKS: Joe Pavelski leads the playoffs with 13 goals and is second in playoff scoring with 22 points.
Joe Pavelski, center – Pavelski leads the Sharks with 13 goals in the playoffs and his 22 points rank second among National Hockey League players.
Thornton hasn’t paid much attention though to how Pittsburgh has changed since Sullivan’s midseason takeover, which came after the Sharks and Penguins had played their only two games against each other this season. San Jose won in 6 and Pittsburgh won in 7.
If that kind of success continues, it will be very hard for Pittsburgh to halt San Jose’s offensive juggernaut.
“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.
Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos wouldn’t have played Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final if it was up to Don Cherry.
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.
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. Over the next six weeks they became a catalyst for Pittsburgh’s late-season surge to the point that when Malkin finally returned for the opening round of the postseason, the 2012 NHL MVP was put on what amounted to a third line alongside Chris Kunitz and rookie Bryan Rust. They both have star power, they both have players that can skate, they both have skill throughout the lineup, and they both are more than deserving of representing their conference. “We’ve been doing a really good job of staying day to day, shift to shift”. After overcoming the speedy Lightning, Letang, Olli Maatta and the rest of the Pittsburgh blue line faces another fast team in the Sharks.
After the Sharks’ victory over the Blues, St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock gave credit to the all-encompassing San Jose forecheck philosophy. Tampa Bay presented a viable test as a fast-paced club in their own right, but the Pens found another level in controlling the tempo of the game for much of the series. He’s scored a point in all but four of San Jose’s playoff games. The Sharks are 17-for-63 (27.0 percent) and the Penguins are 15-for-64 (23.4 percent).
The Sharks are averaging 3.5 goals per game, the Penguins 3.2. That is absurd. In a bit of a amusing coincidence Mike Sullivan had a really good look at Mario’s carnage.
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“I think now having gone through those things I definitely appreciate it more”, said Crosby.
