The Penguins and Sharks resume the Stanley Cup Final at 8:20 p.m.in San Jose with the Penguins two victories shy of claiming the franchise’s fourth Stanley Cup.
Advertisement
Conor Sheary scored early in overtime as the star-studded Pittsburgh Penguins received another key contribution from one of their younger players to seize control of the Stanley Cup Finals with a 2-1 win over the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday.
What an unfortunately timed blow for the Sharks, down 0-2 in the Final as the action shifts to the Shark Tank.
In order for that to happen, the Sharks’ top players will have to elevate their games, which collectively could be described as moribund during back-to-back losses in Pittsburgh. First-line forward Tomas Hertl won’t play in Game 3 on Saturday night because of a lower-body injury.
It was the Winchester, Massachusetts-native’s first goal of the series and only the 5th time in National Hockey League history that a rookie scored an overtime-winning goal.
Now, DeBoer will need to reshuffle the deck as the Sharks look to avoid a 3-0 hole in the best-of-seven series for Stanley. Zubrus, meanwhile, was a healthy scratch in Game 2. The Sharks netminder made a left pad stop on Matt Cullen from high in the slot, adding a right pad save on Kessel to his save total a short while later. “We’ve got to take care of business here at home”. “We’ll play ’til two in the morning”. His absence will make coming back from a 2-0 series deficit more hard.
“We just have to keep building our game”, said Sharks coach Peter DeBoer.
“They’ve done a good job keeping the puck in their zone, using their forecheck and making it tough on us”, defenseman Justin Braun said.
Two games into the Stanley Cup Final and it’s clear that the Penguins present challenges unlike any other the Sharks have faced the playoffs, with their speed, skill and matchups.
“You go for dinner and somebody will recognize you”, Murray says. In advancing through the Western Conference, San Jose was the team dictating the pace of play and capitalizing on the mistakes of their opposition.
Saturday night’s game will be a special occasion for Sharks radio play-by-play announcer Dan Rusanowsky, who’s among a handful of employees remaining from the team’s beginnings in the 1991-92 season.
“I think the fact that we have the extra day in between is certainly helpful”, said Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan. Hertl has six goals in the playoffs, including one in Game 1 on Monday. People are going to want to tell you how well Pittsburgh is playing, how poorly you’re playing, how you have no chance to win.
The trio of Kessel, Hagelin and Bonino has been the Penguins best this post-season, Kessel also leading the team with 19 points.
Advertisement
“It’s up to us to force them to play defense”. When San Jose makes a push-they have good players, they’re a good team-they’re going to try to do the same. They’re going to get some scoring chances.
