In fact, we’d be back where we were prior to Game 1, where the teams had essentially a coin flip chance to win it all – a Sharks victory would’ve netted the Penguins with 51.72% odds to lift the Stanley Cup.
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It’s paid off with the Sharks reaching their first-ever Stanley Cup final, though they trail 2-0 as the series shifts back to California with Game 3 set for Saturday. A lot of one-goal games that for us was like going into a gun fight with a water pistol.
“Specifically Hertl, I think he’s good at everything”, Penguins defenceman Ian Cole said Saturday.
THE LONG ROAD: The pick here before the series began was the Penguins in seven and that’s still a distinct possibility. “When you have a guy that’s that good, you need to be very aware of him when he’s out there”. They’re only focused on winning one game. Down 2-0 is a daunting task, but not insurmountable.
“But I think we were prepared that this was going to be a different series”, DeBoer said Friday. “That’s a huge thing in being successful, I think, in the postseason is blocking shots, especially against this team, where they try to throw pucks from the point….” Game 4 is Monday in San Jose and a Game 5, if necessary, is Thursday in Pittsburgh. The Sharks’ penalty kill is pretty bad and given the offensive stars on Pittsburgh I expected it to be…a little more lethal than it has been. “You’re a [heck] of a hockey team and it takes everybody and that’s what I love about this group”. “It seems like the players are going to get an opportunity to play here”. As a result, they aren’t drawing penalties on Pittsburgh and giving their high-octane power play a chance to affect the series. At home, they’ll have a raucous crowd behind them and last change so DeBoer can get the matchups he wants.
Playing in his usual spot alongside Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski on the Sharks’ top line, Hertl had two shots in more than 20 minutes in a Game 2 overtime loss.
How much do you think the game will change in San Jose with the Sharks getting last change and home-ice advantage?
“We broke up a three-on-three”, said center Logan Couture, whose line was on the ice.
“They’re loud right from the puck drop”. They’re not going to allow you to do that. I obviously haven’t come here as a visiting player, but you hear it from guys who’ve played against us in this building.
Joel Ward scored for the Sharks as a four-minute power play expired midway through the period to tie the game. He scores late in the period to make it 2-2.
Some of the Sharks’ most visible men are distinctly missing from the ranks of goal-scorers recently.
Kessel, left off of the US’s World Cup team, leads the Penguins in playoff scoring with 19 points (10G, 9A), two points up on team captain Sidney Crosby.
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The Penguins’ team speed also became a prominent feature of the night, adding a disruptive and relentless element to the team’s play in all three zones.
