Forty-nine times a team in the Stanley Cup Finals had a 2-0 lead, 44 of them went on to hoist Lord Stanley’s trophy.
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The Penguins grabbed a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series when captain Sidney Crosby won a faceoff back to defenseman Kris Letang, who then found Sheary wide open in the high slot and the rookie blasted home the victor just 2:35 into the extra period.
The Penguins, of course, won the game, 2-1, on Conor Sheary’s overtime goal and it was a perfectly executed faceoff play directed by Sidney Crosby that turned into the game-winning tally.
All three goals scored by the Sharks in this series have come from this same recipe.
“I think we made a few mistakes and opened up a few things for (Pittsburgh)”, forward Joel Ward told NBC Sports. 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 Sharks are in unknown territory as they make their first ever appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals but DeBoer is well aware of the level of fight needed on the biggest stage in the National Hockey League.
“It’s very meaningful to the people here”, DeBoer said.
“I know how to play (with them) if that’s the case, if I’m going in there, because I’ve played with them before”, Karlsson said.
“This might take seven games. Let’s go home and do what they did here”. I’m not concerned about it. “We know it’s going to get challenging going to San Jose”. “I thought we were better at it in Game 2 than we were in Game 1”. His three goals in the Eastern Conference final against the Lightning were all winners, one in overtime.
“[Crosby] said he was going to win it to me, that’s it”, Letang said after the game (via NHL.com’s Dan Rosen).
“Game 1 was decided in the last two minutes”, he said.
The Penguins, however, think they already have the winning recipe that can keep the South Bay club from finding success. Even if it was hard to get the two game lead, twice needing late goals to finish the job, the Penguins are a huge step closer to winning the fourth cup in franchise history.
Right now, the Penguins are keeping the Sharks in their own end for significant chunks of time, using their speed to create turnovers and impede the breakout. You’re comfortable. You’ve got your bed. “Maybe there’s something that happened multiple times, maybe hasn’t happened for a few games but if it does happen again you want to make sure you have a good feel for it”.
The Penguins third line of Bonino, Kessel and Carl Hagelin have combined for 19 goals and 50 points in 20 playoff games.
“It’s a tough building to play in”.
“We can’t be turning the puck over like we are, ” said Sharks center Logan Couture. Players must be square to their opponents, players have intricate rules as to when and where their sticks can be on the ice before a puck drop, etc. The color of their circle, red, corresponds to the scale on the far left – the darker the red, the worse you’ve been in possession play.
Every pass and shot is contested, every Penguin who plays the puck pays a physical price … it is modern hockey, a clinic of what Mike Babcock has labelled the 200-foot game (patent pending).
The club’s usually risky top line of Pavelski, Joe Thornton and Tomas Hertl is pointless at even strength through the first two games. Like always, Crosby was playing chess while the Sharks were playing checkers.
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They’ve shown flashes of strong play.
