Sharks Survive To Extend Series

Pittsburgh was trying to do something they have never done before, win the Stanley Cup on home ice. They've won three Cups in the history of the franchise. They on in Minnesota in 1991, won in Chicago in 1992 and in Detroit in 2009. All three previous Cups were won on the road. This was their chance to win the cup at home for the first time ever. They had San Jose on the ropes and had a chance to finish the Sharks off. But somebody forgot to tell that to the Sharks. San Jose came out like a house of fire, then let Martin Jones stand on his head to help keep them in this series. San Jose staved off elimination, coming up with a huge 4-2 win in game five, forcing the series back to San Jose for a game six.

One of the biggest knocks on the Sharks the entire series. at least to this point, was the fact that they haven't been able to play with a lead at all. It took 1:04 into the hockey game to dispel that thought. Brent Burns scored his 7th of the playoffs, set up by Melker Karlsson and Logan Couture, on a wraparound play that beat Murray short side. To put this goal into perspective, it looks a lot like the overtime winner that Joonas Donskoi scored in game three. Both guys scored on a wraparound, with both shots coming short side with Matt Murray dropping down too early to take away the low part of the net. San Jose kept the pressure up, and at the 1:49 mark, Logan Couture scored his 9th of the playoffs, deflecting a Justin Braun shot to give the Sharks something they haven't really experienced in this series: a lead. This marks the first time that Pittsburgh has trailed during a game since Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning on May 20 (NHL). One thing you need to know about the Penguins, if you didn't know it already, is never count them out.

Pittsburgh came to life when they got a powerplay about five minutes into the hockey game. Danius Zubrus got called for shooting a puck over the glass. Then twenty three seconds later, at the 4:44 mark, the Pens got back into the game when Evgeni Malkin scored his 6th of the playoffs. Malkin took a pass from Phil Kessel and tried to go back to Crosby at the far post but it hit off a Shark defender and went into the net. But wait, the Penguins weren't done yet. twenty Two seconds after Malkin got the Penguins on the board, this happened:


It was the 6th goal of the playoffs for Carl Hagelin, who has had an impact all playoffs long with Bonino and Kessel as the HBK Line. This game remained deadlocked at two, until the 14:47 mark of the opening period. San Jose got a rush up the ice, Brenden Dillon fed Logan Couture , who then sent a pretty pass to Melker Karlsson who fired home his 5th of the playoffs to finish off a pretty passing play and give the Sharks a lead they would not relinquish.

Once the 2nd period got rolling, so to did the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Pens outshot the Sharks 31-15 over the final two periods of play. That's been one of the major themes of this finals series is that the Penguins have been controlling the game and the pace of play with their pure speed. Martin Jones, once again, had to stand on his freaking head to keep the lead in tact for the Sharks. Don't believe me, fine look at what happened in the 2nd period. One of the best chances for the Pens came with 4:52 left in the middle frame. The HBK line was buzzing again for the Pens. Hagelin took a shot, Jones made a save, but left a big rebound. Nick Bonino jumped all over it but Jones somehow made a HUGE kick save and covered the puck, leaving Bonino wondering what the hell just happened.

As much as the Pens kept pressing, San Jose held the fort down. Joe Pavelski finally put the game away at the 18:40 mark of the 3rd period when he scored an empty netter, his 14th of the playoffs and first of this series. Maybe that will help get a guy like him going. Still the Sharks kept the Penguins quite the rest of the night, forcing the series back to San Jose for a sixth game.

For the first couple minutes of the hockey game, San Jose had a game plan and it worked to perfection. They found a way to cancel out the speed of the Penguins. San Jose played a very sound, technical dump and chase game, sending the puck in deep, beating the Penguins up physically, getting the puck and putting it on goal. That's what lead to the three Sharks goals they scored on Matt Murray. That's what worked for them in the Western Conference Finals against the Blues. San Jose got away from that, thus leading to Martin Jones standing on his head the rest of the hockey game. If they want to have a chance to win the Cup, San Jose needs to keep doing that for a full sixty minutes.

The Sharks became the 15th team, out of 32, to force Game 6 when trailing a Stanley Cup Final 3-1 (since the best-of-7 format started in 1939). Six of those teams forced Game 7, with one winning the championship (the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs against the Detroit Red Wings), according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Game Six is back at the SAP Center in San Jose Sunday night at 8PM!