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Sharks Need Plenty to Beat Pens

By EricBowser
John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports

The San Jose Sharks franchise, in their 25th season, finally had a chance to host a Stanley Cup Final game and the SAP Center didn't disappoint with an overall good crowd, though the sun out in California must have been hot and tiring.

While the Sharks won 3-2 in over-time, let's take a positive look at this. The Penguins have a 2-1 series lead and it took all of this to happen for San Jose to win.

  • Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang turned the puck over late in the penalty-kill that allowed the Sharks to get an easy counter attack that resulted in Joel Ward's third period game-tying goal that Matthew Murray is going to want back as he was slow to get his pads and stick on the ice.
  • The game-winning-goal by Joonas Donskoi was a good shot but you want to see Murray moving to the top of his crease on his angle and while that shot needs to be stopped, it didn't help that Ian Cole was unable to get the puck out of the zone or that Evgeni Malkin lost track of the puck, which gave the split second of space for Donskoi to score the goal.
  • Power Play was 0-for-1 with one shot on goal. It is concerning but at the same time a surprise the Penguins have managed to take a 2-1 series lead with the man-advantage to be such a disadvantage.
  • Ice conditions were less than ideal. It looked like players were skating in slush and the puck bounced around as if it was a Golden State Warriors basketball game. Mike Sullivan was asked after the game and basically said the players need to simplify their game.
  • Penguins still had a 42-26 advantage with shots on goal and 73-65 shot attempts.
  • Officiating... it was the Dan and Dan Show featuring Dan O'Rourke and Dan O'Halloran. Neither team had to be all that thrilled with the officiating, though I think the Penguins have to at least wonder how they gain a 42-26 shots on goal advantage and received one power play.

The Penguins made mistakes and it still took a wild shot by Donskoi to beat them in over-time. If the Penguins can keep dominating the possession in game four and get a little better in finishing the shots behind Jones, game three will be a distant memory.

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