Penguins/NHL
Sharks Play Role of Party Crashers
Still one win away.
San Jose is now two wins away.
Aside from the 18,000+ in the building, tens of thousands flocked to the streets surrounding Consol Energy Center Thursday night to be part of the first championship won on city limits since 1960.
Problem is Sharks goaltender Martin Jones went off script.
This was supposed to be the Penguins’ night where the superior team puts an inferior team away on home ice for their fourth Stanley Cup in team history. Instead Martin Jones gave the San Jose Sharks the type of performance you have to get on this stage and in an elimination game.
Jones turned aside 44 shots in a spectacular performance.
Aside from falling down 2-0 minutes into the game, the Penguins did just about everything right to end this thing.
They out-shot San Jose 46-22 and had a massive 76-36 edge in shot attempts.
Their best players dominated possession.
Pittsburgh controlled possession on over 74% of their shot attempts when the likes of Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin were on the ice.
Carl Hagelin had a goal, 7 shots on goal. Evgeni Malkin a goal, 6 shots on goal.
What faulted the Penguins was some rocky goaltending from Matt Murray early on and the Sharks creating havoc below the hash marks in the first five to six minutes.
Murray rebounded nicely as the game progressed, as he often does, but that third one was a save he had to have.
For San Jose, any key to winning three straight was going to come down to their stars catching fire.
Brent Burns had a goal, 1:04 into the game, but the most promising individual performance from their end was the play of Logan Couture who had a goal, 2 assists, and created a couple high quality chances in periods two and three that Murray turned aside.
The back pressure the Penguins provide defensively in tracking the puck carrier has made this a difficult series for Joe Pavelski.
Couture is the primary Sharks star player who has the greatest chance of taking a game over in this matchup vs the Penguins. He provided that type of impact in Game 5.
As the series shifts back to San Jose, there’s no reason to over-analyze things from Game 5.
The Penguins are the better team and still in a good spot. Evgeni Malkin has finally awakened with back-to-back strong performances and the Penguins top players are playing well.
Momentum remains on the Penguins’ side for now, though, the chances of the Penguins playing as well as they did in Game 5 are not as strong on the road in Game 6.
This has been a series since Game 2 that’s felt like the Sharks couldn’t win. Martin Jones playing over his head might be changing that a bit and whether this series goes seven like many expected before the series started, it’s likely going to come down to whether Jones looks more like the goaltender from Game 4 or the goaltender from Game 5.
Game 6 is Sunday night.
New article
Ha people are still posting in the other article
That is pretty hilarious Sam.
lol you were the last one to post in that article…dumba$$
Why are we posting in an article that is not the top article on the page?
Through 23 playoff games Murray has put up one stellar performance and Zatkoff has put up one. Hmmm …Gotta go with Zak in game 6. What do you think Stanch, you’re a student of the position.
The same thing I always think. That your wife bought you an iPhone before you were ready to be responsible with it.
First off, my mom bought my iPhone for me. Second, my wife doesn’t know I have a phone. Keep it on the down low.
#SomethingSpecial
Compared to Murray, he was!
#murrayaintstbleury
#pensin6
Fraud. #BlowItUp
Maybe not but he’s been doing a really good Bleury impersonation since the Rangers series.
So does that mean Murray is going to the hall of fame like your patron saint?
He’ll still be one cup behind Fleury
This article is dumb. I like the other one better. I’d rather get it to 1000.
Where’s Yodles?
Probably supervising as Maloni cleans out his air ducts.
#umbrance
Dont worry Yoda, Trent Dilfer didnt win Super Bowl MVP either.
D is there a way you can have a section beside your articles for thumbs down and up
-5?
He probably thinks they’re all from me
FUCKFACE
Interesting little stat from last night’s game, out of 36 shot attempts SJ only missed the net 4 times last night, after being in double digits in 3 of the other 4 games(9 in Game 4) maybe SJ is starting to realize that Murray has looked good because he hasn’t been challenged a lot and that if they actually get their shots on net they have a decent chance at beating Murray.
One of my favorite agendas from the 2016 playoffs is that with 6g-17pts and -4 in 23 games but only 1g in the last 9 games Sid is considered a potential CS winner because the lack of production is negated by “the little things” he does but with 6g-18pts and +2 in 22 games Malkin has been considered underwhelming and disinterested because o his lack of production and the fact that he had a 1g in 15 games drought even though his underlying numbers suggest he has been 1 of the Pens best if not the best forward in the… Read more »
Why do you listen to Mark Madden? That’s your problem.
I can’t believe you actually pointed it out on the last thread, I was dying trying to see how long it would take people to notice.
lol i should have
He’s been uneven. But it’s hard to say he hasnt’ been good “as of late.” He was excellent in Game 4.
I agree. I think inconsistent is a much better description for his play pretty much since the 1st round.
call it what you will, hes let up some awful goals that have hurt the team. Its bad enough that the OT goal went in but to let up the exact some crappy goal again is concerning. Hes had 4 or 5 go right through him.
What worries me the most is that he seems to not even care that it’s a very apparent weakness, he’s been beaten quite a few times by guys coming from behind the net because of poor positioning(which was supposed to be his biggest strength) and he just brushes it off like he played it right and the shooter just got lucky. Concerns me more for his long term viability than for the short term success, needs to put some serious work into correcting that in the offseason or they’ll be praying Jarry is the real deal.
Not excusing the goals, believe me. I’m not disagreeing.
And i agree with your post from the last thread, murray has not been good as of late
I’ll admit – I didn’t look for the new article where he usually moves the old articles.
no one will find us
sam will never find us
I pray.