The plot thickens, Cavs force game 7

The Cavaliers stood their ground in game 6, protecting their home court and forcing a game 7 back in Oakland on Sunday night.

Lebron James was the spark for Cleveland, finishing with a game high 41 points, along with eight rebounds and 11 assists.

Game 6 was a roller coaster of emotions for the Warriors. The game began with the Cavaliers dominating the first quarter and jumping out to a 20 point lead. The team looked emotionless and lacking the fire they had earlier in the series.

“We got off to a terrible start not getting stops,” said Warriors forward Draymond Green in a postgame interview. “We started the game with way too many jump shots and not putting pressure on their defense.”

Despite all this, the Warriors did mount a comeback, pulling to as close as seven points in the fourth quarter. But the game took a turn for the worst late in the fourth quarter when Warriors guard Steph Curry was called for his sixth foul, then promptly exchanged some frustrated words with the official before being assessed a technical foul. He then threw his mouthpiece while yelling at the referee into the crowd, hitting a fan in the front row.

“He had every right to be upset,” said Warriors head coach Steve Kerr in a postgame interview. “He is the MVP of the league, he gets six fouls called on him and three of them were absolutely ridiculous. He steals the ball from Kyrie (Irving) clean at one point and Lebron flops.”

From there the game fell apart for the Warriors and the Cavaliers cruised to a 115-101 victory.

“It’s frustrating,” said Warriors guard Klay Thompson in a postgame interview. “We just have to come out on Sunday with the mindset of leaving it all out there on the court, every man on this team.”

Infographic by Kavin Mistry

There are not many positives to take away from this game for Golden State, but the biggest takeaway is that they will have one game to play for the championship and they will be on their home court.

The biggest difference in these two losses for the Warriors has been the play of forward Harrison Barnes. He had been a strong contributor on the offensive end for the Warriors in the first four games of the series, but has done nothing since. Tonight he finished 0-8 from the field, 0-5 from three and had no points.

The Warriors will need him to contribute if they are going to bounce back in game 7. On the other side, Curry was phenomenal, he scored 30 points before fouling out and kept the Warriors within striking distance throughout the game. Curry also set the record for most three’s made in a single series at 28.

“We are more mentally tough that to allow two games not going our way to create any doubt,” Curry said.

With the loss, the Warriors players and coaches are keeping spirits high, knowing that there is still another chance to win it all and they can do it at home.

“We need our crowd on Sunday,” said Thompson in a postgame interview. “I expect them to show up, be loud early. We feed off them.”

For the 19th time in NBA history, the NBA Finals will come down to a game 7.

“If you start out every season and you say we get a game 7, one game to win the championship, I’ll take it every time,” Kerr said. “I can’t wait for Sunday and I think we will be fine.”

Without Draymond, Warriors lack knockout punch

Infographic by Kavin Mistry

Kyrie Irving and Lebron James put the Bay Area party on hold Monday night, as the duo combined for 84 of the Cavaliers 112 points as they send the series back to Cleveland.

The Warriors, who have been dominant at home this whole season was stunned by the Cavaliers, who have had trouble finding any positives in Oakland this year.

The suspended Draymond Green was clearly missed by the Warriors, who had trouble finding any offensive consistency throughout the night. A lot of the Warriors offense comes from their defense, which seemed non-existent on this night.

“We were not very good defensively,” said Warriors head coach Steve Kerr in a postgame interview. “We were without Draymond, so there is no point in harping on that. We had to play better and we didn’t.”

Green, who has been known as the “heartbeat” of this Warriors team had been playing like the MVP of this series before he was suspended and Golden State could not replicate his production. The Warriors are now 0-2 this season in games without Green.

“The defense was the problem for us tonight,” Kerr said. “Draymond wasn’t here, we didn’t play well enough to win, I am not going to into it more.”

A huge part of the Warriors offense that seemed to be missing without Green was communication, both on offense and defense, players and Kerr all mentioned how that was a big piece that was missing tonight.

“Communication,” Kerr said when asked about what was missing tonight. “Just not picking up the right man, not talking on our switches.”

The Warriors high octane offense was able to go stride for stride with the Cavaliers in the first half, but went ice cold in the second.

“We could never get into a rhythm,” said Warriors center Festus Ezeli in a postgame interview. “Some of those (Cavaliers shots) you just gotta shake your head.”

Klay Thompson was on fire in the first half, scoring 26 points, but only scored 11 in the second. Along with Thompson, Steph Curry was not his usual self, he finished a cool 8-21 and missed nine three’s.

“Obviously it feels good when your shot goes in,” said Thompson in a postgame interview. “In the second half I think I settled for too many bad shots, obviously it is frustrating, you want to win here more than anything for your fans.”

The rest of the Cavaliers team seemed to be bystanders to the Lebron/Kyrie show, as they scored only 28 points. But for the Warriors, there was nothing they could do to stop Irving.

“You tip your hat to them, they had a great night,” said Curry in a postgame interview. “Made some tough shot, made some open shots (...) they did what they needed to do to win the game for their team.”

To add to the woes of losing game 5, the Warriors dropped another man early in the second half. Center Andrew Bogut had a nasty fall after blocking a shot as he fell to the ground, grabbing his knee. His availability for game 6 is up in the air, but forward Shaun Livingston said he looked better after the game.

The good news for Warrior fans is Green will be in the starting lineup on Thursday night in Cleveland, where they will try to win their second straight championship. Last year’s title also came in game 6.

“We are still in a great position,” Thompson said. “It stings real bad, but we will come back stronger.”

Sharks fight just not enough, Penguins win the cup

Infographic by Kavin Mistry

They fought hard to the bitter end, but the storybook season for the San Jose Sharks has come to an end on their home ice, at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Penguins defense was just too much for the Sharks offense and the superb goaltending of rookie Matt Murray shut the door on San Jose’s comeback.

Pittsburgh has one its franchises fourth Stanley Cup and its first since 2009. San Jose is still in search of its first cup in franchise history.

“I think first off, you have to give full credit to Pittsburgh,” said Sharks head coach Pete DeBoer in a postgame interview. “I thought they came out and played a hell of a series. They played their game for much longer stretches than we were able to.”

The game winning goal came off the sick of Penguins defenseman Kris Letang, who scored within a minute after the Sharks had tied the game in the second period.

“They had better execution, they made more plays,” said Sharks forward Patrick Marleau in a postgame interview. “It was a great taste for the younger guys to see what it takes to win the trophy.”

Sharks forward Logan Couture provided the bright spot on the night for the team in teal, he scored his 30th point of the postseason to tie the game at one in the second period. It was no surprise that the offense for the Sharks would come from Couture, who had been on a torrid scoring pace in the playoffs.

Penguins forward Patric Hornqvist added the dagger to Sharks fans hopes with an empty net goal with only a minute left in the third.

Pittsburgh started out of the gates hot, like they have in five of the six games this series and scored the first goal eight minutes into the first period on the powerplay. Penguins forward Brian Dumoulin scored the goal.

A big story in this series was the disappearance of the Sharks power play. That trend continued in game 6 and became one of the deciding factors in the outcome.

“It sucks. That’s the bottom line,” said Sharks forward Joe Thornton in a postgame interview. “It sucks. We thought we had the team, going through the teams we did in the West. It’s just tough right now.”

Despite allowing the two goals, Sharks goalie Martin Jones was sparkling in net, he made huge saves down the stretch to bail out the Sharks defense to keep the game close.

“We put in a lot of work and it sucks to come up short,” said Sharks forward Patrick Marleau in a postgame interview. “

What plagued the Sharks throughout the game was their inability to sustain pressure in the offensive zone. Credit the Penguins defense for clogging the passing lanes and giving San Jose headaches when trying to tie the game.

Penguins captain Sidney Crosby was named the Stanley Cup playoffs MVP, finishing the postseason with 19 points.

“They played great, that team over there,” said Couture in a postgame interview. “Can’t take anything away from what they did. They beat us.”

Pittsburgh proved one of the oldest cliches in playoff sports, defense wins championships. While they have a potent offense, it was the Penguins defense that won them the series over the Sharks.

“On our end, I’m very proud of our group,” DeBoer said. “ I thought our guys emptied the tank, gave us everything they possibly could.”

The Sharks will take a look at their roster this offseason and see what they need to do in order to get back to the Finals next year, a feat that is very difficult to achieve.

Steph Curry heats up, Warriors one win away from repeat

Infographic by Kavin Mistry

The Steph Curry that Warrior fans have been waiting for finally took shape Friday night in Cleveland. The MVP scored a game high 38 points on 11-25 shooting and seven three’s.

The Warriors improved to 14-0 in the postseason when Curry scores at least 30 points.

“I’ve seen him do it for five years now,” said Warriors guard Klay Thompson in a postgame interview. “Nobody in the game can keep up, (...) when you have Steph’s range and handle, we’ take that shot everyday.”

Golden State now sits one game away from reaching the NBA pinnacle for the second year in a row. They can do so for the first time in franchise history on their home court.

The Warriors have been the best team in the league at adjusting after a loss this season and did so without missing a beat tonight. Cleveland came out firing in game 3, putting the Warriors on their heels and pressing their defense. In game 4, the Warriors became the aggressors.

“Sometimes our best offense is our defense,” said Warriors head coach Steve Kerr in a postgame interview.

The Warriors defense was much more active, led by forward Draymond Green, who finished with a team high 12 rebounds.

“In the end we out rebounded them, which seems crazy because of how it looked in the first half,” Kerr said. “All of our guys played really well and we just competed well.”

Along with the Warriors great defense, the Cavaliers offense did not carry over from game 3. The first half was filled with Lebron James at the helm, attempting to drive in, then kicking out to a shooter who would miss. The only thing that kept Cleveland in the game was second chance points.

“The way we started the game,” Curry said in a postgame interview. “The starters controlled the tempo in the first quarter, it wasn't great basketball by any means but on the road we gave ourselves a chance.”

The Cavaliers hit an surge before the half, capitalizing on some careless Warrior turnovers and took a five point lead into the locker room.

In the second half, Curry came alive. The Warriors battled back to cut the Cavaliers lead lead to one, but guard Kyrie Irving did not let the Warriors comeback go uncontested.

“You gotta respect the fact that they didn't want to go down,” Thompson said. “We wanted it, we didn't want to have to come back to Cleveland.”

However, Curry was too much for the Cavaliers to handle and the Warriors took a 79-77 lead into the fourth. He finished the third quarter with 11 of his 25 points.

“We had a lot less breakdowns,” Curry said. “All-around mental toughness and effort, but we still got to rebound better.”

In the fourth, defense was the defining factor for the Warriors. They stretched their lead to nine and Curry iced the game with clutch free throws at the end.

“Defense is a constant night in and night out,” said Warriors forward Andre Iguodala in a postgame interview. “We want to make it as tough as possible for the opponent.”

The Warriors made an NBA finals record 17 three's in game 4 and Curry said it was just the shot they were most confident in tonight.

“You got to make them and you got to have confidence,” Curry said. “We got guys stepping up when they need to.”

“Roaracle” will be alive Monday night, packed with Warrior fans hoping to see their team win its first title on home court.

“It's going to be our biggest game of the year,” Curry said. “Just because we are going home, does not mean we can relax.”

Martin Jones leads the series back to San Jose

Infographic by Kavin Mistry

The best road team in the NHL lived up to the bill on the biggest stage Thursday night with a big win in Pittsburgh to send the Stanley Cup final back to San Jose.

Down 3-1 in series, the Sharks win a must-win game 4-2 on the back of their goalie Martin Jones, who had a game for the ages, 44 saves and none of them cheap. Those 44 saves are the most in a game ending in regulation in the playoffs since 1988.

“Just not this series and not tonight but he’s been doing this all year,” said Sharks forward Joe Thornton in a postgame interview. “He’s the backbone of our team and we just feel so much confidence coming out of him, but just a fantastic performance by him tonight.”

Jones is 7-2 in the playoffs this postseason in games after a loss for the Sharks. He brought a calming presence to his team that needed a big lift from him in order to win this game. Despite the 4-2 win for the Sharks, the entire game was controlled by the Penguins, they outshot the Sharks 46-21, but Jones was the difference maker.

The Sharks wasted no time in this game taking their first regulation lead of the series. Defenseman Brent Burns got the team on the board just over a minute into the game with a strong play behind the net before firing a wrist shot past Penguins goalie Matt Murray.

“It was huge, it was huge,” Thornton said. “We haven’t played with a lead this whole series, to get the first goal and then the second goal, they came back and scored two quick ones but we rallied and scored that third one.”

The lead did not take long to grow, just under two minutes later, on a shot by Sharks defenseman Justin Braun, forward Logan Couture tipped it home past Murray. Couture had an incredible game for the Sharks, he finished with a goal and two assists, having an important role in three of the Sharks four goals.

“All day we were a loose group,” said Sharks captain Joe Pavelski in a postgame interview. “The thought behind it was ‘we want this one, we want this one’ and we did not want it to end tonight.”

Couture, who did not have a great season for the Sharks this year has been a difference maker this postseason, eclipsing 29 points so far.

“He’s been a rock for us all season,” Pavelski said. “All playoffs he has been solid, shows up and is finding the puck, finding some ice and it was definitely something we needed.”

The lead however was short lived. The Penguins fired back with two goals within 22 seconds of each other to tie the game back up at two. Sharks players said postgame that when the Penguins tied it they felt no pressure, they knew what they had to do.

“Relax, relax, it is a long game and there are going to be ups and downs,” Thornton said. “We have been doing this for so long that there is no panic in our game.”

The Sharks knew the game was far from over when the Penguins tied it and their resiliency showed later in the first period when unlikely playoff hero Melker Karlsson buried a wrist shot past Murray to put the Sharks up again.

The 3-2 lead stuck for the Sharks through the second and third periods, aided by an empty netter by Pavelski late in the third to increase the lead to 4-2. That goal was first for Pavelski in these Stanley Cup finals.

“We are excited to get back home and try to force a game seven,” said Sharks forward Chris Tierney in a postgame interview. “We’ll just take it one game at a time.”

The Sharks still have a long way to go if they want to hoist the Stanley Cup, but they kept their hopes alive with this big victory in game 5, setting up game 6 on Sunday at the SAP Center.

Warriors unable to find offense in game 3, Cavaliers come alive

The saga of the game 3 woes have continued now for the Golden State Warriors. The Cleveland Cavaliers have jumped back into the series with the Warriors fourth loss in game 3’s this postseason.

Cleveland controlled the game from beginning to end, without skipping a step. Anytime the Warriors seemed to be gaining life on offense, the Cavaliers shut them down with lights out shooting.

“We weren’t tough enough,” said Warriors head coach Steve Kerr in a postgame interview. “We can’t be soft in game four if we want to win.”

The Warriors looked befuddled on the court all night, watching the Cavaliers hit shot after shot and playing lights out defense that was non-existent in games one and two.

“They came out like their season was on the line,” said Warriors forward Draymond Green in a postgame interview. “We came out like peaches and cream.”

One of the bright spots for the Warriors was their bench. Down 20 (33-13) in the first quarter, they brought them back to within eight points at halftime. However, the comeback was short lived as the Cavaliers came out and dominated the second half, which left the Warriors floundering.

“We were turning the ball over like crazy, we played soft,” Kerr said. “We fought back and were only down eight at the half, but it is going to take more than an effort like that to win a finals game.”

Infographic by Kavin Mistry

In the second half the Warriors valiant effort at trying to come back was slammed shut by the Cavaliers, who forced

The defining stats of the game were the Cavaliers out rebounding the Warriors 52-32 and scoring 34 points off of 18 Warrior turnovers.

“We are all to blame, we win together, we lose together,” said Warriors guard Klay Thompson in a postgame interview. “That’s on us and we are going to come out much better on Friday.”

The Cavaliers stars came to play on Wednesday night with the absence of Kevin Love due to concussion, Lebron James scored 32 points and Kyrie Irving scored 30, 16 of which came in the first quarter.

Warriors guard Steph Curry struggles in the finals continued on Wednesday and hit a new low in the first half. By halftime, Curry only had two points and into the third quarter he had double the number of turnovers than points (two points, four turnovers).

“It was all on me,” said Curry in a postgame interview. “They were playing aggressive defense and they came out with a big punch. I didn’t do anything about it or play my game.”

Curry, Thompson and Green all said the team fell flat tonight and the Cavaliers flat outplayed them.

“Not the way we wanted the night to go,” Curry said. “But we have a great opportunity on Friday to take control of the series.”

Despite the loss, the Warriors still lead the series 2-1 and have a chance to take a commanding 3-1 lead home with a win on Friday.

Penguins control the tempo in game 4, push Sharks to the brink

Infographic and photo by Kavin Mistry

In their first Stanley Cup Final in team history, the San Jose Sharks are now being pushed to the brink of elimination at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins after a disappointing 3-1 loss at home Monday.

The Sharks are now left searching for answers as they have yet to take a lead in any game in this series beyond their 3-2 overtime win (only lead coming when scoring the final goal).

“We are going to throw out and throw everything we possibly can at them,” said Sharks forward Logan Couture in a postgame interview. “We have to win a hockey game.”

Infographic by Kavin Mistry

The game began like all three previously, the Penguins got off to a fast start and jumped on the board in the first period off a tough break for Sharks goalie Martin Jones. After the shot bounced off of Jones, Penguins forward Ian Cole buried the one timer over Jones’ shoulder.

“We have been chasing the game the whole series by not scoring first,” said Sharks head coach Peter Deboer in a postgame interview. “So that takes you out of your four line rhythm and affects all parts of your game.”

This held true as DeBoer was forced to shuffle his lines halfway through the second period when the Sharks were desperate to find the back of the net.

“We haven’t played at our best yet,” said Sharks defensman Paul Martin in a postgame interview. “Everyone has another level that we can rely on and we can get to it.”

The Penguins struck again in the beginning of the second period, capitalizing on a bad penalty taken by Sharks forward Melker Karlsson. Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin tipped the shot passed Jones.

“It makes it tougher,” said Sharks captain Joe Pavelski in a postgame interview. “They have played well with the lead so far, (...) but all playoffs when we had the lead we know what that felt like so you can take confidence from it.”

The Sharks came faster in the third period, spending a lot of time in the Penguins zone and peppering Pittsburgh goalie Matt Murray with shots. Finally the Sharks got on the scoreboard when Karlsson drilled a wrist shot past Murray with 11:53 left in the third.

“Tonight was a little better, we shot the puck a little bit more,” Pavelski said. “Guys made some plays and got some looks, we will find a way.”

The Penguins defense however did not waver, they stood tall to the task of not allowing the Sharks to get anymore solid offensive zone time and Murray shut the door. Penguins forward Eric Fehr added the final dagger in the Sharks night with a rocket of a shot past Jones with just over two minutes left in the third.

“We had enough chances to tie it up and obviously that goal there late by them was a tough one to give up,” Couture said. “We have to move past it, there are things in games that are going to frustrate you, but you have to move on quickly.”

The Sharks now find themselves on the brink of being knocked out in their first Stanley Cup Finals and face the tall task of needed to win all the remaining three games.

“We just have to stay positive,” Martin said. “We have a lot of leadership in this room and character guys that have been through alot and we believe in the group we have in here.”

Game five will be in Pittsburgh on Thursday and the players said they will be ready and they know what they need to do.

“Our game plan is simple now, we got to win,” said Sharks forward Nick Spaling in a postgame interview. “That is our focus, we are going to go in there and we got to get a win.”

The heartbeat of the Warriors leads the charge in game 2

The beat does not stop for the Warriors, who took a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals on Sunday with a dominant 110-77 win over the Cavaliers.

The game was lead by a revitalized Draymond Green, who was knocking down three's like Steph Curry. The Warriors took advantage of a lackluster Cavaliers defense that had no answer for the defending champs.

"The way they're guarding us, Draymond is open a lot," said Warriors head coach Steve Kerr in a postgame interview. "So he becomes our safety valve when there's pressure (...) good situation for him."

Cavaliers forward Lebron James was held in check offensively by the Warriors, scoring zero points in the first quarter and finishing with only 19 for the game.

The splash brothers Curry and Klay Thompson had a much better game and combined for 35 points.

The game came down to the ball handling skills of the Warriors over the Cavaliers. The Warriors kept moving the ball around on offense, always finding the open shooter. The Cavaliers had trouble moving the ball around the Warriors defense, committing 17 turnovers.

In the beginning of the game the Cavaliers came out firing, pushing the Warriors defense off and hitting constant mid range jumpers. But the Warriors ability to score on second chance opportunities on the offensive end kept them close.

Infographic by Kavin Mistry

However, despite the Warriors success on offense, Curry fell into foul trouble early and the Cavaliers looked to capitalize. Green did not let them. He filled in shooting the lid off the basket, finishing the game with 28 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

“Steph was on the bench in foul trouble and someone has to step up,” said Green in a postgame interview. “I don’t look at that situation and think ‘oh I need to take over offensively,’ but the shots were coming my way.”

The Warriors hit their offense stride in the second quarter after the Cavaliers went up by four, the Warriors countered with a 17-2 run to push ahead for good.

“We really stayed poised,” Green said. “We were up for a minute and then they went on that run, but everybody kept their poise and we continued to trust the offense.”

Cleveland had no answer from there. The combination of beautiful passing by the Warriors and inability to find any consistency on the offensive end, the Cavaliers kept falling further into a hole.

“They will play with a little more energy,” said Thompson in a postgame interview. “It’s natural when you go home, they might go big, but we will be prepared. I am just happy with the way we battled tonight.”

The Warriors pushed the lead to 20 at the end of the third quarter before slamming the door on the night in game 2.

"We know things will change when we go to Cleveland," Kerr said. "We know it won't be easy."

Golden State outscored Cleveland 58-33 in the second half.

"The only thing we did tonight was defend home court," Green said. "At the end of the day, it counts as one win."

All of the Warriors players said postgame that this game was only one and there is still a lot of work still in front of them if they want to win it all.

"We still have a lot of work to do," said Warriors center Andrew Bogut in a postgame interview.

Donskoi finishes off a thriller in OT

With 7:42 left in overtime, Sharks forward Joonas Donskoi sniped a turnaround wrist shot through two Penguins defensemen to get San Jose back into the series.

The Sharks snapped their winless drought in postseason overtime games with a key win at home. This Sharks avoided falling into a 3-0 hole against the Penguins.

Donskoi, to many an unlikely source of offense has been a huge part of the Sharks resurgence this season and postseason. He had a slew of chances throughout the game but was finally able to cap it off and send all the San Jose fans home happy.

Infographic by Kavin Mistry

“I think that I have had a lot of scoring chances throughout the whole finals and this was a good time to get one,” said Sharks forward Joonas Donskoi in a postgame interview.

The Sharks have now put themselves back into the series and now have a chance to tie it up before heading back to Pittsburgh for game 5.

“We feel good about ourselves,” said Sharks forward Joe Thornton in a postgame interview. “We got some real good chances, when we got the chances we really made them count.”

The Sharks started the night off to another rocky start. From the start the Penguins forwards were applying their fast paced game plan and an untimely turnover led to Pittsburgh striking first.

The Sharks found themselves in a familiar spot, having fell behind in the first two games in Pittsburgh. However this time they found the counterpunch.

Sharks defenseman Justin Braun blasted a slap shot from above the circle past a screened Penguins goalie Matt Murray who didn’t move before the shot hit the back of the net. Braun has now scored for the Sharks in back to back games, both coming when the team needed a spark.

“Just get the puck on the net, I’m not really looking for much more,” Braun said in a postgame interview. “We really wanted to put them in a more vulnerable position, that way we can push them back.”

Penguins forward, Patric Hornqvist, broke the tie in the second period on an unlucky break for Sharks goalie, Martin Jones, when he put it past the Sharks defense with under a minute to go in the period.  

The Sharks looked for the counter in the third and got it on the power play. Forward Joel Ward ripped a slapshot from the slot past Matt Murray that stunned the Penguins and the crowd.

“That was big, and we were pushing,” said Sharks captain Joe Pavelski in a postgame interview. “You see him wind up and it was great to get that goal.”

“Different guys have been scoring goals and Ward got that big second goal,” said Sharks forward Joe Thornton in a postgame interview. “We liked our game and we played our game tonight.”

The teams exchanged back and forth opportunities in the final 10 minutes of the third, but both came up empty. The game headed to overtime and Sharks fans held their breath. The Sharks came into the game 0-4 in overtime this postseason and lost a heartbreaker in game 2 in overtime.

“We have always felt good and we are always upbeat,” Ward said. “It was pretty chill and relaxed, we knew that we had to come out hard and play our game.”

Through the first 10 minutes of overtime both teams exchanged glorious chances to score but were just short of getting the puck past the goalies, until Donskoi became the hero for the Sharks and scored the game winning goal.

“They got a few good looks in overtime, but then Donskoi got the big goal,” said Sharks forward Logan Couture in a postgame interview. “I saw the puck go into the net and I tried to jump off the bench as fast as possible, ... It was a huge goal for us and it came at the best time.”

Jones came up with another stellar night in goal for the Sharks, continuing his incredible run in net this postseason.

“I just feel so much relief,” Jones said in a postgame interview. “We have put in a lot of work, everybody knows what’s at stake.”

The Sharks will look to tie the series in game 4 on Monday from SAP Center in San Jose.

“I think this was the best game by us so far,” Donskoi said. “A great effort by the whole team and we got a lot of scoring chances and it felt great for the team.”