The San Jose Sharks chances at ending a magical season with their first championship took another crushing blow Wednesday night in Pittsburgh.
Just 2:35 into overtime, Penguins forward Conor Sheary flipped a wrist shot past Sharks goalie Martin Jones, sinking the Sharks into an 0-2 hole in the best of seven Stanley Cup Final.
The overtime loss was just another heart-wrenching blow for Sharks fans, who have seen their team fall in all four overtime contests this postseason.
“It is what it is, that’s hockey,” said Sharks forward Matt Nieto in a postgame interview. “We are right there with them, we know that one more bounce the other way and we could get some wins.”
The Sharks started off the game slow, similar to game one, but this time it carried through the second period as well. San Jose only managed 11 shots through the first two periods.
“They are good on the forecheck and their back pressure,” said Sharks captain Joe Pavelski in a postgame interview. “We made some soft plays, up the wall and they have done a good job of knocking those down.”
The Sharks lone goal came late in the second period off the stick of defenseman Justin Braun, who buried a wrist shot from boards past Penguins goalie Matt Murray. The shot was aided by a timely screen set by Sharks forward Joel Ward, who blocked Murray’s vision of the puck. The goal came with 4:05 left in the third.
Jones had another strong showing in net for the Sharks, despite giving up the two goals, Jones rose to the occasion several times, making key saves to keep the team in the game.
“He’s playing great, he’s played great,” Nieto said. “No fault on him, he plays his heart out.”
A few players postgame said they are impressed with the goaltending of Jones so far in this series, they just need to turn up the tempo on offense.
“It’s up to us to find more ways to score and not turn the puck over,” said Sharks forward Logan Couture in a postgame interview. “I thought we created some chances there in the last couple minutes to give ourselves a chance to win.”
The Penguins first goal came after a defensive breakdown by the Sharks in the second period, which led to a tip in goal for Penguins forward Phil Kessel into an empty net.
Through two games in this series, the Pittsburgh defense has given San Jose fits in the offensive end, causing quick exits from their zone whenever the Sharks are trying to attack.
“They swarm a lot,” Couture said. “They put five guys in one quadrant and it’s up to us to break it, the biggest thing is you got to move your feet to get out of there.”
Pavelski said the team has not reached its full potential yet and there is still a lot more this team has to prove before this series is over.
“In the first part of the game they had the puck a little more,” Pavelski said. “They had their couple chances and we had ours, ... I think we still have another level.”
The Sharks came into the game 5-1 this postseason in games following a loss, with the only other back to back losses coming in the first two road games of the Nashville series in round two.
“It is important for us to establish our game early,” Nieto said. “It’s our turn to win a few at home.”
The Sharks will look to regroup the next couple days at home before game 3 on Saturday at SAP Center in San Jose.
“It’s a tough building to play in for other teams,” Nieto said. “We are excited to get back there and ‘The Tank’ should be rocking.”
No comments:
Post a Comment