We’re three games into the 2016 Stanley Cup Final, and it’s needless to say that hockey fans have been in for a real treat thus far. Every contest has been decided by one goal, the last two taking overtime to determine a winner.
While the experts favored the San Jose Sharks to win their first ever title entering the series, Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins did not waste any time to show what they were made of, jumping out to a 2-0 series lead by effectively using their home ice advantage in the Steel City.
What’s notable is that the Penguins were driven not by the veteran players in those wins, but rather by a pair of rookies. Goaltender Matt Murray only allowed two goals in game one and one goal in game two, while winger Conor Sheary scored in each contest, including the overtime winner in game two. Pittsburgh never trailed in either game.
It looked as if Pittsburgh might put Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski and company on the brink of elimination when the Penguins scored first yet again in game three at the SAP center in San Jose, this time with Ben Lovejoy finding the back of the net early on in the first period, Lovejoy ending the night with both goals for Pittsburgh in the game. San Jose however would respond twice, first with Justin Braun and then Joel Ward answering the bell, sending the game into a 2-2 tie that would last to the end of regulation.
Cue overtime. Pittsburgh was clearly the better looking team in that period from puck control to scoring chances, but it didn’t matter. Joonas Donskoi would send a wrap-around chance right past Murray into the back of the net, cutting the Pittsburgh series lead in half with a 3-2 San Jose victory, the franchise’s first single game victory in a Stanley Cup Final.
Which begs the question – after Pittsburgh looked too hot to contain in the early going, has the series shifted into the favor of San Jose?
Well, that’s a tough question to answer. Despite the win, San Jose has yet to lead at any point in a contest before the final buzzer in this series. Sure, game four will be played in San Jose as well, and with the home team winning each of the first three contests, you could say that the Sharks are destined to make the Stanley Cup Final a best of three series. Even if you do use the home-ice advantage argument in favor of the Sharks coming back however, the bottom line is that Pittsburgh still has it on their side at least until the final seconds tick off the clock in game five.
We can also confidently say now that while the Sharks are on an emotional high from finally getting over the hump and reaching the final, their lack of experience in this position has been evident. For the first time in the postseason they look to be feeling the pressure – pressure by a Pittsburgh squad that has leaders who, unlike Thornton and Pavelski, have proven that they know how to win a Stanley Cup (particularly on the road in a game seven, which may be the hardest thing to accomplish in the NHL). Let alone, it has been rookies and the unlikely suspects like Sheary, Rust and Bonino rather than the veterans such as Crosby, Malkin, Letang and Kunitz that have been leading the charge.
That said, would I like to see San Jose win game four for the sake of making this an even more exciting and unpredictable series? Absolutely, but from what I’ve seen, Pittsburgh is playing like they want this more, which surprising considering they’re facing a Sharks team that has waited 25 years for this moment. Even if San Jose knots things up at two-apiece come Monday night, this still appears to be the Penguins’ series to lose.