Sunday, June 05, 2016

New blood, new attitude lead Sharks to rebound win in Game 3 over Penguins


Pierre LeBrunESPN Senior Writerhttp://espn.go.com/nhl/June 5, 2016
San Jose Sharks Joonas Donskoi (27) scores a game winning overtime goal as the Pittsburgh Penguins fall to the San Jose Sharks 3-2 in game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, June 4, 2016.
San Jose Sharks Joonas Donskoi (27) scores a game winning overtime goal as the Pittsburgh Penguins fall to the San Jose Sharks 3-2 in game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, June 4, 2016. (sfbay.ca/)
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Just over a half period away from staring down a 3-0 series deficit in the Stanley Cup finals, perhaps the cruelest of tricks for a fan base that has waited 25 years just to get here, the San Jose Sharks reminded us Saturday night why this season's squad is indeed different.
In years past, if the big boys ran out of tricks, San Jose grounded to a halt.
But these aren't yesteryear's Sharks.
Two free-agent signings from a year ago provided the heroics Saturday night:Joel Ward with the slap shot heard across the Bay to tie the game 8:32 into the third period and Joonas Donskoi with the roof job 12:18 into overtime, a goal that as of this moment goes down as the biggest in Sharks history.
Everyone take a breath. What a game it was.
The 3-2 overtime win cuts the Pittsburgh Penguins' series lead to 2-1 and gives everyone a little to think about.
For starters, on a night when Sharks center Joe Thornton had two assists and tried all he could to carry his team to victory, nearly ending overtime twice with a pair of chances, he received help from two members of the supporting cast.
"It's been huge," Thornton said of his team's newfound depth this season. "It's the reason we're here. Just different guys scoring big goals. Wardy with that second one was a huge goal and then Donnie to score in overtime. It's game in, game out, different guys stepping up to the plate, and that's the reason we're here."
Not to mention that trade for goalie Martin Jones last summer, right? The 26-year-old has had a spectacular Cup finals; he was downright outstanding Saturday night, making 40 saves.
But Donskoi? The free-agent signing who garnered more attention last May wasArtemi Panerin, whom the Chicago Blackhawks inked to a contract. The Russian put on a show this season en route to a Calder Trophy nomination.
But 19 days after Panerin's signature in Chicago, the Sharks quietly beat out a few other teams to the Finnish league playoff MVP. Sharks fans, and a few Sharks players, immediately went to Google the name D-O-N-S-K-O-I.
The question is, why did Donskoi choose the Sharks?
"They were the first team to show interest in me. That was a big thing," said the Game 3 OT hero. "I think about it with my agent, and I thought [the] Sharks were a great organization doing great work, a lot of great guys, good leaders in guys like Pav and Jumbo, Marleau, Wardo coming in; I thought that would be the type of room for a young guy like me. Great balance. Great organization. I'm so happy that I picked Sharks."
The feeling's mutual.
"He's the real deal, a real good player for us. We wouldn't be here without him," said Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer.
"Donskoi has had an unbelievable playoff season," said Sharks defensemanJustin Braun, who opened the scoring for San Jose. "Tons of skill. And Wardo just seems to find the big goal when we need it. Pretty impressive his track record coming over from Washington and now doing it for us. It's huge."
Seven playoff goals this spring for the veteran Ward. Six playoff goals for Donskoi. That's 13 goals that don't exist without the work of general manager Doug Wilson a year ago.
The other part of the story on this night was the belief this Sharks team has built this spring. Giving up a late second-period goal Saturday night to Patric Hornqvist with less than a minute to go to fall behind 2-1, well, that's the kind of stuff that can kill a team given what's on the line.
Instead, the Sharks rose up to the challenge.
"We just figured it would turn eventually. We had some good looks," said Sharks forward Logan Couture, who joined Thornton and Joe Pavelski on the big line to end the game.
The mood in the dressing room between the third period and overtime?
"We've always felt good; the group's always upbeat," Ward said. "Basically it was pretty chilled and relax. Just come out hard and play our game."
Some people might not believe that, but if you've been around this Sharks team long enough, you know it's what makes them tick. They're a goofy, relaxed group that loves playing hockey together. So despite facing a 3-0 series deficit with another overtime loss, they were Zen before the extra period.
"Calm, veteran group. You don't want to get too antsy," Braun said of the dressing room before overtime. "You just got to go out there and play your game. You lean on your older, veteran guys. They led us tonight."
Speaking of leading the way, Braun and partner Marc-Edouard Vlasic were outstanding in Game 3 in a highly anticipated matchup with Sidney Crosby's unit. The last line change allowed Peter DeBeor to deploy Braun and Vlasic more often against No. 87.
"Yeah, I thought we did a pretty good job tonight," Braun said. "They're such a hard line to play against. They don't stop moving their feet, tons of skill. I thought we did a better job tonight than we did the last couple of games."
Now, the Sharks are hardly out of the woods. They were outshot again by the Penguins, this time 42-26, and still haven't imposed their will like they did in the three previous rounds. Pittsburgh enjoyed long stretches of dominance Saturday night.
But the shot clock didn't paint the entire picture. San Jose enjoyed better quality zone time in this game, a step up from Games 1-2 in Pittsburgh. And the Penguins had a whopping 38 blocked shots, which can be taken in two different ways. Sure, it means the Sharks can be frustrated they're not getting enough through. On the other hand ...
"That's a good sign," Ward said. "If you're playing in the offensive zone, they're blocking shots, you're getting opportunities. Just keep firing away."
Precisely.
So while Brent Burns might get frustrated having 12 of his shot attempts blocked by the Penguins on Saturday night, it also means his team is cooking in the offensive zone.
"They're doing a great job," Burns said of Pittsburgh blocking his shots. "They're sacrificing. We ask our guys to do the same thing. I think those are big reasons why both teams are probably here. You try to get it by the first guy, and if it's a second and third, you hope it bounces somewhere else. They're doing a good job. It's my job to try to get it by those guys and create stuff. It's tough."
Then a light-hearted thought.
"Hopefully they run out of sticks soon," Burns said. "Try to break their budget. We'll see."
The goofballs have life again. Stayed tuned; these Cup finals just became compelling.
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Saturday, June 04, 2016

Pittsburgh Penguins have been frustrating the San Jose Sharks at both ends of the ice


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SAN JOSE — Donald Trump’s rally here Thursday night really ought to have been held at the arena emblazoned with SAP, as a beacon to his devotees.
Instead, it was at the convention centre, a 15-minute stroll away from the SAP Center, home of the San Jose Sharks, who wouldn’t mind, while The Donald is making America great again, if he could sprinkle a little of his fairy dust in their direction.
The Sharks, down 0-2 to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup final, badly need to be great again themselves — something more like the squad that dispatched the L.A. Kings in five games and the St. Louis Blues in six — but so far, even pretty good has been out of reach of Los Tiburones, as they are known hereabouts.
Their problem, alas, has a lot to do with Los Pinguinos, who are well on their way to dispelling the accepted wisdom about Eastern teams’ inferiority.
The scoreboard may not reflect it, 3-2 and 2-1 decisions looking less than convincing, but the Sharks are getting trampled by the Penguins’ happy feet.
When the Sharks lost to the Kings in 2013 and 2014 — especially the latter, when they led the first-round series 3-0 and lost the last four games, outscored 12-2 in Games 5-7 — it was like being worn down finally by repeated blows from a blunt instrument.
This isn’t like that.

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This is the Sharks suffering from a lethal combination of Pittsburgh speed and commitment. From aggressive forecheck to relentless back pressure, the Penguins have played both ends with equal zest, giving a highly productive offensive hockey club almost zero time to make a play that doesn’t look either desperately rushed or borderline panicked.
Every pass and shot is contested, every Penguin who plays the puck pays a physical price … it is modern hockey, a clinic of what Mike Babcock has labelled the 200-foot game (patent pending).
“What we’ve really liked is just our overall team defence,” Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan said Thursday, in an off-day conference call with reporters.
“It’s not just about playing in our end zone, it’s about our puck-pursuit game up the ice. I think we’re best when we’re defending 180 feet from our net, where we’re forcing our opponents to have to make plays under pressure, limiting zone time, keeping our gaps tight.”
Speed is one thing — the Sharks must have been prepared for that — but few saw coming the excellence of a very ordinary-sounding Pittsburgh defence corps, which consists of one legitimate star, Kris Letang, and five labourers, none of whom would be better than a No. 4 on a first-class blueline corps.
But the Sharks have been unable to expose them in the same way the Penguins have created chaos in the San Jose end when either Marc-Edouard Vlasic or Brent Burns isn’t on the ice, and sometimes even when they are.
“I think they’ve done a great job as a group of six,” Sullivan said of his blueliners. “They really have been our unsung heroes. They go back for pucks, they take hits, they make plays, they help us get out of our end zone, defending extremely hard, blocking shots.
“I think they’re doing a lot of those thankless jobs that don’t necessarily show up on the score sheet or it’s difficult to quantify in a statistic. They just help teams win.”
Throw in rookie goalie Matt Murray, unflappable and brimming with confidence, and Sidney Crosby playing at the top of his game, and rookie shooters Bryan Rust and Conor Sheary scoring like all-stars, and everything has gone the Penguins’ way through two games.
They have the Sharks so frustrated, Joe Thornton is trying to pick fights with Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, and Logan Couture, one of the leaders of the Sharks’ second wave, is accusing Crosby of cheating on faceoffs.
Actually, what Crosby is doing is playing better than anyone else right now, with such a high level of pure effort, his teammates are compelled to join in.
The Sharks’ chief consolation to this point is that not all the games are played in Pittsburgh. They are 7-2 at the Shark Tank in this post-season, so even though teams that jump out to a 2-0 lead in a best-of-seven Cup final are batting .898 at closing the deal, the Sharks can always cling to the old axiom that is dear to the heart of every team that ever tried to claw its way back.
You know the one: The series doesn’t start until the home team loses a game.
“We’ve got another level and we’re going to have to find it here,” San Jose captain Joe Pavelski after Game 2. “It goes to this next game. They’ve done their job here at home, but we’ve got to go win the next one.”
It sounds simple enough, not unlike the slogan on Donald Trump’s ball cap, which is selling at the kiosk across the street for only $19.95, plus tax.
The words are easy. Delivering on them is harder.

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Penguins living and winning by Sullivan's 'just play' motto


BY JOE STARKEY
http://triblive.com/sports/
June 3, 2016


Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan gives instructions during the first period in Game 2 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals against the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday, June 1, 2016, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Barely a year ago, fairly or not, the Penguins were perceived as a whiny, often-combustible bunch of underachievers. And they knew it.
Take their treatment of officials. I remember asking Kris Letang before last spring's playoffs about the team's less-than-flattering reputation. The Penguins were known for constantly complaining and turning officials against them.
“It's the way people see us,” Letang said. “For years, and we're not afraid of saying it, we've been all over the referees, yelling and complaining. I think we've made strides. But I think it's not perfect yet.”
Well, it's still not perfect. But it's getting there fast. Credit coach Mike Sullivan with the primary assist. Among his many contributions, Sullivan found a way to direct his players' emotions toward the proper channels.
The first step was to make sure they actually had emotions.
When he arrived, Sullivan encountered a somewhat lifeless group. He wanted fire, and he wanted his captain to ignite it. He let it be known he preferred the possessed Sidney Crosby, wearing passion on his sleeve, to the blank-stare-on-the-bench Crosby. He wanted that kind of energy up and down his roster, and if that meant sometimes overshooting the mark, so be it. Coaches always could step in to temper the flames.
Once spirits rose, Sullivan began pounding home the idea of just playing the game. He was well aware of the Penguins' raps. He knew they had come undone in playoffs past. He knew they were seen as fragile and volatile.
The solution?
“Just play.”
The Penguins began to live by that motto. Sully's saying has even been printed on the backs of T-shirts players wear around the locker room. You might have seen him pounding home the idea during his pregame speech before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.
As players sat at their stalls, Sullivan delivered the following message. He wasn't kicking garbage cans as he talked, either. Just a firm, even delivery:
“We can't be off the charts so high that we lose our focus. We need controlled emotion. We need laser focus. Regardless of what happens out there, good or bad, we just play. That's what we've done all season. We just play. OK? That's why it's on the back of your T-shirts, right? Let's play fast. Let's play fearless, and let's have a relentless attack. Let's get Game 1.”
So they did, taking only two penalties. In Game 2, the Penguins were called for only one, rendering San Jose's vaunted power play useless. Since the beginning of the Tampa Bay series, the Penguins have committed two or fewer penalties in seven of nine games.
But this is about way more than staying out of the box. It's about having the maturity to disregard potential distractions and potentially catastrophic in-game events. Like blowing a 3-1 lead after three delay-of-game penalties against the Capitals in Game 6. Or facing elimination against Tampa Bay. Or playing without your top two goalies or your No. 1 defenseman. Or your No. 2 defenseman. It's about setting vengeance aside after injurious hits like the one Ryan Callahan put on Letang or Patrick Marleau put on Bryan Rust.
Most symbolically of all, it's about Crosby shrugging off two punches to the head from Joe Thornton, one of which knocked his helmet off. Sid didn't even look at him.
The Penguins have learned the best form of vengeance is winning. They aren't perfect, by any means. Letang and Evgeni Malkin still lose their minds at times. But you know who they are starting to resemble? Those old Red Wings teams.
Remember in 2008 when the Penguins spent entire games trying to stir up trouble, and the Red Wings flicked them aside like gnats, or, as Brooks Orpik put it, “laughed at us?” Well, these Penguins are more like those Wings than one could have ever imagined.
You know a coach's message is getting through when all the players start talking like him. The first player I ran into after the game Wednesday was Rust. I wondered what was said before overtime, if anyone stepped up with a message after San Jose's dramatic tying goal.
“No, not really,” Rust said. “We were talking like it was any other intermission. We knew if we played the right way, we'd come out on top.”
In other words, no need for drama. Just play.
Joe Starkey co-hosts a show 2 to 6 p.m. weekdays on 93.7 FM. Reach him atjraystarkey@gmail.com.
MORE PENGUINS/NHL
Penguins believe onus on Sharks to adjust as Stanley Cup Final progresses
Malkin's life on, off ice markedly different during current playoff run
Sharks coach: Penguins are 'matchup problems for everybody'
Penguins notebook: Crosby surprised by faceoff cheating accusation
Sharks' Pavelski, Thornton look to break through against Penguins in Game 3


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Friday, June 03, 2016

Sharks clearly swimming upstream vs. Penguins


By Mark Madden
June 3, 2016
Stanley Cup finals: Penguins vs. Sharks, Game 2
Conor Sheary scores the game-winning goal in Wednesday's 2-1 OT victory over the Sharks. (Kevin Lorenzi/The Times)
When San Jose’s Logan Couture complained about Sidney Crosby “cheating” on faceoffs after the Penguins won Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final in overtime, it was symptomatic of a much bigger problem than losing a draw, or a game.
The Sharks don’t know what to do.
That seems like overreaction if you saw the scores but didn’t watch the games. The Sharks lost two one-goal decisions, the first when Nick Bonino scored with 2:33 remaining in regulation and the second when Conor Sheary netted in OT.
But if you watched, you saw a Sharks team that couldn’t keep up with the Penguins. San Jose is being badly outclassed for pace, and frequently looks tired.
If the Sharks decide to slow down the tempo, perhaps via trapping, they abandon a quick, offensive style that has served them well over 102 games. San Jose coach Peter DeBoer would be understandably loath to do that.
But I don’t see a choice. The Sharks can’t catch the Penguins, and won’t gain any mph or endurance between now and Game 3 tomorrow.
It would be understandable if the life and legs have been drained from the Sharks.
San Jose has the most difficult travel schedule in the NHL. Three of their four playoff series have required flights of more than three hours.
Four of their best players – Brent Burns, Patrick Marleau, Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton – have played all 102 games. Marleau and Thornton are 36, Burns and Pavelski are 31. Perhaps that quartet is paying a price for its durability.
Couture’s comments seem a harbinger of San Jose’s frustration. The Sharks would like to think the source of their vexation is losing two winnable games. It’s good for the Penguins if the Sharks continue to believe that.
In reality, the Sharks just haven’t previously played a team like the Penguins. The Penguins have been clearly superior so far. Except for a maddening inability to put away games and a power play that badly betrays its talent, the Penguins are very near peak performance.
The referees called very little in the first two games of this series. Did you ever think that scenario would favor the Penguins?
The Sharks could bounce back. They are a very good team. Going home could be a panacea.
But while the Sharks have lots of quality vets, only one of their players, Dainius Zubrus, has played in the Stanley Cup Final before. He was a healthy scratch Wednesday. It’s a different level of play. A different kind of pressure.
The Penguins have seven players who had previously been to the final, including five who had been to two.
The Sharks remind me of the 2007-08 Penguins. Those Penguins lost the first two games in the final by a combined score of 7-0, and seemed to realize Detroit was better. The series lasted six games, but the result was never much in doubt.
In 2008-09, the Penguins also lost the first two games of the finals to Detroit. But their belief and resilience was evident even after those defeats, and those Penguins rallied to win the Stanley Cup in seven games.
The Sharks didn’t seem resilient after Game 2. Their comments alternated between robotic and frustrated.
I’ve followed the Penguins since the franchise’s first year, and there has been far more heartache than triumph. Take nothing for granted. Being up three games to none against the New York Islanders in 1975 taught me that.
But it’s hard to imagine the Sharks winning four of the next five games.
Unless they get better at cheating on faceoffs.
Mark Madden hosts a radio show 3-6 p.m. weekdays on WXDX-FM (105.9).
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Thursday, June 02, 2016

Penguins' Crosby on mission to claim Stanley Cup


BY ROB ROSSI
http://triblive.com/sports/
June 2, 2016

The Penguins' Sidney Crosby works in the offensive zone against the Sharks during the third period of Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday, June 1, 2016, at Consol Energy Center. (Chaz Palla/Tribune-Review)

Who won the faceoff? Who won the faceoff, then raced right to the net? Who is the reason the Penguins are halfway to winning the Stanley Cup?
Sidney Patrick Crosby. That's who.
And that's two for the captain's club in an already thrilling Stanley Cup Final.
“He's inspiring for our group,” coach Mike Sullivan said of Crosby, who diagrammed the sequence for winger Conor Sheary's overtime goal before winning the faceoff that set it up.
Sheary's goal set up the Penguins to cage the Sharks as the best-of-seven Cup Final shifts to San Jose. With a 2-1 victory in Game 2 on Wednesday night at Consol Energy Center, the Penguins staked the Sharks into a 2-0 series hole that probably feels as deep as the Pacific Ocean.
Of the Penguins' five goals in the Cup Final, three have come from rookies (Sheary and winger Bryan Rust). Another rookie, goalie Matt Murray, has allowed only three goals, though he has faced only 48 shots.
Look, the Penguins' much-ballyhooed rookies have been really good — critically good, even. But they've got nothing on Crosby.
Nobody on the ice has had anything close to what Crosby's had through a couple of games. And don't bring up him having only two assists because it's not about points.
He's setting a tone with his aggressiveness, determination and speed. At times, he's appeared to be moving too fast, as if he's been training for Canada's Olympics speed-skating squad.
“You can see it in his body language,” Sullivan said. “He's excited for this opportunity.”
Excited?
More like possessed.
Crosby, whose favorite pastime outside of hockey is fishing, is treating the Cup Final as though it's a deep-sea shark hunt.
On Tuesday afternoon, he was one of six Penguins to participate in an optional practice. During the session, Crosby worked on taking draws.
When it came time for one of the biggest of his career, Crosby shared some thoughts with the rookie winger who would end up scoring one of the biggest goals in a half-century of Penguins hockey.
“Sid came out to me before the draw and told me to line up on the wall,” Sheary said. “It worked out pretty perfectly.”
You think?
Crosby's win pushed the puck to defenseman Kris Letang, who moved it to Sheary. His shot bested Sharks goalie Martin Jones, again a hard-luck loser after keeping his club from being beached by an early Penguins' wave of speed, skill and staggeringly efficient puck possession.
Crosby's faceoff win was his 17th in Game 2. He lost only seven.
Sharks center Logan Couture cried foul, saying Crosby's success in the circle is because of his standing as the Face of Hockey.
What about all of the Sharks' interference that has gone uncalled even as it has held up Crosby in the neutral zone? Guess Couture hasn't noticed any of that.
Take notice of Crosby because he's turning June 2016 into his version of Roberto Clemente's October 1971 or Terry Bradshaw's Januaries of 1979 and '80. In other words, he's making it a month that will forever be identified with him by Pittsburghers.
Only thing he's not doing — aside from scoring goals — is setting off fireworks.
Don't dare worry. There will be time enough for those.
Another summer with Stanley is upon the Steel City. Though nearly the Penguins' equal when it comes to resiliency — and certainly second to none in terms of guts, grit and glue (look, they're not going to suddenly become chum) — the Sharks are not winning four of five.
Not against these Penguins.
But the Sharks' fate has nothing to do with the Penguins simply being better. If they are, it's not by that much.
The Penguins just happen to have the best player on the planet, and he's on a mission.
It's almost as though legacy is beckoning to Crosby after it taunted him all the springs that followed his greatest NHL moment.
Was the night the Penguins won the Cup in Detroit Crosby's greatest NHL moment? On June 12, 2009, he skated only one shift in the final half of Game 7 at Joe Louis Arena. An ailing leg — the result of him being pinned against the boards awkwardly by the Red Wings' Johan Franzen — planted Crosby on the bench.
Sure, he was healthy enough to take the Cup from commissioner Gary Bettman, then take a lap with it. Even took it to his bed that night, if memory serves.
Still, the fact remains the Penguins won their lone title of the Crosby era without their captain.
And the fact is he's performing in their first Final since as though his hockey life depends on the result.
Rob Rossi is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at rrossi@tribweb.com or via Twitter@RobRossi_Trib.
MORE PENGUINS/NHL
Sheary's OT winner carries Penguins past Sharks to 2-0 series lead 
Sharks continue to be frustrated by lack of shots on goal
Penguins doing some of best playoff work in overtime
Ex-Penguins coach Johnston quietly watches team's Stanley Cup Final run from afar
Penguins notebook: Punjabi call amuses Bonino, teammates
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Rookie trio of Murray, Rust, Sheary making a big difference for Penguins


By Brian Metzer
June 2, 2016
Stanley Cup finals: Penguins vs. Sharks, Game 2
Conor Sheary (43) celebrates his game-winning goal in overtime with Kris Letang (58), Patric Hornqvist (72) and Brian Dumoulin (8). (Kevin Lorenzi/The Times)

The Penguins are two wins away from the Stanley Cup championship, and  a cast of unlikely characters is leading them there.
They are still getting quality performances from players like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel and Kris Letang, but Matt Murray, Bryan Rust and Conor Sheary are carrying a huge load.
Sheary is the latest Wilkes-Barre/Scranton call-up to do something spectacular on the big stage that is the Stanley Cup Final, scoring the overtime-winning goal just 2:35 into the extra frame Wednesday night.
“That’s huge. That’s two goals in two games for a rookie in the Stanley Cup finals,” said Nick Bonino, who has his own overtime winner in these playoffs. “You couldn’t ask for anything more. Two great shots. He’s picking corners out there. It’s not a chip shot. He’s picking corners and it’s great to see.”
That has been the way of this run for the Penguins. They just keep winning games, and no matter how it happens, one of the three aforementioned players seems to leave his fingerprints on it.
Murray, who is probably the most recognized of the trio after starring through most of the playoffs, turned in another solid outing on Wednesday. He made 21 of 22 saves, winning his fourth overtime game on home ice.
Though he was a big reason for the victory, he reflected on how far this group has come over the past several months and the magnitude of their contributions. 
"It's exciting,” Murray said. “A lot of us have been together for a long time here, starting in (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton) and making our way up here. We're all pretty close friends and it's fun to be on this ride with all of them.
"And that's a huge goal from Conor. He's been doing that for us all season. So, it's fun to watch." 
Rust, who became a Pittsburgh playoff legend with four goals in three games coming into Game 2, was overwhelmed earlier in the day when he saw a huge contingent of reporters waiting for him. He openly admitted that it was something he wasn’t accustomed to, but he is starting to warm up to those crowds.
It is helping him gain the same appreciation that was evident in Murray’s words about the group, which has moved up together through the organization since 2012.
“Oh man, it’s a feeling you can’t really replace," Rust said. "Just to see all of us that have gone through it all together being able to contribute at different times is great. Obviously it brings a smile to my face. 
“We obviously have a lot of work left to do. We’re getting one step closer and the goal is getting closer. We can see it. We smell it. We just have to keep pushing a little bit harder.”
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Sharks hope for new life as Cup Final turns to San Jose

June 2, 2016
Pittsburgh Penguins' Phil Kessel (81) scores a goal behind San Jose Sharks goalie Martin Jones (31) during the second period in Game 2 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals on Wednesday, June 1, 2016, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) 
PITTSBURGH – Teeth bared and head shaking, Logan Couture made little attempt to hide the festering frustration. As the first night of June neared its end, the San Jose Sharks were still digesting the knockout blow slugged 155 seconds into overtime—a perfect plan, a rookie’s one-footed wrister, a 2-0 hole heading back home. “We need to be a lot better,” Couture said. “We know that if we play this way, we’re not going to win games.”
Down the hallway at Consol Energy Center, the Pittsburgh Penguins reveled in their 2-1 triumph. Before beating Joel Ward clean on an offensive-zone faceoff, Sidney Crosby had positioned linemate Conor Sheary along the half-wall, which Sheary later said was a new maneuver. Then Crosby told defenseman Kris Letang to stay patient, to pass up a potential one-timer at the blue line and instead wait for Sheary to loop into the slot. When the puck slid back to him, Letang obliged. Left open above the hashmarks, Sheary fired into traffic and, before he even realized the puck had hit the net, became the fifth rookie ever and first since 1986 with a sudden-death winner in the Stanley Cup Final. “To find a way, it definitely feels good,” Crosby said. “To see guys get rewarded, and everyone get rewarded for their hard work, yeah, it’s nice to see.”
Inside the visiting locker room, though, the Sharks faced a grim reality. By losing two straight for only the second time this postseason, by falling in overtime for the fourth time in four tries, by again laboring against Pittsburgh’s speed, they will fly west Thursday still seeking answers. “I think we’ll hold off on the funeral. We’ve got a lot of hockey left to play,” coach Pete DeBoer said, and though there indeed remains enough time to reverse early trends, it’s being shaved thin. 
“We’ve gone through a lot in these playoffs,” said defenseman Justin Braun, who scored San Jose’s tying goal with 4:05 left in the third period. “You’ve got to lean on past stuff, just push forward, forget about these two games and move forward.”
“We’ve gone through a lot in these playoffs,” said defenseman Justin Braun, who scored San Jose’s tying goal with 4:05 left in the third period. “You’ve got to lean on past stuff, just push forward, forget about these two games and move forward.”
Braun certainly held onto more optimism than Couture, whose gripes included alleging that Crosby “cheats” on faceoffs and “gets away with it because he’s Sidney Crosby,” but certain matters still troubled him. The Sharks weren’t as sluggish in the first period as they were in Game 1, but they still labored to sustain pressure against Pittsburgh, cycling around the rims just fine but finding the middle of the ice too clogged to access. Through two periods, just 11 shots reached Penguins goaltender Matt Murray, equal to Pittsburgh’s offensive output in the first frame alone. “They just don’t stop coming,” Braun said. “They have good pressure. They have good sticks. The amount of pucks they knock down compared to teams we’ve played in the past is pretty amazing. We’ve got to make harder plays, stronger plays and get around that.”
In Couture’s mind, sloppiness continued to gnash the Sharks. “We turned the puck over a ton, again,” he said. “I don't know what the total was again, but a lot of turnovers. I don't know if it’s their pressure or us just making bad plays. We can’t be turning the puck over like we are.” The seeds of Phil Kessel’s team-leading 10thpostseason goal, for instance, were planted by San Jose defenseman Roman Polak’sdefensive-zone giveaway and watered when Carl Hagelin easily swiped the puck from Brenden Dillon.
“I think our team has the ability to wear teams down with our puck pursuit game and forcing defensemen to turn and go back for pucks,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “It’s tiring. It wears on people. I’ve seen that throughout the course of these playoffs with some of our opponents, and I think that’s one of the strengths of our group, is that when we establish the puck pursuit game like we have, it makes it hard on our opponents. We become a much more difficult team to play against.”
According to WhoWins.com, home teams that take 2-0 series leads in the Cup Final eventually hoist the grail 91.9 percent of the time, even though the other side holds a 20-17 record in Game 3s. If they desired, the Sharks could take solace in a strong third-period push capped by Braun’s goal, snapped from 51 feet away into heavy net-front screens, and another strong performance from their top line of Tomas Hertl, Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski, who each finished with even-strength shot differentials of plus-7 or better. They also hit two posts and one crossbar, and DeBoer’s wise flip-flop of forwards Ward and Patrick Marleau paid dividends.
“There's going to be ebbs and flows,” DeBoer said. “They're going to take it over for some periods.  We're going to take it over for some periods. I thought we were better tonight.  But we have to find a way to create some more 5-on-5 offense.
“This was a game that went back and forth. They're at home. They carried the play for parts. We carried it for parts. We've got to go back home now and get back in the series.
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