~Photo credit: San Jose Sharks

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ SAN JOSE– On the morning of Game 6, a shadow was cast over those who heard the news of the largest mass shooting in our nation, all the way on the other side of the country. It took place in Orlando at a LGBT nightclub with 50 killed and 53 injured. Prayers to all those hurt by this latest tragedy.  Hard as it is to hear of yet another shooting, which also make things like writing hockey seem so trivial, life must go on and so must hockey.

The hometown fans will be treated to their third Stanley Cup Final game at the Shark Tank in just over a week. This will be their 2015-2016 home finale, and though the Stanley Cup is in the building for the first time, both players and fans alike hope that they will not see it out on the ice tonight.

Game 3 was the first Stanley Cup Final game ever at SAP Center. Game 6 will be the first and last do-or-die game at home this series. Which will be louder? Defenseman Brenden Dillon said yesterday, “We’re going to expect nothing but the roof to pop off tomorrow at the Shark Tank.”

While the fans are no doubt excited for another Stanley Cup Final game at the Shark Tank, captain Joe Pavelski said, “…there’s no real time to take that in right now, you gotta stay focused. We got a good team that’s hungry over there and we need to be better, and play faster and push the pace a little bit and get back to our game that we’ve been playing.”

“Our game”

That was an oft mentioned phrase that has not been heard lately since the early part of the series.

Pavelski mentioned it again, when asked if there was a proper level of desperation. “There’s a little bit of everything that goes into it, desperation definitely, a little bit of looseness, you got to play your game. It’s still a game that you gotta go play  and you gotta compete in. …it needs a certain sense of focus, patience out there as well. You just try to find that right combination.”

That certainly sounds like it could be complicated, and that is without worrying about the other team.

When presented with the saying former Sharks’ color analyst Drew Remenda quoted, “Your friends’ success is better than your foes’ demise,” Pavelski replied, “…you always want to take care of yourself first, and that’s when you get in trouble, is when you start worrying about the other team too much, so you got to come, you got to do your job  you want to be a good teammate, you want to really be prepared, to handle everything…”

Maturity

A lot has been made about the maturity level of goalie Martin Jones. DeBoer extended that to members of the other team when asked about the “young guys.”

“You don’t really look at birth certificates. You look at guys who can help you win the game,” he said. “Our young guys don’t play like young guys. The young guys who play like young guys aren’t here. They’re down in the American League or they’re in the stands. The guys who are in the lineup and contributing for us are because they play like veterans.”

Full circle

Though the Sharks have been resilient after losses and have been the best road team, they faced a tough task winning at Pittsburgh for the first time these playoffs in game 5. Now, though San Jose is at home, they have to face their second elimination game in a row for the first time these playoffs. Now they will have to be resilient after a win, and if they win, will need to accomplish a final win to reach their ultimate goal.

Forward Logan Couture, ever the blunt truth-teller, boiled it down Saturday, “Win a game and go back to Pittsburgh,” he said. “It’s pretty simple.”

Hertl

Though San Jose forward Tomas Hertl will not play again in Game 6, DeBoer’s morning comments were a refreshing change from his usual “day-to-day” response, “Hertl’s making progress, getting better every day.”
And if that is applied to the team as well, with the talk of “best game” being used throughout the series, good things may be on the horizon.