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~ (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ San Jose Pittsburgh’s Nick Bonino scored the game winner with less than three minutes to go, as the Penguins took Game 1 in the first playoff game between the two, on Memorial Day Monday.

From against the boards, Kris Letang, with a stickless Brent Burns defending him, passed to Bonino, who shot past Paul Martin and goalie Martin Jones.

Via Darin Stephens, faced 41 shots, his most in regulation in 2016 playoffs and the 41 shots on goal by the Penguins were tied-most in a regulation Stanley Cup Final game since 1988.

Bonino and Patric Hornqvist led with six shots. Bonino also led with six blocks. Dainius Zubrus led with six hits. Burns led in points with two assists.

The Sharks had a rough start to their first Stanley Cup Final period as they were outshot 15-4. San Jose’s four shots came from Nick Spaling, Justin Braun, Brenden Dillon and Zubrus.

Between the minutes of 6:33 and 14:39, the Sharks did not have a shot on net and that was when all the main action occurred. Pittsburgh got four shots during a power play at 8:54 and two of their rookies scored two goals 1:02 apart. Via Elias, this was just the second time two rookies opened a Stanley Cup Final.

Bryan Rust picked up where he left off, scoring the Penguins’ fourth straight goal going back to the Eastern Conference Final in three games now. At 12:46, Rust on the left passed to Justin Schultz at center. Schultz’s shot went off Marc-Edouard Vlasic’s glove, rolled back to Rust and he put it in behind Melker Karlsson, who was situated behind Jones. Chris Kunitz also had an assist. Rust’s now six playoff goals set a franchise record for rookies (Darin Stephens).

Leading up to the second goal, Braun and Sidney Crosby raced for the loose puck, Crosby reaching it first. Braun lost his footing when turning to follow Crosby. Crosby passed through Logan Couture to Conor Sheary in the slot. Sheary then moved to the right faceoff circle and shot when Jones was shielded by Vlasic and Hornqvist.

The shot margin went the other way in the second period.

It started with shots from the bigger name players, Joe Pavelski and Patrick Marleau.

With 12 seconds left on the power play, 3:02 into the second, San Jose then got their first Stanley Cup Final goal. The puck began by almost going out of the zone. It went to the very edge of the blue line before being saved by Joel Ward, who passed to Burns. Burns then passed to Joonas Donskoi, who passed to Tomas Hertl who was to the right up front.  Hertl put it in off goalie Matt Murray’s stick to make it 2-1.

The Sharks had at least a pair of consecutive shots in the second, the first from Burns and Pavelski, the second from Donskoi and Chris Tierney.

Marleau nabbed the tying goal with 1:48 left in the period. In another battle to keep the puck by Couture, after winning, he sent it to Burns at the blue line. Burns then sent his hard shot up front. As it went off Murray, Marleau used his speed to achieve a wraparound goal as it went in off Murray’s skate.

In the third, Pittsburgh went back on the offensive, outshooting San Jose 18-9.

24 seconds after the Penguins’ game-winner, the Sharks had another power play opportunity. It turned into a 6-on-4 once Jones left the net, but San Jose was unable to convert.

Game notes: The Sharks held Pittsburgh scoreless on all their three power plays, turning their 1-of-11 power play to now 1-of-14. One of those power play opportunities came through an Illegal check to the head on Rust by Marleau. Kunitz now has a six-game point streak. Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final resumes Wednesday at 5pm.

 

 

(Credit: AP / Jeff Roberson)

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ In another 6-3 game, San Jose came out on top over the Saint Louis Blues in Game 5 Monday, with one win separating the Sharks from the Stanley Cup Finals.

Captain Joe Pavelski nabbed the game winner with another early third period goal. 16 seconds into the third, he helped San Jose scored consecutive goals for the first time in the game as Pavelski gave the Sharks back their first lead since the first. Pavelski won the faceoff and the puck went to Joe Thornton. Thornton then passed to Brent Burns who shot. Hertl chased the rebound and returned the puck along the boards. Burns’ shot again and Pavelski deflected the 4-3 puck past goalie Jake Allen.

The last time Pavelski scored two goals, he also had the game winning goal. Thornton, with a season-high three assists, had his first three point night since February 29.

The game featured the first three goal period of the series and it happened two more times.

In the first, San Jose scored the first goal but the Blues scored two to take the lead.

Marc-Edouard Vlasic scored his first goal of the playoffs, aided by Pavelski and Thornton at 3:51.

Saint Louis got their first goal to tie the game at 7:04. After a battle along the boards, Patrik Berglund eventually got the puck. He shot at net and David Backes’ shot after was blocked by Roman Polak. Jaden Schwartz then took the rebound to score.

Troy Brouwer made it 2-1 at 15:08, batting in Paul Stastny’s shot and helped by Alexander Steen.

Burns and Logan Couture were the only ones with multiple shots in the first period.

The second period featured three power play goals, two of them from fights. Each team’s rougher ended up conceding a goal during the ensuing power play.

At 4:37, the Sharks capitalized on the first man advantage. Paul Martin passed to Vlasic who hit the post with a shot from the left. The puck then bounced to the right where Joel Ward put the puck in the net to re-tie the game.  It was San Jose’s first power play since Burns’ second in Game 2.

Two slot goals followed.

The Blues got their second lead at 11:58. Rookie Robby Fabbri’s shot, primarily assisted by rookie Colton Parayko, slid underneath goalie Martin Jones. Alex Pietrangelo also aided.

Pavelski then tied the game at 3-3 with his first goal of the night. He initially had a shot blocked by Pietrangelo. Leading up to Pavelski’s second attempt, Couture fished the puck from the boards and passed it to Thornton who fed Pavelski at 18:33.

The Sharks’ fifth and sixth goals came via empty net.

After Chris Tierney worked Pietrangelo and stole the puck from him, Tierney took a hit from Backes. The loose puck went to Thornton who lured Saint Louis away from the net. He then passed back to Tierney behind the net and Tierney stuck the puck into the net just in time. The goal at 19:06 was his second goal in as many games.

Ward got his second of the night unassisted at 19:27.

Game notes: Game 6 is Wednesday at 5pm at SAP Center.

~ (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ The Nashville Predators’ Mike Fisher’s second goal was the game winner at 111:12 minutes, as they evened the series 2-2 Friday morning Nashville time, with a 4-3 win over San Jose.

Game 4 was the Predator’s first playoff overtime win at Bridgestone Arena and their longest game. It was the Sharks’ second longest in playoff history.

Nashville’s Mattias Ekholm shot the puck at goalie Martin Jones. Fisher then corralled the loose puck, as he maneuvered his way around the front of Jones to score.

Looming large would be the controversial call made in the first overtime. This was the second review of a goal, this one coming with 12:26 left. The Sharks’ Joe Pavelski scored after running into Pekka Rinne, but his argument was that he was pushed by Paul Gaustad. It was ruled goalie interference, though the initial call on ice was that Pavelski gloved thepuck.

San Jose had power plays at 17:57 of double overtime and 7:59 of triple overtime, but were unable to convert. The final stanza was the only one in which the Predators did not have a power play.

Each team started on point with their first shots on goal.

Nashville got back to scoring just 41 seconds into the game. Ekholm shot from the blue line, was blocked by Marc-Edouard Vlasic in front of Jones, but Colin Wilson got the rebound and put in the puck behind Jones. It was Wilson’s second straight goal in as many games. He now has a five-game point streak. Ryan Ellis also got an assist. It is now the Sharks’ first playoff loss after giving up the opening goal this year.

San Jose kept pace. Paul Martin passed the puck to Couture before the first blue line, who passed to Brent Burns before the second blue line. Then from beyond the right faceoff circle, Burns got the puck past Rinne to tie the game at 3:08.

The Predators then went back up 2-1 on another rebound goal later. Speeding in on Jones’ right, Roman Josi passed behind to James Neal, shot at the net and Fisher scored on the rebound from Jones’ left at 9:50. Fisher now has a three-game point streak with points in each game of the series. His line scored all the goals.

At 12:09 of the second, thee Sharks finally got their first power play. They used that to their advantage just as it expired, at 14:09, to even the game again. Vlasic took a pass from Martin along the boards on his right and passed it to Joonas Donskoi on his left. It looked like Joel Ward, who was a part of a screen, got a piece of the puck, but Donskoi’s shot hit Ellis’ stick on its way into the net. The goal was first challenged for being offsides though.

San Jose took penalties at 18:38 of the second and 32 seconds into the third period.

Nashville took two penalties in the third three minutes apart and struck gold on the second to take their first lead. The first penalty was because Miikka Salomaki hit Logan Couture from behind. The second was for kneeing by Barret Jackman. Joe Thornton won the faceoff, got it to Burns behind, who passed it to Couture. Couture then passed to Burns and as he shot at the net, the puck deflected in off Josi 10 seconds into the power play. The last time Burns scored two goals was December 22.

Neal created the 3-3 tie that led to overtime with less than five minutes left in the third period. It began with his first shot missing to the right of Jones. Wilson picked up Neal’s rebound off the boards, then passed to Ellis. Ellis’ shot was deflected to Neal off Fisher and Neal did not miss with his second shot.

Shea Weber’s high stick drew blood from Martin with 2:03 left in double overtime, and was ruled a two minute penalty.

Shots were 11-4 in favor of the Sharks during the period.

Jones stopped a Wilson breakaway in triple overtime. He faced a total of 43 shots, Rinne a total of 44.

Game notes: Josi finished with a game-high ice time of 49:42. Game 5 goes back to San Jose Saturday at 7pm.