Pittsburgh, PA

Pens Secret Weapon

The Sharks were no match for the Penguins and their secret weapon, Sofia Vergara tonight as they lost 2-1 in OT.  Connor Sheary scored early in the extra frame on a rocket past Martin Jones for the win.

The real story is how San Jose hasn’t played well for extended periods of time in the first two games.  In Game One, the Sharks gave up two goals in about a minute to fall behind.  They rallied for the tie by imposing their will on the young Pens but ultimately lost on a late goal.

Tonight, they didn’t play well for about 50 minutes of the game, yet were still able to tie the score with about 5 minutes left.  Following that clutch goal by Justin Braun, they played their cycle game down low and had several great chances to salt the game away in regulation but G Matt Murray was impenetrable.

I could blather on about Mike Sullivan doing more with less or how he has devised a method for taking the Sharks out of their customary dominance in the offensive zone.  Boys, the Sharks are getting outworked and are unable to cycle the biscuit as is their wont.  Tomas Hertl hit three posts in the first two periods, Chris Tierney hit a cross bar and even the Sharks tying goal was through traffic off the post but in.

Joe Thornton looked uncharacteristically vulnerable, Pavelski was a step slow and Brent Burns was ineffective and shot wildly most of the night.  Thornton seems to be bothered by his injured thumb, incurred on a slash by Patrick Berglund of the Blues in the Conference Finals. Yet they lost by one goal in OT.  What does that tell us?  That the San Jose Sharks can play better and I believe they are the team with superior talent.  Six posts and one goal.  Pens hit the post a few times also.

Saturday Night Fights from the The Tank Game 3 at 5 PM.

Hertl Hits the Post