In disarray in December, resilient Pittsburgh in Cup Final

The Sharks opponent? The Sidney Crosby-led Pittsburgh Penguins who held off the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 in game seven of the Eastern Conference Finals on Thursday night.

The Birmingham Brother Rice alumnus, who played in the Ann Arbor-based US developmental program, has been a revelation these playoffs. I prefer it that way, you don’t go back and say ‘What could I have done differently?

Next Man Up – Losing defenseman Trevor Daley, possibly the acquisition of the year this season, to a broken ankle in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals was a huge blow to the Pens’ defensive corps. Sometimes Burns will be on the point, and other times he will act as a forward and slide behind the net or be on the half-wall ripping one timers. Now I’m sure the Sharks have done their homework on Murray and they are prepared to face him.

Pittsburgh allowed 19.2 high-danger scoring chances against per 60 minutes while shorthanded during the regular season.

“With a lot of coaches, they kind of make a decision on the goalies and leave you to it (to figure out why)”, Murray said. “I can’t be selfish about it. It’s important that we win”.

“We just get out of (Thornton’s way) and see a spot on the ice and go to it, and he finds us and we score goals”, linemate Tomas Hertl said of how Thornton creates plays for him and Pavelski.

“I know there’s a lot of stories that surround this group, but the greatest story of all is the group itself”, Sullivan said.

“If you’re hesitant out there that’s never good”, Maatta said.

Thornton was traded to the Sharks in 2005. The Pittsburgh Penguins have not reached a final since 2009, when they won the Cup, but their roster has experience at this sort of stuff. The NHL said it reminds teams of the policy at the beginning of every playoff season. 920 save percentage over each of the last two seasons, and was an All-Star in 2015.

Morehouse recalls thinking after the Penguins drafted Crosby they should send him to media training.

The first two seasons were under George Kingston, who was charged with leading the expansion-era Sharks as they endured lean times during their early days as an National Hockey League franchise.

The Penguins, with all their talent – including captain Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Chris Kunitz and Kris Letang – feel like they’ve been missing from the National Hockey League’s biggest stage for nearly as long.

In particular, Kessel has been a revelation.

Enter Sullivan, who spent over a decade grinding out a career as a responsible but hardly flashy two-way center.

His 2.12 goals-against average and.

With exceptional puck-retrieving defensemen such as Martin and Marc-Edouard Vlasic, strong puck-moving blue liners such as Burns and Justin Braun, and physical players such as Dillon and Roman Polak, the Sharks will be looking to quash the Penguins’ attack before it can even get started. When their first round series against the New York Rangers started Fleury and his backup, rookie Matt Murray, were both sidelined with injuries.

Murray has a 2.21 GAA and. “Original 22” doesn’t have the history or ring of Original Six, but the Penguins and Sharks have made compelling contributions to the postseason drama this spring.

DeBoer coached New Jersey to the 2012 Finals (they lost to Los Angeles in six games) and now has the Sharks four victories from the Cup. “I think, to their credit, they have become a team in the true sense of the word”.

Both teams stumbled during the season but regrouped at the right time. They’ll both want to get their Ds involved. These two teams look drastically different from the last time they met which was before Mike Sullivan took over the Penguins.

“I was the benefactor of that”. Veteran Joel Ward has six goals, including four in the past two games.

Season Series: Tied 1-1.

The Sharks and Penguins begin their quest for the Stanley Cup title tonight in Pittsburgh, and the Penguins will aim to continue a resurgence that began December 12 when Mike Johnston was sacked as coach and replaced by Mike Sullivan. Against LA, Nashville and St. Louis, the Sharks methodically wore down those teams’ top defenseman as those series progressed.