Sharks know Cup final can turn on a dime

Hate to put it this way, but maybe the Sharks’ best hope to pull out a miracle and still win the Stanley Cup is that the Penguins have been known to choke.

With players like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski, the final features some of the biggest names in hockey.

Pittsburgh is 27-3-0 in the regular season and playoffs when they lead after the first and 50-2-0 when up after the second.

But no one has been quite as fast or as small as the Penguins, who have a 3-1 series lead against the San Jose Sharks in the Cup final. They got shut out in Game 7.

Martin Jones, G, Sharks – Were it not for Jones’ outstanding play, this series might be over.

In addition to Marleau, the team has five unrestricted free agents – forwards Dainius Zubrus, Nick Spaling, defensemen Roman Polak, Matt Tennyson and goalie James Reimer – in addition to restricted free agents Matt Nieto, Tomas Hertl, both forwards, and defenseman Dylan DeMelo.

But on Wednesday afternoon, a quick survey of SeatGeek found the lowest priced tickets on that site were $1,393 for section 54. “We have to find a way to get on the board earlier in the game instead of chasing it all night”.

“You have no idea how freakish of a fan I am”, said Pereira, who lives in British Columbia and usually watches the games on TV – sitting on seats from the old Mellon Arena.

With only 32 career games played in his National Hockey League career, his stellar play, especially in the playoffs, is already giving him recognition in the Steel City. The Sharks just might plant a significant seed of doubt.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have hit a rut and are now ten games back in the NL Central with a 30-26 record. But he’s 14-5 with a 2.09 GAA and.

The San Jose Sharks had the eventual Stanley Cup champions on the ropes. Nearly to a man, they realize accomplishing that in Game 5 is virtually essential. “It hasn’t happened yet”, Couture said. “We know the last four games have been tough games”, he said. That’s the reality of this game. “It’s about winning one period at a time”.

“I can’t speak to any trends or anything like that”, said Murray. “We took the approach of, ‘Why not us?”

“Hopefully, we can come back (to San Jose) for a sixth game”, he says…. I think guys have kept things in perspective.

Interested in the historical mishaps of Lord Stanley’s Cup?

In fact, of the 11 major sports championships won by Pittsburgh teams since the Pirates claimed the 1960 World Series at Forbes Field – six Super Bowls, three Stanley Cups, two other World Series – not one was won on home turf or home ice.

Pittsburgh has grabbed the lead in all four games, gaining an advantage with aggressive first periods. “The other thing about our group is they’ve been on the other side, up 3-0, and saw how quickly that vanished against L.A. (in 2014)”. They have yet to lead at any point during regulation, their only victory a comeback 3-2 triumph in overtime in Game 3.

“So that was a pretty humorous moment this morning, too”, DeBoer said. It’s been a long season for everyone, so if you can get extra day of rest, maybe it gives you the ability to recharge the tank a little bit.

Certainly, with Pittsburgh’s recent playoff history, there may be more hope than what appears on the surface.