San Jose coach DeBoer keeps faith in captain Pavelski

I think it’s that insatiable appetite to improve and get better that has allowed this team to get to the point where it’s at.

“We have to try to do our best to ignore some of the noise surrounding the group and I think our players are well aware of it”, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan told reporters of the tantalizing opportunity of hoisting the Cup in front of the home fans. I think our players are well aware of it.

“I see a guy that’s working his butt off”, said ESPN analyst Barry Melrose.

The Sharks trail 3-1 in the best-of-seven series and face elimination with another loss. Yet San Jose is well aware that no lead is insurmountable.

“There’s some things we can do”, DeBoer said. “A lot of times it’s more simple and a lot more efficient”.

Turning back to Fleury again at this point of the season was not an option.

And then there’s Joe Thornton. “We’ve got to keep working and playing our best hockey and we’ve got to get better throughout this series like we’ve done in the last one”.

The one goal they scored in the 3-1 Game 4 defeat came when Melker Karlsson took advantage of a loose puck in the slot and whipped a shot that got through Murray to give the Sharks some life. “Both teams, we’re here for a reason”.

Pavelski, who is a minus-3 in the final, saw more ice time in Game 4 than any other Sharks forward (24:54) and put five of his nine series shots on net. Game 6, if necessary, would be Sunday in San Jose and a Game 7 would be June 15 in Pittsburgh. “You have to play to your strengths and know what those are”.

“You never imagine something like this”, Kessel said. Maybe get in the team’s head a little bit.

The Sharks understand how quickly a playoff series can shift, DeBoer said.

Two springs ago, the Sharks held a 3-0 lead in a first-round playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings when momentum turned.

Daley has yet to suit up in a game in the final after suffering a broken ankle during the second period of game four of the Penguins Eastern Conference Final series against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The superstar forwards for the Penguins are certainly who have been producing the goals and winning the games for Pittsburgh, but they would not be where they are today without the outstanding goaltending effort of Matt Murray.

The Sharks last won in Pittsburgh in November, a 3-1 victory when Burns scored twice.

The Sharks are 5-6 on the road in the playoffs.

The Penguins finished with 20 shots on goal, a far cry from the 113 they racked up through the first three games.

He’s been a standout in the National Hockey League playoffs this year, and he is now only one win away from lifting the Stanley Cup. “I really do. We had some good looks”. He awarded the Game 5 start to veteran Marc-Andre Fleury, a move he made after taking 10 minutes to explain the reasoning behind it to Murray. I feel I should probably have more (goals in the final).

“I’m not going to talk about what they’re going to have”, Hagelin said.

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“We have to try to do our best to ignore some of the noise surrounding the group”. That was the discussion that we had with our guys this morning.

We do not edit comments. “For us right now, it’s important to live in the moment”. In this case, we may fix spelling and punctuation. “We know we have some work left”.

Nick Bonino got the Game 1 victor for Pittsburgh when the other goals were scored by rookies Sheary and Bryan Rust.