What a way to open up the 2016 Stanley Cup Final. That was an exciting one. Pittsburgh comes out on top and takes game 1 by a score of 3-2.
First thing I noticed about the game besides the terrible towel-waving Pittsburgh faithful was the choice of intro song the Penguins used. They chose Metallica's "Seek & Destroy", which is the same song the Sharks skate onto the ice to back at SAP Center. A sly jab? Maybe. Meaningless coincidence? Also maybe. Just thought it was interesting.
Onto the game. The first period without a doubt was all black and yellow. From the drop of the puck, Sidney Crosby and rest of the Penguins looked locked in and ready to rumble. San Jose... not so much. The Sharks defense looked completely blown away by the Penguins' speed and attack. Crosby had the Burns-Martin pairing chasing him around his offensive zone the whole opening 20. San Jose looked to be skating in concrete. Flat-footed and off-kilter all around. passes were not connecting and turnovers were aplenty.
The first goal of this Stanley Cup Final came at 12:46 of the 1st. Pittsburgh forward Bryan Rust picked up the puck in the neutral zone on the left wing and began a rush into the offensive zone, dropped the puck back to defenseman Nick Schultz who then riffled a puck off of the defending Marc-Eduoard Vlasic's arm, and the puck found its way right onto the tape of Bryan Rust at the side of the net. Easy tap in for the Penguins rookie who was the hero in Game 7 of the ECF. 1-0 Pens.
62 seconds later, Crosby beat out Sharks d-man Justin Braun on a puck going down the left wing into his offensive zone. After faking-out Braun with a nice spin move, Crosby delivered and absolutely filthy backhand dish all the way across the zone to a wide open Conor Sheary, who sniped home the Penguins 2nd tally of the game. 2-0 Pens. The rest of the first period was much of the same. Penguins peppering Jones in front of the net like a swarm of hornets. Pittsburgh finished the period leading Sharks 15-4 in shot totals.
The 2nd period however was a bit different of a story. Pretty much the opposite of the 1st. The Sharks did the same thing the Penguins did. They attacked Matt Murray, causing mad scrambles in front of the Pittsburgh net.
At 1:14 of the middle period, the Penguins' Ian Cole took a tripping penalty against Melker Karlsson. On the ensuing powerplay, Tomas Hertl would give San Jose their first goal after jamming home the after receiving it from Joonas Donskoi on the goal line. The first power play marker of the Final. 2-1 Penguins.
At the opposite end of the period, Brent Burns fired a puck off of Matt Murray's pad, leaving the puck open for Patrick Marleau, who made a nice move to skate behind the net a pot a beautiful backhand wrap around the squeaked passed Murray. 18:12 of the 2nd. Tie game, folks. 2-2.
The third period was a mix of quality scoring chances coming from both sides. A penalty here, a failed power play opportunity there. It wasn't until late in the period that the scoring would change. With about 2:30 left in the game, Kris Letang and Carl Hagelin were in a battle for the puck with Brent Burns and Tomas Hertl down low behind the goal line. After a whiff on a pass by Hagelin, Letang got ahold of the puck and wheeled it in front of the goal to a a ridiculously wide-open Nick Bonino. The clutch Nick Bonino put the puck over Jones' right shoulder and into the back of the net. Consol Energy Center errupts. 3-2 home town boys with 2:23 left to play.
The Sharks would get a late powerplay and ended up pulling Jones for the extra attacker, but to no avail. The Penguins held on 3-2 to take game 1 and take a 1-0 lead on the series.
Sidney Crosby was easily the best player on the ice tonight. He looked to be playing with an extra gear that no other player had and nobody was able to catch up to him. He created countless scoring chances and was smart with the puck. He is my first star of the night.
The Burns-Martin pairing needs to be way better than they were tonight. They were exposed by the Penguins top 2 lines and seemed flat-footed all night. They can't be playing this series the way they played tonight if Crosby is going to be as good as he was tonight. You can't play on your heels against the best player in the world. Thornton and Pavelski both had an average game, nothing really spectacular. Look for the Sharks defense to bounce back in Game 2 and also be on the lookout for the Sharks to put more importance on coming to play right off the bat. They suffered from Anaheim Ducks syndrome: looking compleely lost at the start of the game and being down early because of it. Sharks head coach Peter Deboer needs to emphasize the initial minutes of the game and get his squad to set the tone before the opposition does.
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