Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final was as back-and-forth and contentious as you would hope for in a series between two of the best teams in the league.
Neither team could be entirely sure of what to expect from the series opener. Pittsburgh had not been to a Stanley Cup Final since 2009, and San Jose has never gone. Key players on either side have never sniffed the final round of the NHL Playoffs before. And, these two teams have not seen each other this calendar year. Teams handle anxiety differently. In this case, having the crowd on their side helped settle the nerves early for the Penguins.
The first period Game 1 wholly belonged to the black and gold. Game 7 hero Bryan Rust got on the board first. Rust charged into the San Jose zone along the left side boards, drawing the attention of the San Jose defensemen. He slipped a backhand pass through the legs of Melker Karlsson to find Justin Schultz, who wristed a shot to the net. The initial shot deflected off the body of Marc-Edouard Vlasic, but Rust crashed the net to bang home the rebound.
Credit goes to Chris Kunitz for sparking the rush. As the puck wrapped around the boards in the Pittsburgh zone, Kunitz whacked the puck off the boards and found the tape of Rust in stride.
Conor Sheary, who was relatively quiet against the Tampa Bay Lightning, put the Penguins up two goals only a minute later. Again with the puck wrapping around the end boards in their own zone, the Pens sparked a rush opportunity, this time off the stick of Olli Maatta. Maatta chopped the puck into the Sharks’ zone, where Sidney Crosby retrieved after winning a footrace. Crosby stopped short, sending Justin Braun spiraling into the boards in comedic fashion. With the newfound time and space, Crosby found a cross-ice pass to Sheary. Sheary waited just a split second to allow Patric Hornqvist to screen the goalie, and buried the shot.
The Pens outshot the Sharks 15-4 in the first period, coming away with a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes.
The Sharks went into the intermission with their tails between their legs, but came out firing on all cylinders. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall for that intermission. Truly, the message could have been the same with drastically different deliveries. Peter DeBoer could have given his players a good tongue lashing and lit a fire under his players and bringing up the intensity. However, it is just as conceivable that either DeBoer or someone like Joe Thornton or Brent Burns loosened up the atmosphere to relax the room and remove the aura of the Stanley Cup Final.
Whatever it was that was said, it worked. The Sharks obliterated Pittsburgh’s defense and shoved their game right down their throats. San Jose outshot Pittsburgh 13-8 in the period, though it seemed like an eternity before the Pens tested Martin Jones in the period.
As time ticked away on a San Jose powerplay, the Sharks found Tomas Hertl down low, who snuck a wrist shot through Matt Murray. Hertl was allowed just enough space by Olli Maatta to take a step out from the goalline and find a hole. Three minutes into the second, the Sharks were within striking distance.
With less than two minutes to go in the second, Patrick Marleau scored his first ever Stanley Cup Final goal with a gorgeous wraparound to beat Murray. The goal emulated T.J. Oshie’s overtime winner back in the Metro Division Final, banking the puck off an outstretched right leg. Brent Burns tallied his 16th assist, while Logan Couture added his 17th.
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The Sharks’ ability to wear down defenders in the corners is a marvel. Marleau’s goal is a prime example. Couture wins a puck battle down low and is able to cycle the puck back out to the blueline. Burns rifles the puck to the net and Marleau takes it from there. It’s a gameplan that is hugely successful, but has to lead to more sustained pressure. By the third period, the Penguins began to anticipate the cycle and generated a few three-on-two rushes as a result.
In the third period, Pittsburgh got back on the possession horse. The Pens fired 18 shots on goal to the Sharks’ nine. With 2:40 remaining in regulation, Kris Letang danced into the San Jose zone and waited for the HBK line to hop on the ice. Hagelin provided support in the corner, and Letang was able to weave a pass just past the stick of Paul Martin and onto the blade of Nick Bonino’s stick. Bonino buried it.
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Ballgame. 3-2 the final. Advantage Pittsburgh.
Martin Jones stopped 38 of 41 shots. Matt Murray saved 24 of 26. All five goals in the game were scored on the right-hand side goal of the television screen.
The ice looked as tilted in that direction all night as the Bowser’s Castle court in Mario Tennis 64.
Find that reference in another game recap, I challenge you.
Joonas Donskoi and Paul Martin both had very solid games for San Jose. Joe Thornton generated some chances, but had some trouble when Pittsburgh would jam two or three bodies on him in the corner at all times. That’s how to play Jumbo Joe.
Once again, the heroes for the Penguins are the ones that are towards the bottom of the payroll scale. Rust, Sheary and Bonino strike for goals in Game 1. Kris Letang and Phil Kessel both saw a plethora of opportunities, a number of them robbed by Jones.
Game 2 is Wednesday night at 8 PM EST.
