Be sure to 'like' Hockeybuzz on Facebook!
The Pittsburgh Penguins are three victories away from securing the Stanley Cup after their entertaining 3-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.
The Penguins put on a clinic in period one which put their blazing speed on full display. The Sharks didn't have an answer for it and were probably lucky to escape the period only down two goals.
But nothing is going to come easy this series and the second period was a prime example of that.
Everything that went well for the Penguins in period one disappeared. The Sharks clobbered the Penguins in period two and tied the game back up. It highlighted both teams' strengths and just how dominant they can be at times.
Pittsburgh was able to rebound from their ghastly second period and put the screws to the Sharks again in the third period. Here is a look at the five-on-five shot attempts on the evening broken up by period:
Pittsburgh was able to finish the game with a 41-26 shot advantage. Here is the overall picture
No stage is too big for Bryan Rust these days. He picked up right where he left off in the Eastern Conference Finals and scored the Penguins first goal of the evening on an open rebound. Unfortunately his night was cut short by Patrick Marleau's blindside hit to his head. Rust tried to return after a short stay in the "dark room" but he left after taking another shift.
It checks off all the boxes for an NHL suspension considering it was blindside with principal point of contact to the head and the NHL's favorite variable, injury. It is the Stanley Cup Final though and in the league's mind missing one game of the Final is probably equal to five games of regular season action so there will be no action taken. The league has already said it will not be looking into this hit. The official penalty given to Marleau on the play was illegal contact to the head.
Rust is officially day to day.
This poses a problem for the Penguins. Who will replace Rust if he is unable to go? Eric Fehr cannot handle that duty so that is a non starter for me. I think the most logical answer is Beau Bennett. While Bennett is more skilled he does not possess the same speed as Rust and the speed component is what is going to give the San Jose Sharks the most trouble in this series.
The reason Pittsburgh was so successful was because they were able to take advantage of the Sharks bottom six. The reason they were able to do this was because the role players on the Crosby, Malkin, and Kessel lines were doing a good job contributing and allow the Penguins to spread that talent among the top three lines. If Bennett gets the call he is going to have to contribute in that role. I think he can but he hasn't played much hockey.
Sidney Crosby had a very good game in his first Stanley Cup Final action since he limped off the ice at Joe Louis Arena with a knee injury seven years ago. He abused Justin Braun in the corner and dished off the kind of pass that is reserved for only the top talented players.
Sheary's slight hesitation was key as it opened up his shooting lane.
Crosby could stand to shoot the puck more though. There were some nice looks he earned where he deferred over to Patric Hornqvist. Sid you're really good too. You can shoot those.
Nick Bonino was the hero of the evening. His goal with around two and a half minutes left was the game winner. This goal call was just as good as the goal itself.
Jim Rutherford totally changed the dynamic of the Penguins for the better on July 28, 2015.
Not be ignored Kris Letang made an absolutely beautiful pass to get that puck over to Bonino. Letang was battling Brent Burns during that sequence and the Thornton line was on the ice as well. The same winning goal was scored against the best the Sharks have to offer. The HBK line did a great job all night playing against the Thornton line.
Here is a Letang vs. Burns comparison on for the evening
Matt Murray played well enough to give the Penguins a chance to win. Anytime the Penguins get a .923 performance they are going to be tough to beat. Murray looked like a fish out of water on the wrap around goal by Patrick Marleau, but goals don't count extra if you look bad on them it still only counts as one. Chances are when the Penguins allow two goals or less they will win because in 14 of the 19 games so far in these playoffs they have scored at least three goals.
Martin Jones (.927) played just as good as Matt Murray, but the shot volume he faced was higher and led to an extra goal.
Mike Sullivan sheltered his bottom pairing and it paid dividends.
Chris Kunitz earned an assist and he now has a six game point streak. Getting hot at absolutely the right time.
Pittsburgh was able to kill off a Ben Lovejoy penalty in the final few minutes of the game. Giving the Sharks that kind of opportunity is a recipe for failure. To the Penguins credit they were able to survive that sequence but earlier in the game they conceded a power play goal to the Sharks second unit.
There is a new baby penguin. Congratulations are in order to Anna Kasterova and Evgeni Malkin on welcoming their new son to the world this morning.
It is scary to think how good Malkin can be now with the magical power of "dad strength". In recent memory the Penguins players who have welcomed new children have done remarkably well in their next game.
Game 2 is Wednesday night.
Thanks for reading!
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»