Can you remember a game where more people were certain that a team would win?
Everyone, and I mean everyone, believes this ends tonight. It is overwhelming and unanimous that the Penguins will end this tonight. All day and night I keep reading how the Penguins are playing nearly perfect hockey and the Sharks are playing terribly. Plan the parade. This one is over only one team in the 40s came back from 3-1.
So answer me this. If the Penguins are playing the best hockey they have ever played and the Sharks are playing disappointingly horrible hockey then I guess the Sharks are the better team, right? I mean the Sharks have been playing the worst hockey in the history of the NHL and yet they have lost two one goal games and actually won a game. If this is the best the Penguins can do against a team so terrible than the Penguins must not be all that great, right?
Of course not. The Penguins are wining this series because the Penguins are the better team to this point. Four games and countless stats later point to that. They are playing great hockey and they have played at the top of their game. The Sharks are fighting an uphill battle and they do look a little more tired than Pittsburgh right now. The Sharks had to beat three nasty teams to get here. The Kings, Predators and Blues were all Cup contenders. All three could have just as easily been playing in this Final. The Sharks are a tired team, but who isn’t by the fourth round? Losing also makes fatigue evident.
The Sharks are not playing terrible hockey however. Yes, their stars aren’t scoring goals and their stars have to start scoring. But that doesn’t mean they are playing bad hockey. Crosby hasn’t scored in this series yet either, and yet he may be playing the best hockey of his career.
The Sharks aren’t dead yet either. These playoffs have really been about the teams who are hardest to put down, so anyone who thinks the Sharks will go down easily should really think harder.
In my opinion the Sharks biggest problem is figuring out how to play the Pens. Deboer is a hell of a coach and he knows the Penguins will tear you apart with their counter attack if you attack them. Just ask the Rangers. The Sharks game is all bout attacking however. We have seen them NOT play their game too often. We have seen the Sharks play conservative hockey afraid of the Penguins...afraid to lose. That starts with the defensemen afraid to pinch Pinching on the Penguins can spell disaster with 2 on 1s and 3 on 2s coming the other way.
The Sharks need to risk those counter attacks if they are to play their game. We have only seen the Sharks play their game twice in this series. The Second period of game 1 and the third period of game 4. The rest of the time it has simply been the Sharks trying to stop the Penguins game. If you never dictate the play the best you can hope for is winning a tight game. The best you can hope for is a bounce to go your way. So far in four games the bounces have only gone the Sharks way once.
That brings us to tonight. Tonight is a whole different ball of wax. There is the regular season, then the playoffs, then the Final, then the winning of the Cup. All four segments are entirely different.
When the Cup is in the building it gets harder. Being the only team to win their final game is something only one team gets to do. The pressure is 100% on the Penguins tonight. Everyone wants to win the Cup at home and there is some craziness that goes along with winning the final game that not many people consider.
When a player has a chance to win the Cup he invites everyone who matters to him to the game. People are flown in from all over the world. Hotels and meals are arranged. Tickets are procured.....and it the Penguins DON’T get it done tonight then ALL those people have to be moved to San Jose on Sunday... then possible back to Pittsburgh. That is a lot of logistics. Alot of wives and parents watching, waiting to see the trophy. All those people will end up on the ice after the trophy is won. There is an extra level of stress on top of an already crazy level.
And that gets even worse when EVERYONE is saying you will win. We have all been around long enough to know that whenever EVERYONE says a team can’t lose they often lose. The Sharks have some advantages going into tonight that they may not even realize yet. If the Sharks can jump out with a few goals ALL those pressures will surface.
The Penguins are the better team, but wining the Cup is more than that.
You have to play the way you did to get here. You can’t believe your press clippings.
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— Michael Augello (@MikeInBuffalo) April 26, 2016