The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the San Jose Sharks 2-1 in overtime on Wednesday night in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final. They now have a 2-0 series lead as the series shifts to San Jose for Games 3 and 4.
The first period belonged to Pittsburgh. The Penguins outshot San Jose 11-6 but Martin Jones made some stellar saves to keep the game scoreless. The Sharks certainly had some chances as well; Chris Tierney threw a puck in front of the net that Joel Ward tapped right into Matt Murray’s pads and later Tomas Hertl hit the post, but otherwise, it was all Pens. The Sharks killed a Paul Martin delay of game penalty midway through the period after he cleared the puck over the glass. At the end of the period, San Jose had six skaters on the ice but somehow both referees missed the extra skater and the Sharks dodged what would have been another penalty.
The Sharks sloppiness would come back to haunt them when a failed clear by Roman Polak halfway through the second period would lead to a Phil Kessel goal. It was ugly, the Sharks defensive play that is. Jones was left out to dry. 1-0 Pens.
#BoninoBoninoBonino finds Phil Kessel to give the @penguins a 1-0 lead! #StanleyCup https://t.co/mlmnXN02xE
— NBCSN (@NBCSN) June 2, 2016
Immediately after the Kessel goal, Martin again would be sent to the penalty box after being called for a high stick. Despite the Consol Energy Center buzzing, the Sharks PK unit would stay perfect through the series, killing their fifth penalty.
The rest of the period was pretty ugly. At one point Doc Emrick said, “Is that another San Jose turnover? Sure enough it was.” Those ten words were the theme of the whole hockey game. At the end of the second, Pittsburgh led 1-0 and outshot the Sharks 23-11.
A continued over power play from the second period would be killed by Pittsburgh after Ian Cole was called for interference on Logan Couture.
Peter DeBoer juggled his lines around in the third to give Pittsburgh something different to look at. On a breakaway down the left side of the ice, Tierney hit the crossbar, nearly tying the game up. In fact, Hertl hit three posts all game, so when the Sharks have good chances, they just barely missed the net.
But wait! Drama! Justin Braun, who scored four goals during the regular season, would tie the game up 1-1 when he scored a screened Murray couldn’t find Braun’s shot that hit off the post. You can’t help but feel happy for Braun; scoring a huge goal after a rough Game 1 performance, when he found out his father-in-law passed away hours earlier.
For the 5th time in the last 6 seasons, Game 2 of the #StanleyCupFinal is headed to OT! This is tonight’s tying goal:https://t.co/wPjH8oUext
— The Sports Quotient (@SportsQuotient) June 2, 2016
After Braun’s game-tying tally, the Sharks had a furious finish to the period, but this game would head to overtime. Oh boy.
Conor Sheary scored in overtime to give the Pens a 2-0 series lead. Sharks are now 0-4 in overtime this postseason. Game 3 is a must win game.
Goodnight.
Sharks goals (assists): Justin Braun (Logan Couture)
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