The San Jose Sharks waited nearly a quarter of a century to play in their first Stanley Cup Final. They’ll have to wait another day to get their first win on the NHL’s biggest stage. A late Pittsburgh goal gave the Penguins a 3-2 win and a 1-0 series lead. San Jose lost Game 1 of the Western Conference finals by a goal and came back to beat St. Louis in seven.
Stanley Cup Playoff Odds at BookMaker.eu.
San Jose Sharks + 120
Pittsburgh Penguins - 140
Over/Under 5
ODDS ANALYSIS
Plenty of heartache over 24 seasons but the Sharks finally got the monkey off their back and play for the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history. San Jose is the eighth team since 1995 - 96 to make their Stanley Cup debut and in the previous seven occasions a Cup rookie has hoisted the trophy just twice. One of those occasions had two first-timers squaring off.
A half-goal increase on the standard total of five cashed the under in Game 1 with Pittsburgh’s 3 - 2 victory. The Penguins and San Jose are the two highest scoring teams in the playoffs and will likely break through offensively after a feeling out session in the opener. It wasn’t for a lack of chances that the teams played the under. Both were flying up and down the ice and the third period was wide-open considering it was a Stanley Cup Final game.
GOALIE REPORT
The best move Doug Wilson made in his tenure as Sharks general manager was likely trading for Martin Jones last offseason. The young netminder is the biggest reason why San Jose is competing for its first Stanley Cup. Jones started 29 games in two seasons with Los Angeles and many have waited for him to wilt after a grueling 65 regular season starts and every postseason game, it hasn’t happened.
He was solid in Game 1 stopping 38 shots and couldn’t be blamed for the game-winner late in the third when Nick Bonino was left alone in the slot after Brent Burns lost his stick. The kid has been composed all season and if the cracks aren’t showing by now, they probably never will.
With the way Matt Murray is playing, the days of Marc-Andre Fleury between the pipes in Pittsburgh are numbered. With their season on the line in the Eastern Conference final after Fleury lost Game 5 to Tampa Bay, Murray stepped in and backstopped the Pens to consecutive victories and berth in the Stanley Cup.
Murray has played more postseason games and minutes than he did during the regular year, so there is a chance of fatigue. But the schedule allows for two days off between Games 2 and 3 and Games 4 and 6, so he’ll get a breather there. He didn’t have as much work as his counterpart in Game 1, but came up with several big stops in the third period and was solid, much like he’s been during his time with the big club.
LIVE BETTING
The power play will be a huge factor in what figures to be a tight series when the teams are skating five-on-five. San Jose is lethal with the man-advantage scoring the most power-play goals during the regular season with the third-highest percentage. That success has translated to the postseason, where the Sharks have succeeded 27.7 percent of the time while scoring a playoff-high 18 goals with the extra attacker.
The Penguins were assessed three minor penalties on Monday, two of which resulted in a man-advantage for San Jose. And the Sharks made them pay when Tomas Hertl scored the first Stanley Cup final goal in franchise history. It got the Sharks back in the game after they fell behind 2-0. The Pens are also scary with the man-advantage, though they failed to convert in three chances in Game 1. Given the opportunity, these teams will score on the power-play.
QUICK PICK
The Sharks are the team that has speed and uses it to their advantage to create odd-man rushes and scoring opportunities. But in Game 1, it was the Penguins who seemed a step quicker and darted around the San Jose defenders to create a number of good scoring chances. The Western Conference is considered the more wide-open of the two and the Sharks survived, leading to the expectation that they are a faster club overall.
Don’t underestimate the Pens. Their rookies were all over the frozen pond Monday with Bryan Rust and Conor Sheary scoring goals and Murray like a wall in front of his net. Rust may miss Game 2 after absorbing a blow to the head from Patrick Marleau. That will allow guys like Sydney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel to do some damage. After all, isn’t that what they’re supposed to do?
NHL Odds: Pittsburgh 4, San Jose 3
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