Pittsburgh Penguins Stole Game One, But Must Improve
The Pittsburgh Penguins stole game one of the Stanley Cup Final with a last-minute tiebreaking goal from Nick Bonino. Still, they could have avoided getting to that point altogether.
Last night, the Pittsburgh Penguins narrowly edged out the San Jose Sharks in the first game of the Stanley Cup Final, winning 3-2 thanks to a goal in the last couple minutes of the game. While a win is a win, no matter how you get there, the Penguins had a few areas they could improve on still.
Before I go into those, I want to say how amazing Pittsburgh fans are. I’m in the city now for the first few games and while tickets aren’t exactly in my budget, watching the big screen outside CONSOL Energy Center certainly is. That was a great atmosphere, and it was really fun to watch a game of this magnitude surrounded by thousands of screaming Pens fans.
To recap the game briefly, Bryan Rust and Conor Sheary scored goals within minutes of each other to start the game off strong for the Pens. The home team took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission after absolutely dominating the first twenty minutes of play.
However, it was a complete reversal in the second. The Sharks stepped up as Tomas Hertl scored the first Stanley Cup Final goal in San Jose history on a powerplay, and Patrick Marleau tied the game late in the middle stanza.
The third period was more even, and it looked like game one was ready to go to overtime. That is, until Nick Bonino intervened. With just over two minutes remaining in the game, he picked up a lost puck right in front of Martin Jones and put it past the Sharks’ goalie before he could even realize what was going on. That goal would stand as the game winner.
The good news: Bryan Rust continued his hot streak and picked up his sixth goal of the offseason, and his fourth in the past three games. The bad news: he got laid out by Marleau and is considered day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
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More bad news: the Penguins gave up a lead again. In the end it worked out the right way for them, but this is becoming a little worrisome. They can’t afford to do that this late in the playoffs and especially not against the Sharks. The visitors tore up the second period, a time that’s usually when the Penguins are most dominant.
San Jose plays similar to the Pens in that they’ve got some mobile, offensively-minded defensemen and a deep forward lineup that’s producing on all levels. They certainly aren’t as fast as the Pens – a fact that became evident last night – but they’re more than capable of playing a fast-paced, back-and-forth game.
The Pens’ powerplay also needs to improve. I know, this is a tired old refrain, but they are just not working right now. On the bright side, the Pens are putting the puck on net on the man advantage more, and that’s a good development.
In general, that’s a positive of their game. They had 41 shots on goal last night, plus another 15 that were blocked by Sharks players. Like we saw in the last series against Tampa, it’s hard for goalies to stop all those shots. The more you shoot, the more likely some’ll get through. That’s definitely been something the Pens have improved on over this postseason.
However, the Sharks do have a strong powerplay. Hertl scored the first of the game on the PP as Ian Cole sat in the box for hooking. Naturally, the Pens will need to avoid taking unnecessary penalties any time they can.
Of course, we saw a lot of good things from the Penguins last night, too. They were great at shot-blocking and really helped out Matt Murray; they came out swinging from the start; they never gave up and it paid off. Their overall game was strong and their experience in getting to this point was helpful.
Next: Penguins: Five Sharks to Look Out For
These Penguins look good, and like I said – a win’s a win. But do us all a favor and make it a little less down to the wire, because my heart can’t take it.