The Pittsburgh Penguins flew out to San Jose yesterday with two games in hand on the Sharks. Despite that commanding lead, it’s a whole new game in the “Shark Tank.”
Nick Bonino and Conor Sheary led the Pittsburgh Penguins to wins in the first two games of the Stanley Cup Final. Both of those games took place in Pittsburgh, and both were won by only one goal. As the series shifts westward, the San Jose Sharks will have more advantages that the Penguins will need to be aware of.
First and foremost, the time difference will be a bit of a doozy – at least to begin with. The Pens flew out yesterday, which will hopefully help with the initial change, but they still haven’t played a team out of the Eastern time zone during the playoffs before now. The game is still at 8 PM EST, but that means it will be at 5 PM in San Jose.
They’re pros, and they can handle it, of course, but it may throw a little bit of a loop into their gameday routine. The start of game three may have the look of a feeling-out period again, just as the Penguins get used to their cross-country surroundings.
It’s pretty hot and humid in Pittsburgh right now, and though the ice crew at CONSOL Energy Center did a good job of making sure that didn’t affect the ice too much, the puck still had its fair share of weird bounces. That could also be a factor in San Jose, but every arena is different.
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The “Shark Tank” is known as one of the most difficult arenas to play in for visiting teams, because of how involved the fans are. However, we’ve seen them shut down when their team gets behind. That’s not unique to San Jose by any means, but the atmosphere can often be almost as electric as that at CONSOL. Playing at home is always an advantage, but there will be Pens fans anywhere you go.
Naturally, there are other advantages to having home ice, including those laid out in the rulebook. The Sharks will have the leg up at the faceoff dot, which might make Logan Couture shut up about cheating on faceoffs for a little while. They won’t have the long change for two periods anymore, which will surely help out their defense. They also will be able to see the Penguins’ lineup and intended matchups ahead of time, so head coach Peter DeBoer can change his later.
The Sharks were more focused on defensive matchups when they were in Pittsburgh, but now look for their forward lines to square off against certain Pittsburgh players. We won’t know for sure who will get paired with who until the game begins tomorrow, but that will be more their focus now.
Can the Penguins still win in San Jose? Absolutely. Despite San Jose’s comebacks and strong play in net, the Pens have done better overall. Though each win has only been by one goal, that’s all we need.