San Jose Sharks Win Game 5 to Stave Off Elimination
The San Jose Sharks won Game 5 of the 2016 NHL Stanley Cup Finals to stave off elimination by the Pittsburgh Penguins.
San Jose can thank its goalie Martin Jones for the win. The soft spoken, polite and always ready to give attention to others goalie, came up big in Game 5 and the spotlight was shining directly on him.
The win means the Finals move back to San Jose with Pittsburgh holding a 3-2 lead after Jones turned aside 44 of 46 shots in the Sharks 4-2 win Thursday night.
Justin Braun a defenseman for San Jose said his goaltenders bailed the team out on Thursday. The Sharks were obviously outplayed by the Penguins, but not outscored.
San Jose scored early on Matt Murray the Pittsburgh goalie, then relied on Jones to hold the fort to escape with the win.
Jones became the first NHL goaltender since the expansion era to win a pair of games in the Stanley Cup Finals while making 40 saves or more.
Jones said he felt good Thursday night in goal, thought his defense played well in front of him and they had a few bounces go their way on the night.
His teammates however knew better. Defensemen praised Jones for being so calm under fire and never flinching.
San Jose’s stars came through big during the first period and then Jones held the line during the final period.
Logan Couture scored one goal and handed out a pair of assists, while Joe Pavelski, Melker Karlsson and Brent Burns all scored for the Sharks.
San Jose scored four goals on just 22 shots, while the Penguins could muster only 2 goals on 45 shots on the night.
Carl Hagelin and Evgeni Malkin scored Pittsburgh’s goals, but Murray, who has played superb hockey the entire postseason, faltered early while his teammates found it hard to beat Jones.
Captain Sidney Crosby said the team is right there as his teammates hit the post a few times and were around the net often. He said the players were working very hard.
Pittsburgh’s home ice was packed with the largest home crowd in the brief history of the new arena. They all came to see Pittsburgh try to claim the first major sports championship at home since 1960.
However, only 1:04 into period one, San Jose scored to quiet the crowd and at 2:52, the Sharks stunned Pittsburgh fans taking a 2-0.
However, in less than two minutes the Penguins scored twice to tie the score.
The Sharks scored just before the end of the first to take a 3-2 lead and then Jones took over from there to help San Jose return home for Game 6.
