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Sharks teeter on the brink with
Game 4 loss
San Jose's big guns AWOL once
again
The only thing missing from the procession of fans
streaming out of SAP Center on Monday night following the end of Game 4 was a
casket. The somber reality that the 2016 Stanley Cup Finals is about to turn
into a funeral for the San Jose Sharks hit home like a slap in the face. The
Sharks succumbed for third time on Monday night, falling 3-1 to the Pittsburgh
Penguins after another lifeless performance that left no doubt who the better
team is in this series.
When the SAP Center doors swung open following
the Sharks loss, the sun was beginning to set on the South Bay. So too was the
Sharks season. A single loss separates them from the hockey annals as that team
that fell victim to the eventual Stanley Cup Champion.
Barring a
miracle, the Sharks will be laid to rest within the next few days. If not on
Thursday in Pittsburgh, then certainly by the weekend where the season can pass
at home.
Sticking with the death theme, the Sharks played like the
walking dead out of the gate for a fourth consecutive game, allowing their
opponent to grab an early lead while they tried to get things kicked into gear.
In the Stanley Cup Finals, you don't get four chances to figure out how
to start a game. The reward for the Sharks inability to start each game on time
is a 3-1 hole. San Jose's insistence on playing a static game against a team
that is far superior to them in the skating department led to yet another loss
in a series that requires adjustments when things aren't working. Sharks head
coach Peter DeBoer is either too stubborn or devoid of the creativity required
to adjust.
So he finds himself in the same hole he dug for himself when
he led the New Jersey Devils to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2012. And he's about
to suffer the same fate as that Devils team.
The Penguins regrouped for
their 3-2 overtime loss in Game 3 on Saturday by keeping things simple and
doing what they've done best against the Sharks. They simply skated faster and
got to pucks before the Sharks did.
Pittsburgh also had their third and
fourth tiers players step up. Ian Cole chose Game 4 to score his first goal of
the playoffs. The Penguins defenseman isn't paid to score goals, but he made
the most of his first chance in the playoffs, but snapping home a long rebound
from the left side 7:36 into the game. Cole was the benefactor of a
discombobulated Sharks defense that elected to shift four defenders to the
right side of the ice as Phil Kessel wound up for a shot. Cole was all by
himself on the weak side and had no opposition when he collected Kessel's
rebound and snapping it home.
Roman Polak continued to baffle everyone
by floating on the play, allowing Cole to punch home the rebound. The Sharks
defenseman has been involved in so many Penguins goals in the series that he
may as well put on a Pittsburgh sweater.
The Sharks finally out-shot
the Penguins in the opening frame, but they never really challenged Penguins
goaltender Matt Murray.
Even when they tried to play physically it
backfired on them. Defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic was sent off for interference
when he checked Penguins captain Sidney Crosby into through the Sharks bench
door. It was a head scratching penalty. Not for the fact that the officials
actually called a penalty, but for the fact that it was deemed interference.
Crosby was attempting to play the puck and should have been fair game, but the
NHLs golden child received the benefit of the doubt.
The Sharks
continued their strong play on the penalty kill, snuffing out the Penguins
power play chance, but that luck would run out later in the game.
Melker Karlsson was whistled for an imaginary interference penalty 2:28
into the 2nd period that setup the Penguins second goal of the game. Kessel
setup an Evgeni Malkin tap in at 2:37 of the period. Malkin literally parked
himself next to the right post and waited. Kessel saw his linemate before
snapping a diagonal pass through the slot from left to right, where Malkin had
to do nothing more than get a stick blade on the pass to record his first point
of the series.
Justin Braun failed to get a stick blade down in the
passing lane, allowing Kessel to thread a needle with a laser beam feed.
The 2-0 lead looked as if it would be overkill, as the Sharks didn't
even get a shot on Murray until the 8:30 mark of the period.
Chances
were few and far between, but when they were served up on a silver platter, the
Sharks fumbled the opportunity away. Logan Couture found himself with the puck
and open ice between him and Murray midway through the period, but he rushed
the shot and sailed a good three feet over the crossbar.
Patrick
Marleau had an equally juicy chance 5 minutes into the 3rd period, but the
Sharks longest tenured player missed on what could have been a signature moment
for his career. Instead, Marleau sent a shot at Murray's sternum, failing to
score or put a stamp on his own legacy.
San Jose would score 8:07 into
the 3rd when Karlsson snapped a shot past Murray from the slot to cut
Pittsburgh's lead to 2-1.
The 12 minutes that followed were an exercise
in frustration for the Sharks and the sellout crowd. The Sharks generated 12
shots over the final 20 minutes, but again, noting seemed to challenge Murray.
A turnover with just over two minutes left in regulation turned into a
2-1 break that ended with Eric Fehr beating Jones with a shot from between the
circles. The goal was Fehr's 3rd of the playoffs. It was the death blow that
likely ends the Sharks season.
Game Notes:
* With the
3-1 lead, the game may have been the last played at SAP Center until next
season. The energy in the building was electric at the start of the game, but
until Karlsson's goal the Penguins zapped that energy from the building.
* Sharks captain Joe Pavelski continued to struggle in the series.
Pavelski fumbled several pucks throughout the game, and when he had a shot
opportunity in the 3rd period, he had no zip on it. Don't be surprised if
Pavelski is playing with an ailment that is impeding his puck handling.
* Sources within the Sharks organization have indicated that Tomas
Hertl has a torn meniscus and is done for the remainder of the playoffs. Hertl
injured his knee two years during his rookie season when Dustin Brown hit the
Sharks foward with a knee-on-knee hit.
* The Sharks power play
continued to fizzle, going-0-for-2 in Game 4.
* Pavelski won 14 of 19
faceoffs (74%), but Matt Cullen dominated in the circle late in the game,
winning 11 of 20 faceoffs, primarily in the defensive zone.
* Patric
Horqvist stopped a shot with is head in the 2nd period. The Penguins winger had
a Justin Braun shot ring off the side of his helmet, but he continued in the
game.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| PIT |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
| SJ |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
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| 1st period - 1, PIT,
Cole 1 (Kessel, Malkin), 7:36. |
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| 2nd period - 2, PIT,
Malkin 5 (Kessel, Letang), 2:37, (pp). |
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| 3rd period - 3, SJ,
Karlsson 4 (Tierney, Dillon), 8:07. 4, PIT, Fehr 3 (Hagelin, Maata),
17:58. |
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| 1st period - Vlasic, SJ
(interference), 11:37; Lovejoy, PIT (holding the stick), 14:45. |
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| 2nd period - Karlsson,
SJ (interference), 2:28; Rust, PIT (hooking), 17:33. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| PIT - Murray |
24 |
23 |
| SJ - Jones |
20 |
17 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| PIT |
6 |
7 |
7 |
20 |
| SJ |
8 |
4 |
12 |
24 |
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| Referees: McCauley,
Sutherland. Linesmen: Murphy, Racicot. |
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