Sharks staying hungry
After road victory, they’re looking to force Game 7
SAN JOSE, Calif. — No one needs to remind the Sharks about the difficulties of closing out a playoff series, how each missed opportunity can give confidence to the opponent and plant seeds of doubt in the leading team.
Two years after becoming the fourth NHL team ever to lose a best-of-seven series after winning the first three games, the Sharks are trying to pull off a historic comeback of their own in the Stanley Cup Final.
The Sharks look to stave off elimination for a second straight contest and force a decisive seventh game in the final when they host the Penguins in Game 7 on Sunday night.
“The longer it goes, you just feel that pressure, ‘You got to get it done, you got to get it done,’ ” defenseman Justin Braun said. “And when it doesn’t happen it creates a little frustration and you’re like, ‘We could have been done with this days ago and we’re still going.’ I think that gets in your head a little bit.”
That’s what happened to the Sharks in the first round in 2014 against the Kings and what the Sharks hope the Penguins are feeling after failing to win the Cup on home ice in Game 5.
Despite being outplayed for much of the series, including the Game 5 win when the Penguins outshot the Sharks 46-21, the Sharks know the pressure on the Penguins will only increase if they can win at home to force the winner-take-all seventh game in Pittsburgh on Wednesday night.
“I’ve been a part of teams, especially over there, that have lost being up 3-1,” said Sharks defenseman Paul Martin, who spent the last five years with the Penguins. “I think it’s more of a mental thing realizing your opportunity to finish it off is getting smaller and each loss gives that other team that much more belief and momentum that they can get it done and pull it off.”
No team has lost the Stanley Cup Final after going up 3-1 since the Maple Leafs rallied to beat the Red Wings in 1942 after losing the first three games of the series.
But the Penguins have had problems closing out their playoff series in recent years. Since winning their third Stanley Cup back in 2009, they have blown series leads three time in the previous six postseasons.
And now they lost in their first chance to close out the Sharks.