Sharks look to stay alive, force Game 7

SAN JOSE, Calif. — No one needs to remind the San Jose 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 to lose a best-of-seven series after winning the first three games, San Jose is trying to pull off a historic comeback of its own in the Stanley Cup Final.

The Sharks look to stave off elimination for a second consecutive contest and force a decisive seventh game in the final when they host the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 6 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.

That is what happened to San Jose in the first round in 2014 against Los Angeles 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 victory when Pittsburgh outshot San Jose 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 previous five years with Pittsburgh. “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 Toronto rallied to beat Detroit 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. They lost to Montreal in 2010 after going 3-2 in the series and then squandered 3-1 edges in losses to Tampa Bay in 2011 and the New York Rangers in 2014.

Now they lost in their first chance to close out the Sharks.

“I thought our guys did a really good job of handling it the right way,” Pens coach Mike Sullivan said. “It was unfortunate that we didn’t get the result we were looking for. But we’re playing a very good opponent and we know that. We know this is the most difficult win to get. Our players are well aware of the expectations and the heightened intensity that we need to have in order to get this next win.”