After staving off elimination, the Sharks return home trying to keep their season alive, while the Penguins try to put them away when the puck drops on Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final at the SAP Center in San Jose on Sunday.
San Jose looks to survive its second straight elimination game in this series after winning Game 5, while Pittsburgh tries win its first Stanley Cup since 2009 and fourth in franchise history. The Penguins took a 2-0 series lead, but the Sharks came back in Game 3 with an overtime victory. Pittsburgh then took a commanding 3-1 lead after Game 4.
With its season on the line in Game 5, San Jose notched a 4-2 victory to send the series back to California for Game 6. It was a blistering start fo the Sharks as Brent Burns notched his seventh goal of the playoffs and Logan Couture scored his ninth.
The Penguins were quick to battle back as Evgeni Malkin and Carl Hagelin each tallied for the sixth time this postseason. Melker Karlsson then capped the first-period scoring with his fifth of the playoffs. After being held scoreless through the first four games of the final, Joe Pavelski picked up his playoff-leading 14th marker of the spring.
"We're still alive," Pavelski, the Sharks captain, said after Game 5 via NHL.com. "We still want to come back here, but there's a lot of work to get to that point and a lot of focus that will be needed and a lot of commitment.We're going to need some more of that the same way we had tonight."
Couture now has a team-leading 20 assists and 29 points in the playoffs. Phil Kessel notched an assist on Thursday and leads the Penguins in goals (10) and points (22), while Nick Bonino has a club-leading 14 helpers.
The posts weren't kind to the Penguins in Game 5 and Matt Murray yielded three goals on 21 shots on the other end of the ice.
"I felt like I was on top of things tonight, to be honest," said the rookie Murray, who is 14-6 with a 2.14 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage this postseason via NHL.com. "They kind of fanned on the [third] one. I probably could've played [Brent] Burns' goal a little bit better. I felt really good. I felt like I was on top of it. I was great in the second and third, I thought. I made some good saves."
Martin Jones had a huge game for San Jose in beween the pipes with its season on the line, making 44 saves and allowing just two goals. Jones is 14-9 with a 2.16 GAA and a .922 save percentage in the playoffs.
Game Details & Live Stream
Matchup: Penguins at Sharks Stanley Cup Final Game 6
Time: 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT)
Venue: SAP Center, San Jose, Calif.
Radio: Pittsburgh (105.9 WXDX); San Jose (KFOX 98.5);
Series: 3-2 Penguins.
Predictions: Our predictions for this series can be viewed here.
Betting Odds: The latest betting odds for this game can be found here.
Watch Online: This game can be live streamed for free here.
