Sunday, June 05, 2016

Morning Player Notes in the Playoffs (Jun 5)



Well, if the San Jose Sharks were going to make a series of this Stanley Cup Finals, they would have to start doing something in Game 3, their first game home at the Shark Tank (or the SAP Center).

For the longest time in the San Jose opener, it looked like the Pittsburgh Penguins had a lot of the answers, taking a couple of leads, thanks to non-pool defenseman Ben Lovejoy, non-pool goalie Matt Murray had most of the answers to what few chances the Sharks had and they just kept pumping shots on the other net, keeping Martin Jones busy.  The ice seemed tilted in the wrong direction for the home side, but once San Jose made it to overtime, thanks to a Joel Ward slapper in the 3rd, it was all down to one chance.

Both goalies were sharp in this one and it would have to take a great shot to beat them, fortunately for San Jose, Joonas Donskoi had that shot in the extra frame and the Sharks avoided the 8-ball and climbed back into this series with a 3-2 overtime win.

Thanks to the bonus point, Donskoi had a 3-point game in the pool, but they went uncollected, but Joe Thornton had a pair of assists and Jones, the keeper, earned his first 2 points of the series as well.

There was one actual player note in this one, as San Jose forward Tomas Hertl wasn't available for Game 3, but of course, the team won't disclose why he is unable to play, nor will they disclose how long they expect him to be out.

ImplicationsChris continues to have a good Cup Finals, leading the pool with 11 points in the round, but Scott, thanks to the Jones win, also climbed into the race for the best series, tying Brenda for 2nd place, with 10 points.

As for the actual standings, there was no change, thanks to this result.

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