Stanley Cup Final Recap

When the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs began back in April, there were a number of teams waiting to write the next chapter in their playoff stories.

The Washington Capitals – never having gone past the second round of the playoffs in the Alexander Ovechkin era, with every intention of going to the third round and beyond this year.

There was the reigning Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks were back in the playoffs again, and who with the addition of Andrew Ladd looked to carry on from last year.

There was the Detroit Red Wings – in the playoffs for a 25^{th straight year, and possibly Pavel Datsyuk’s last.}

The Anaheim Ducks – who spent a portion of the season in seventh place in the Pacific division, yet turned it around and managed to move up to second place in the division.

There was the San Jose Sharks – who didn’t have a story, but wanted to prove to everyone that they did. Then finally, the Pittsburgh Penguins somehow, with mostly new parts and a new coach, climbed up the standings and established themselves as a threat.

Unfortunately for these teams, only one of these stories would be written all the way to the end. And the final chapter, the toughest one, concluded on Sunday night.

The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the San Jose Sharks 4 games to 2 to claim their 2^nd Stanley Cup of the Crosby-Malkin era.

Through much of the playoffs, both teams surprised their opponents with how fast they could make plays, how fast they could exit their zone, how fast they could pounce on mistakes. The Finals were about who could do it better.

And there was no question that it was Pittsburgh.

In a series that spans six or seven games, there is a lot that happens, there are many different stories throughout the course of the series; each of the games has its own unique storyline. This series felt a little different. It felt like the script for each of the games was the same.

Games 1 & 2 – Act I

The Penguins came out firing on all cylinders in the first period of game 1. They jumped out to a 2-0 lead, with Brian Rust and Conor Sheary scoring goals a minute apart past the midway point in the first period. Both goals rewards for relentless pressure off the rush, and off the cycle through the entire period. The Sharks hadn’t looked this weak all playoffs long.

San Jose clawed back and put together a good stretch in the second period to tie the game up before it went into the third period.

But in the third period, it was all Pittsburgh again. San Jose could have given the game up at any time during the third. They kept holding on. Until there were two and a half minute left in the third. Brent Burns in the corner without his stick, could not keep Letang from throwing a centering pass to the front of the net to Nick Bonino, who fired a shot over the blocker of Martin Jones. The Sharks, so close to taking the game to overtime, lost it 3-2, but had only themselves to blame.

Game 2 started off the same way. San Jose playing catch up to a Penguins team skating circles. Pittsburgh didn’t score till midway through the second period on a play after Roman Polak mishandled the puck and gave Pittsburgh the possession. San Jose would play better in the third period, and put pressure on the Penguins forcing them to ice the puck with less than five minutes to play. After the face-off, Logan Couture made a very well timed play to get the puck to the point before Carl Hagelin could make his way to cover Justin Braun. With time to get the shot off, Braun put a shot over the glove of a screened Matt Murray. Overtime. In overtime, it didn’t take long for the Penguins to score. Crosby won an offensive zone faceoff against Joel Ward and got the puck back to Kris Letang, who found an open Conor Sheary in the high slot. Sheary managed to shoot the puck straight through the legs of Justin Braun, and over the glove of Martin Jones. 2-0 series lead.

Games 3 & 4 – Act II

Going back to San Jose, it seemed San Jose would play better, as a result of being at home, and feeling a sense of urgency. Game 3 started off in the exact same way that games 1 and 2 did. San Jose watched Pittsburgh make plays around them, and could not get the puck away from them. The Pittsburgh defense, who didn’t seem that overwhelming, especially with Trevor Daley out, did what Mike Sullivan told them. And they did it really well. Throughout the playoffs, and for the second half of the regular season for that matter, Pittsburgh moved the puck out of their own end without blinking. It was machine like. Every player knew where to be, and within a couple seconds of the first Penguin to touch the puck in the defensive zone, the puck was out of the zone. It didn’t matter if it was Kris Letang or Ian Cole. The puck came out. The Rangers never figured it out; the Capitals could not deal with it. The Lightning succeeded at times, but still got beaten. The Sharks tried to stand up at the blue line as much as possible, but this was at times even more dangerous, as it had the potential of a two-on-one the other way. With the puck always in the hands of the forwards in the offensive zone – Crosby, or Malkin, or the Kessel line – the Sharks could seldom put together a decent stretch of play.

Down two games to none, the Sharks continued to be controlled by the Penguins. They were lucky, as the first period ended with a 1-1 tie. In the second, the Sharks fought back a little, but came away empty-handed, as Patrik Hornqvist tipped in a Ben Lovejoy shot to give the Penguins a 2-1 lead.The Sharks played from behind in the third period. It honestly didn’t look like they were going to score again. But at the end of a powerplay, somehow Joel Ward found some room to skate the puck just past the blue line and blasted it just underneath the glove of Matt Murray. The goal probably should have been stopped by Jones, who was not screened, but just could not react fast enough.

The game went into overtime, and though Pittsburgh again controlled most of the play through overtime, Joonas Donskoi walked the puck behind the net and in towards the left slot and shot the puck over Matt Murray’s shoulder. 2-1 Pittsburgh instead of 3-0 Pittsburgh.

San Jose looked to be recharged and wanting to tie the series up before heading back to Pittsburgh. But the game 4 was more of the same. Pittsburgh scoring first on a play off the rush with San Jose’s players still tracking to find the puck after a rebound off a hard Phil Kessel shot. It went straight to Ian Cole who put it into an open net. San Jose played better in the first, but could not put one behind Matt Murray. In the second, San Jose again struggled to get out of their own end, and let Pittsburgh control play. Evgeni Malkin scored on a powerplay to put the Penguins up 2-0. San Jose started controlling the play below the dots in the third period while playing catch up, but could only score one goal. Pittsburgh managed to avoid icing the puck about 6 or 7 times during the third period, perhaps the hot arena not letting the puck slide all the way down. Had a couple of those pucks been iced, perhaps San Jose would have taken the game. Despite sitting back in the third period, Pittsburgh scored an empty netter, and took a 3-1 lead in the series.

Games 5 & 6 – Act III

This was was do or die for San Jose. And finally, they came out looking like the Sharks that had beaten three good teams in the Western Conference. It looked like San Jose started pushing the puck out to center ice a lot earlier than with their normal breakout. This gave the the forwards a little bit of time alone in the offensive zone before the Pittsburgh forwards could skate back to defend. San Jose scored a goal doing this too. They took a very early 2-0 lead, and controlled the game. But then, Dainus Zubrus took a delay of game penalty. Pittsburgh scored on the powerplay 23 seconds later, and then again 22 seconds after that. The game started to look a lot like the rest of the games in the series. But then, San Jose scored their third goal, on their 5^th shot, while still letting Pittsburgh dominate the play. This was the important goal. It was all Martin Jones needed. For the rest of the game, San Jose would chase the puck in their own end, letting Martin Jones bail them out. Save after save. Some 10-bell. He managed to keep San Jose in the game for over 45 minutes. San Jose would add an empty-netter and take the game 4-2. Series still alive.

Back in San Jose for game 6, again it seemed that San Jose would somehow start to play like the flashes they had shown for the first 4 minutes of game 5. But no. The game started out exactly like games 1, 2, 3, and 4. After dominating San Jose’s fourth line and making them take a penalty, Pittsburgh scored midway through the first period. San Jose would could out chasing the game in the second period, and managed to tie the game up on a Logan Couture screened and deflected wrist shot on a rush. But just over a minute later, San Jose’s top line of Thornton, Pavelski, and Donskoi, couldn’t get the puck from Crosby’s line. Crosby made a pass to an open Kris Letang down low, who scored to give Pittsburgh back the lead.

San Jose could not score in the second period, and could not even try to score in the third. In the third, the Penguins suffocated the Sharks, who managed just two shots on goal. Pittsburgh would add an empty-netter and win the game, and more importantly, the Stanley Cup!

Epilogue

Throughout the series, the Sharks failed to control the play. They had problems holding on to the puck in the offensive zone, and many of their chances were not converted into sustained pressure. There were some unlucky goals; perhaps game 1 could have gone San Jose’s way if Burns hadn’t lost his stick. Perhaps game 2 could have been theirs if Polak hadn’t mishandled a routine puck. But the game doesn’t work that way. San Jose did not figure out how to consistently beat a Pittsburgh system that so efficiently kept the puck out of their own zone.

The story that was completed was the Pittsburgh Penguins’. A remarkable turnaround by a team that was down and almost out. A team with a lot of superpower up front, but also some new pieces looking to re-establish themselves, some rookies looking to play another day with the big club, some defensemen still getting comfortable, an injured starting goalie, and a new coach trying to get it all to work. It was through all this that the Penguins decided to push, and persist, and prove that they belonged in the playoffs, and that they were there to win sixteen more games.

The story of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs was the Pittsburgh Penguins’ to write, and what an ending they penned.