The San Jose Sharks produced at a supreme rate through three rounds in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Their 63 goals in 18 games translated to a 3.5 goals-per-game standard, and a rate only incrementally behind the output of the 2009-10 Chicago Blackhawks - the highest-scoring team to compete in the Stanley Cup Final in the post-lockout era.
More impressive than comparing their attack to a juggernaut is the competition on which San Jose's scorers have feasted. They drummed up offense against some of the most defensively sound programs in the NHL, and units anchored by stalwarts like Drew Doughty, Roman Josi, and Alex Pietrangelo.
So the question entering the terminating series was valid: how were these Pittsburgh Penguins, with the misfit cast of characters that share a blue line with Kris Letang in protection of a rookie goalie, going to dig in and stop a Sharks team that arrived at the Stanley Cup Final via cannon?
Pittsburgh snatched up a strangle hold in the series Wednesday night after another suffocating performance. They allowed 22 shots and defended 49 shot attempts (both totals fewer than they allowed in Game 1), fortifying the defensive zone for 60-plus minutes against a desperate opponent, before Sidney Crosby acted as player-coach on the dot, drawing up a decisive set-piece off an attacking-zone draw 155 seconds into extra time.
Crosby, of course, was lauded after the game. As was Conor Sheary, who scored the overtime winner, and Phil Kessel, whose tap-in goal in the second period serves as his team-leading 19th point. But where would the Penguins - who produced just four goals in six regularly scheduled periods - be without its seal-tight defense that's allowed three goals in two-plus games?
Here's a snapshot of the unit's work:
- Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski have been muted, mustering just six shots and 16 attempts. The pair combined for 40 points and 86 shots in 18 games prior to the Cup Final.
- Sharks forwards placed five shots on goal through 40 minutes in Game 2, and the entire team went more than 11 minutes without testing Matt Murray in the second. San Jose has also been held to single-digit shot totals in five of the six completed periods, while only attempting marginally fewer shots.
- The Sharks mustered 24 scoring chances and nine high-danger scoring chances in two games after averaging 29 and 13.5 throughout the entire season, respectively, before clashing with Pittsburgh.
- This may be a reach, but the Penguins might be so dialed in defensively, that they've become selective with who shoots the puck. Only Brent Burns has more shot attempts than Roman Polak, who the Penguins have almost seemed to invite attempts from to create a change of possession. Call it hockey's version of sending a poor free-throw shooter to the line, because Polak's never scored in a Sharks uniform.
So the question is how this patchwork unit - who we'd be remiss not to note are leaning on Justin Schultz for fairly significant minutes in the absence of the man most representative of their misfit nature: No. 2 defender Trevor Daley - has been so successful against a team that scored previously at a historic pace?
With dogged three-zone contributions and enduring faculty to drive play, the forwards have also played a major role in shutting down the Sharks - but that cuts both ways. Through accountable close-outs, swift puck-retrievals, and efficient exits, the back line remains vital to Pittsburgh's dominant possession metrics and the success of this team.
The unit will receive less plaudits compared to the likes of Crosby, Murray, and the "HBK" line if the Penguins win another two games this season, but without its positionally sound, disciplined, and (aside from Ben Lovejoy's late release and rotation on Patrick Marleau's goal in Game 1) nearly mistake-free performance through two games, the Penguins aren't in position to bury the Sharks this weekend.
Somehow, they're holding up just fine.
- Advanced stats courtesy war-on-ice.com, corsica.hockey
