Through the first four games, the Stanley Cup Final followed a predictable script.
The Pittsburgh Penguins, continuing to account for a larger slab of total shots, were duly rewarded with three wins to one loss. They asserted themselves, and implemented their scheme more effectively than the San Jose Sharks, and the series' scoreboard reflected as such. Plain and painfully simple.
With an upshot apropos, pundits and onlookers didn't need to pay heed to the work of those between the pipes - a fact that in itself deviates from the norm. Because they didn't have to.
Matt Murray was winning games for the Penguins, not stealing them. And Martin Jones couldn't be blamed for the losses that were added to his record. This was about one team breaking down another, not two goaltenders. And for this, the end result seemed inevitable. Until it wasn't.
Jones derailed the narrative Thursday in Game 5 with perhaps the greatest individual performance of these playoffs. And for his work, he supplied a much-needed jolt to the Stanley Cup Final, and perhaps kick-started the process of turning the NHL's championship series on its head.
Jones survived an all-out blitzkrieg from the Penguins, who so desperately wanted to celebrate a world championship in front of their fans inside the Consol Energy Center, and tens of thousands more waiting outside.
"He's been doing this all year," Joe Thornton said of his goaltender, via NBCSN. "He's the backbone to our team."
Jones made 44 stops, or more than any netminder has when facing elimination in nearly a half century, on 46 shots. In addition to that, he loaded up for 76 total shot attempts, made double-digit total saves in each period, and survived 19 high-danger scoring chances at even strength, or the most a Sharks team has allowed in the post-lockout era.
"He's always tapping us on the pads, saying we did a good job, and he's usually the one bailing us out," defenseman Justin Braun said, according to Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
On the other side of the rink, the rookie Murray, if but only for a period, finally showed his inexperience. He allowed three goals on seven shots, compared to the Pens' 15, in the opening frame, or a deficit that Jones would never let the Penguins crawl out of.
The 2016 Stanley Cup Final required something spectacular to shake it from its intended route.
We'll find out Sunday in San Jose if Jones can continue steering.
