Series schedule
Game 1: Penguins 3, Sharks 2
Game 2: Penguins 2, Sharks 1 (OT)
Game 3: Sharks 3, Penguins 2 (OT)
Game 4: Monday, June 6, Penguins @ Sharks, 5 p.m.
Game 5: Thursday, June 9, Sharks @ Penguins, 5 p.m.
*Game 6: Sunday, June 12, Penguins @ Sharks, 5 p.m.
*Game 7: Wednesday, June 15, Sharks @ Penguins, 5 p.m.
*if necessary
Last game
Joonas Donskoi’s overtime goal at 12:18 of overtime secured the Sharks win in their first-ever Stanley Cup Final home game on Saturday, 3-2. Justin Braun and Joel Ward also scored for San Jose, which erased a pair of one-goal deficits in the victory. Martin Jones stopped 40 shots in goal, allowing goals to Ben Lovejoy and Patric Hornqvist.
Keep an eye on…
Sharks: Justin Braun. For the first time in his career the 29-year-old defenseman has goals in consecutive games, including his first period score in Game 3. Perhaps more importantly, though, is that Braun’s defense with partner Marc-Edouard Vlasic was a huge key to San Jose getting back into the series. In 23 minutes of ice time, Braun, who attended his father-in-law’s funeral in Atlanta last Thursday, had three shots on goal and a plus-1 rating along with a team-high five blocks.
Penguins: Evgeni Malkin. The Penguins center had some decent scoring chances in Game 3, including one in front of the net in overtime, but enters Monday with just one goal in his last 15 games. The 29-year-old has 15 points in 20 playoff games, but has yet to find the scoresheet in the series. He had 27 goals and 58 points in 57 regular season games.
Probable lines
Sharks
Melker Karlsson – Joe Thornton – Joe Pavelski
Patrick Marleau – Logan Couture – Joonas Donskoi
Matt Nieto – Chris Tierney – Joel Ward
Dainius Zubrus – Nick Spaling – Tommy Wingels
Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Justin Braun
Paul Martin – Brent Burns
Brenden Dillon – Roman Polak
Martin Jones (starter)
James Reimer
Penguins
Conor Sheary – Sidney Crosby – Patric Hornqvist
Carl Hagelin – Nick Bonino – Phil Kessel
Chris Kunitz – Evgeni Malkin – Bryan Rust
Tom Kuhnhackl – Matt Cullen – Eric Fehr
Brian Dumoulin – Kris Letang
Olli Maatta – Ben Lovejoy
Ian Cole – Justin Schultz
Matt Murray (starter)
Marc-Andre Fleury
Playoff vitals
Sharks
Goals per game: 3.29
Goals-against per game: 2.29
Power play: 26.1 percent
Penalty kill: 82.5 percent
Penguins
Goals per game: 3.10
Goals-against per game: 2.33
Power play: 21.4 percent
Penalty kill: 83.6 percent
Injuries
Sharks: Tomas Hertl (lower body) is out.
Penguins: Trevor Daley (broken ankle) is out.
Sharks playoff record when…
The Sharks are 3-9 all-time when trailing a series two-games-to-one. They are 5-9 when a series is tied at two games apiece, and 0-5 when trailing three-games-to-one.
They are 17-17 all-time Game 4s, including 1-2 this season.
Facts and figures
*Joonas Donskoi leads all players with three points in the Stanley Cup Final (1g, 2a).
*The Penguins have outshot their opponent for 12 straight games. No team has ever done that for 13 straight playoff games since shots were recorded beginning in 1967.
*The last time there were three straight overtime games in the Stanley Cup Final was 1993 (Los Angeles vs. Montreal).
*The Sharks have yet to play with the lead in the series. The games have been tied or within one goal for all but 9:14 of the nearly 195 total minutes.
*San Jose is 8-2 at home in the postseason. They and the Penguins are a combined 17-5 at home, while the rest of the NHL was 29-37 at home in the playoffs.
Quotable
“It's probably going to be hard. They're going to respond. They're a very good hockey team. When you lose a game you want to come back with a response, and we expect that from them." – Logan Couture
