The Pittsburgh Penguins will try and hoist the Stanley Cup at the SAP Center this Sunday night as road underdogs against the resilient San Jose Sharks in Game 6 of the best-of-seven NHL Finals. Game time out on the West Coast has been set for 8 p.m. (ET) and it will be broadcast nationally on NBC.
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Pittsburgh never recovered from a wild five-goal first period in Game 5 of this series on Thursday night and the 4-2 loss as a heavy -171 home favorite cut its lead in this series to three games to two. The total went OVER the closing five-goal line in that game after staying UNDER in the first four games of this series with the line set at 5.5. The Penguins will now go back on the road where they have gone 6-4 in 10 previous road games in this year’s playoffs.
Thursday’s game was less than three minutes old and the Penguins were already down 2-0. They quickly battled back to tie the game on Carl Hagelin’s goal at the five-minute mark of the first period, but when the smoke cleared in this wild start they trailed 3-2 heading into the first intermission. Pittsburgh never lit the lamp again despite tallying an amazing 46 total shots on goal. With the exception of the Penguins’ 3-1 victory in Game 4 as +114 road underdogs where they only needed 20 shots on goal to get the win, they have outshot the Sharks by a wide margin in every other game.
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San Jose fans were patiently waiting for an offensive outburst from their team after the Sharks were only able to tally a grand total of seven goals in the first four games of this series. This scoring drought followed a prolific 3.5 goals-per-game average in the first three rounds of the playoffs. The Sharks will try and keep this series alive with another win on their home ice after going 8-3 in 11 previous playoff games at the SAP Center. The total went an even 4-4-3 in those 11 games.
Joe Pavelski led San Jose in goals during the regular season with 38 and he continues to lead the way in the postseason with 14 goals, but he was shutout in his first four games against Pittsburgh. The drought finally ended with a key goal in the third period of Game 5 to seal the win. Melker Karlsson actually scored the eventual game winner in the first period with help from a Logan Couture assist. The top star on Thursday night was San Jose goalie Martin Jones, who was able to turn away 44 of those 46 shots he faced.
The Penguins have won seven of their last eight games played on a Sunday and they are 14-5 in their last 19 road games. The total has gone OVER in six of those previous eight Sunday games.
The Sharks have lost six of their last eight games following a win, but they are 37-18 in their last 55 games playing on two day’s rest. The total has stayed UNDER in three of their last five games played on a Sunday.
Head-to-head in this matchup, the home team is 15-6 in the last 21 meetings including Pittsburgh’s 2-12-1 record in its last 15 road games against San Jose.
