The San Jose Sharks and the Pittsburgh Penguins continue their best-of-seven showdown in this year’s NHL Finals this Wednesday night with Game 2. The puck is set to drop at 8 p.m. (ET) at the Consol Energy Center and the game will be broadcast nationally on NBC Sports Network.
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The Sharks were able to match Pittsburgh on the scoreboard through most of Monday night’s series opener, but they still ended-up on the wrong end of a 3-2 loss as +117 road underdogs. They are now an even 5-5 on the road in the playoffs after posting a NHL-best 28-10-3 road record in the regular season. The total stayed UNDER the 5.5-goal closing line on Monday night after going OVER in the last three games of their Western Conference Finals matchup against St. Louis.
San Jose dug itself an early 2-0 hole in Game 1 before Tomas Herti and Patrick Marleau tied the game on a pair of second period goals, but it could not find a way to light the lamp in the final period to gain an edge. Defenseman Brent Burns was credited for two assists to raise his total to 16 in the postseason and Logan Couture added an assist as the team’s leading point scorer (8 goals and 17 assists) in these playoffs. Martin Jones was in goal for the Sharks and he stopped 38 of the 41 shots he faced. His save percentage through 19 playoff games stands at .919.
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Pittsburgh evened its mark to 2-2 in playoff series openers this year and it is now 5-2 in its last seven postseason games. The Penguins were 26-11-4 at home this season and through 11 home games in the playoffs they are 8-3. The total has gone OVER or ended as a PUSH in eight of those 11 games on their home ice.
Rookie Brian Rust put the Penguins on the board first in Game 1 with his sixth goal of the postseason, but later he was knocked-out of the game on a big hit from Marleau. His status for Wednesday remains day-to-day. Conor Sheary made it a 2-0 lead in that same period with an assist from Sidney Crosby. Nick Bonino was credited with the eventual game winner late in the third period to give his team the early series edge as favorites to win the Cup. Pittsburgh turned to Matt Murray in goal and he responded with 24 saves on 26 shots. He has been the workhorse between the pipes in these playoffs and in 16 starts his goals-against average is a rock-solid 2.20 with a .924 save percentage.
The Sharks are 4-1 in their last five games playing on one day’s rest and they are 20-6 in their last 26 games against a team with a winning record. The total has gone OVER in five of their last six Wednesday games.
The Penguins are 24-7 in their last 31 home games and they have now won five of their last six games in the Stanley Cup Finals. The total has gone OVER in three of their last four games played on Wednesday.
Head-to-head in this matchup, the home team has won 13 of the last 17 meetings and the total has stayed UNDER in six of the last eight meetings in Pittsburgh. These two split a pair of games this season with the road team winning each time.
