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Can Sharks come home again?
SAN JOSE -- Monday night at SAP Center, there were no overtime miracles. There was no overtime.
There were no happy fans spilling into the San Jose streets after the game after a victory. There was no victory.
There was no problem finding happiness in the Pittsburgh Penguins' dressing room. There was no question they deserved to win, 3-1, and go back home for Thursday's next game with a stranglehold on the series.
The crowd at the Shark Tank was prepared on Monday to roar and ride along with an early Sharks' jump. But the Penguins, as is their way, jumped in front instead.
The Sharks made a shaky line change and left Pittsburgh defenseman Ian Cole wide open to seize a juicy rebound and slap it into the net for the 1-0 lead. Not even eight minutes into the game, the Penguins were ahead. Again.
"Shouldn't happen," said Sharks' forward Logan Couture of the sloppy coverage after the troubled line change.
Patrick Marleau had a one-on-one look at Pittsburgh rookie goalie Matt Murray and didn't bury the puck.
"I just missed my shot and he got a glove on it," Marleau said.
Marleau set up Pavelski with a great look at Murray . . . and couldn't convert.
"He read the shot," Pavelski said. "Got to pick a different spot with him."
Brent Burns, so awesome with his shot from up top in the early rounds, only got one to the net Monday . . . and Murray saved it. Same with shots by Couture and Joe Thornton.
"I thought there were goals out there," said Sharks coach Pete DeBoer. "I thought we had a chance to score at least a couple tonight. We had some really good looks. Their goalie made some saves, we didn't finish."
In the end, the beloved Los Tiburones outshot and outhit the Penguins and even won more faceoffs. But they didn't win. Because the shots taken by the Sharks weren't good enough to get past Penguins' rookie goalie Matt Murray.
What now? The first step is to get a lead in Pittsburgh on Thursday. said Pavelski.
If the Sharks don't, then the series could be over. And fans of the Sharks may have seen their last game at SAP Center this season. If there is a Game 6, it would be next Sunday at the Tank. But there may be no Game 6.
"It's disappointing when you don't win in front of fans like this," Couture said. "It's never fun to see fans leaving unhappy. You feel like you've let them down. We hope that we're back here. But we've got to focus on one game first."
http://www.mercurynews.com/mark-purdy/ci_29986243/purdy-can-sharks-come-home-again
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What they really mean:
Murray>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Thornton, Marleau, Pavelski, Couture, and Burns