Sharks vs. Penguins: Stanley Cup Final Game 1 Live Blog
9:54 p.m. ET: Brent Burns rips a shot toward the net off a feed from Logan Couture. Patrick Marleau corrals the rebound and warps it around on Matt Murray. It’s now 2-2 with under two minutes to go in the first period.
9:53 p.m. ET: “Joe Thornton with that magnificent beard from the Charles Dickens era” – Doc Emrick
9:47 p.m. ET: Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown is at Consol Energy Center to cheer on the Penguins. First in-arena celebrity sighting of the Final!
9:43 p.m. ET: NBC’s Pierre McGuire just asked Sharks coach Peter DeBoer about why his team has played better in the second period.
“First period a little bit of nerves,” DeBoer said. “We just regrouped after the group and wanted to throw our best game at them. That’s what we’re doing right now.”
9:36 p.m. ET: Sharks are playing a much better second period. Here is the shot attempts flow chart from War on Ice. Notice the teal line creeping up.
9:32 p.m. ET: Here’s the Brent Burns play that set up the Hertl goal. This and that backcheck he had before, and Burns is alone atop the “Sharks playing a solid complete Game 1” leaderboard. – WYSH
9:24 p.m. ET: The Penguins learn the hard way that you can’t put the Sharks on the power play. Tomas Hertl is lethal in front of the net. 2-1 Penguins at the 16:58 of the second period. Nice jam play in front off Matt Murray’s stick.
9:21 p.m. ET: The Sharks will go to their first power play. Drawn by Melker Karlsson. It’s on Ian Cole. San Jose’s power play has been lethal this postseason.
9:18 p.m. ET: The second period has started! Patrick Marleau fires wide on a scoring chance 2-on-1.
9:17 p.m. ET: One last look about how the Sharks got dominated in the first period of Game 1:
9:15 p.m. ET: Another note on the Penguins’ dominance that period:
9:09 p.m. ET: NBC showing a piece on how Sidney Crosby has matured. Clearly that’s tha narrative they’re pushing. Before the game Keith Jones pointed out how Crosby did less jawing to referees and opponents.
9:04 p.m. ET: Our own Jen Neale points out some photoshop action on the NBC broadcast.
9:01 p.m. ET: End of one period, score is 2-0 in favor of the Penguins. Here are your stats for that frame. Also, total shot attempts are 27-14 in favor of the Penguins.
8:52 p.m. ET: Incredible speed shift by the Penguins. Carl Hagelin with a breakaway and was defended by Brent Burns. Then Phil Kessel and Nick Bonino both had chances and Jones made the saves. Shots are 14-4 in favor of Pittsburgh.
8:48 p.m. ET: Sidney Crosby wins a foot race down the ice, finds Conor Sheary and it’s 2-0 Penguins at the 13:48 mark of the first. Marc-Edouard Vlasic was again on ice for San Jose. He’s now a minus-2 this game.
8:46 p.m. ET: Bryan Rust gets the first goal of the Stanley Cup Final. Penguins up 1-0 at the 12:46 mark of the first period. Marc-Edouard Vlasic on ice for the Sharks.
8:45 p.m. ET: The Penguins had their first power play and didn’t score. Dangerous moment but no dice. Shots are 7-2 in favor of Pitt. Here’s the high sticking penalty by Dainius Zubrus.
8:41 p.m. ET: I’d estimate there are less than 100 Sharks fans here, based on their jerseys and my eyeballs. – WYSH
8:37 p.m. ET: Max Talbot is in the house as a fan:
Very long, very loud ovation for him, as he swung the Penguins’ rally towel. -WYSH
8:34 p.m. ET: A terrifying moment for Sharks fans:
And then relief
8:32 p.m. ET: Some nice back and forth action between the Sharks and Penguins. Sidney Crosby’s line had a few good chances, and then Nick Spaling had an open shot on Matt Murray. Both young goaltenders have been tested and are holding up early on in a pressure packed situation.
8:30 p.m. ET: Strong start for the Sharks. They’ve gone 5-for-5 on faceoffs and Brenden Dillon crushed Evgeni Malkin behind their net. Statement moment perhaps by Dillon?
8:20 p.m. ET: Hockey players love to kick around soccer balls before games in the basements of arenas. Sometimes the soccer balls get stuck in various objects.
8:09 p.m. ET: Before Game 1, NBC did a piece on the best beard for the Sharks between Joe Thornton and Brent Burns. We did our take on beards earlier. Seems like Thornton got the most votes.
8 p.m. ET: Welcome to Puck Daddy’s Stanley Cup Final Live Blog for Game 1 between the San Jose Sharks and Pittsburgh Penguins! Make sure to check back over the course of the game as we keep you updated with all the news and happenings on the ice and off the ice around the game.
We’ll start out with Greg Wyshynski and Sean Leahy talking about Game 1.
Also here’s Brent Burns walking into Consol Energy Center.
Enjoy Game 1, everyone! And here are our predictions for the Final.
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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
