On the Fly, theScore's NHL roundtable series, continues. In the latest edition, we're discussing whether the San Jose Sharks can erase a 2-0 deficit in the Stanley Cup Final.
There's hope for these Sharks
Ian McLaren: The Sharks have paved an incredibly difficult road to making the jump from Western Conference to Stanley Cup champions, but they're by no means done after dropping the first two games of the final.
For one, and as the Pittsburgh Penguins have already done, the Sharks are now presented with the opportunity to hold court on home ice, and common wisdom suggests not to begin ruling a team out until they've failed to do so.
On top of that, the first two games of the series were decided by one goal, and although the Sharks were outshot in both, San Jose did hit several posts in Game 2 - glorious opportunities that went officially unregistered. In other words, bad luck helped keep them from earning a road split.
If the club's top offensive players can get rolling while Martin Jones continues to play at a high level (he has a .930 save percentage through two Cup Final games), this could easily become a best-of-three affair.
Josh Gold-Smith: The Sharks aren't finished after two games. They haven't even played at home yet.
The team has work to do, but they nearly stole Game 2 - and home-ice advantage - from the Penguins before Conor Sheary's overtime winner.
The Sharks have been outshot by an average of 35-24 in the first two games, and they took too long to overcome their Cup Final jitters in Game 1, but two one-goal losses on the road don't exactly spell doom for the club that eliminated the Los Angeles Kings, Nashville Predators, and St. Louis Blues in the previous rounds.
San Jose needs to get more production from its forwards, and can't rely on defensemen to generate such a large proportion of the team's scoring chances. If Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski, Patrick Marleau, Joel Ward, and the rest of the group up front can get going, the Sharks will be right back in the series.
It's over
Sean O'Leary: Beaming with optimism after earning their first-ever trip to the Stanley Cup Final, the Sharks were considered by many to be the favorites heading into their matchup with the Penguins.
Two games in, however, it's a much different story.
Pittsburgh has stymied the San Jose offense that steamrolled the Kings, Predators, and Blues, all while exploiting the Sharks' defense with a ridiculously potent four lines.
Sidney Crosby is hungry (and not cheating), Evgeni Malkin is on the verge of erupting, and the "HBK" line is still rolling. Matt Murray has done his job and Kris Letang has anchored the blue line, which was supposed to be the Pens' Achilles' heel.
There's plenty of reason to believe the Sharks can extend the series, as their stars can't remain quiet forever, but the possibility of winning four of five against a Penguins team rolling like this simply isn't in the cards.
Navin Vaswani: Sorry, San Jose. We're done here.
Now, it pains me to write that, because while I don't have a horse in this race, I want to see Thornton win a Stanley Cup. He deserves it. He's earned it. But dreams often don't come true.
The Penguins lost four out of five twice this season. The first time: Dec. 14-21. Head coach Mike Sullivan was hired Dec. 12, and the Washington Capitals spoiled his debut two days later. The club lost Sullivan's first four games by a combined 15-4, but that was clearly Mike Johnston's fault.
The second time: Jan. 5-15, with three of the losses coming in overtime. Sullivan was still learning his club, the Penguins still learning his system.
Can a formidable team like the Sharks pull it off and win four of five? Of course. It's definitely premature to write them off before they play a game in San Jose. But the Pens simply look the part of a Stanley Cup winner - you have to admit that. And the Sharks don't.
The Penguins closed out the regular season with a 16-5 record dating back to March 1. One of those losses was on the last day of the regular season, when Pittsburgh rested Crosby and Letang, and played without an injured Geno. They're 14-6 in the playoffs, including 2-0 in elimination games. They've peaked. The Penguins will win their fourth Stanley Cup.
Ben Whyte: While the Sharks could certainly make the Stanley Cup Final more interesting with a Game 3 win, their fate in the series already looks to be sealed after they fell into an 0-2 hole.
The Sharks' top power-play unit may have dominated its way through the Western Conference, but the Penguins have taken away their opponent's greatest weapon with excellent discipline, allowing a man advantage only three times across two victories.
Also, since Sullivan began his tenure as coach with four straight losses in December, the Penguins have been near unbeatable, and are yet to lose back-to-back games in regulation in 2016.
No team has bounced back after losses better than Pittsburgh, and if the Pens continue to stay out of the box, it seems impossible for the Sharks to win four of the next five.
Copyright © 2016 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.
