Sharks Can Look To Warriors For Hope
The San Jose Sharks are attempting to make an improbable comeback in the Stanley Cup Finals, but the team could look to the other side of the Bay to show it can be done.
San Jose entered game five on Thursday down 3-1 in the series against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Sharks pulled out a 4-2 win in Pittsburgh to keep the team alive.
Now with the series at 3-2, San Jose heads back to the Shark Tank looking to continue a dream postseason.
Winning three games in a row is a hard enough. Throw in the fact that it's for a championship, and it puts even more pressure on the team.
However, it's not impossible to come back from a 3-1 deficit.
Just across the Bay, the Golden State Warriors pulled off a series comeback which many didn't think they could do.
After falling down to the Oklahoma City Thunder 3-1, the Warriors rattled off three straight wins to move on to the NBA Finals.
Coming back from 3-1 can be done.
There are, of course, major differences between the Sharks and Warriors.
- The Sharks didn't break the record for most wins in the regular season.
- San Jose is not the defending champs.
- They do not have home court/ice advantage.
Despite these differences, it is still a possibility for the Sharks to come back against the Penguins.
For a big comeback to happen in a playoff series, the stars of the team need to shine. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson put the team on their back to help the Warriors advance.
In game five of the Stanley Cup Finals, the Sharks' stars did exactly that.
The Sharks were lead by three of the team's best goal scorers with Brent Burns, Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski all scoring goals.
Martin Jones, the Sharks goaltender, had one of the best performances of his season against Pittsburgh on Thursday night as well.
The stars will need to continue to play well in game six if the Sharks hope to leave the Tank tied 3-3.
If the stars of the team lead the Sharks to a win in game six, it comes down to one game for the Stanley Cup.
Taking it one game at a time is one of the most cliche lines in sports, but it's something which holds true in a playoff series.
When the Warriors came back home for game five, the only talk was staying alive to play another game in Oklahoma City.
After they won game five, it became doing anything possible in Oklahoma City to bring a game seven back to Oakland.
The Sharks accomplished the first goal: win game five.
Next goal: force a game seven.
One game for the championship is an opportunity any team would dream about at the start of a season.