Sharks pinpoint 'playing with lead' as key to forcing Game 6

His team is trailing the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1 in the Stanley Cup Final, but Peter DeBoer isn’t throwing in the towel just yet.

In fact, when the San Jose Sharks’ bench boss addressed the media in a conference call on Tuesday morning, he expressed confidence that his team could get a win in Pittsburgh on Thursday following the great success the Sharks had on the road all through the regular season.

“Our game has grown through this series,” he commented, insisting that there is still the push to get the series back to SAP Center for a Game 6.

But he also acknowledged that there is not one, but a couple of things that need to be fixed in order for that to happen. The number on the shot clock is one determinant in the series, the number of blocked shots another. After Game 4 of the series, the focus was on how the Sharks have yet to play a game with a lead, which DeBoer admitted has had an effect on the series.

“I think when you have the lead you can play differently and you feel a lot more comfortable,” he said following Monday night’s 3-1 defeat. “There’s not that pressure that we have to create a scoring chance or score a goal. We can just manage the game.”

Not having mental relief of game management has surely sunk in to San Jose’s play. As the final box score showed on Monday evening, Team Teal tallied 20 giveaways in 60 minutes to the Pens' nine. The Sharks' power play, which shined for the vast majority of the playoffs, hasn’t gotten its opportunities. Heck, San Jose couldn’t even find the back of the net until the third frame in Game 4, when Melker Karlsson broke up Matt Murray’s shutout bid.

Some of San Jose’s top scorers are even having trouble finding the back of the net. While San Jose is a deep enough team for other players to step up, an early goal from one of the top contributors would probably go a long way. One star in particular, San Jose captain Joe Pavelski, also pinpointed getting an early lead as something that would help the team get back into the series.

“If we can get going that way, it’s going to help,” Pavelski said.

“We’ve been chasing the game the whole series by not scoring first,” DeBoer said. “That takes you out of your four-line rhythm. It affects all parts of your game.

“That’s the biggest thing we have to fix.”