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Malkin: The Sharks are a ‘good team, but they were a little bit lucky’

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With a flurry of five goals in the first period, San Jose's goalie Martin Jones proved to be the real difference maker in Game 5. Jones helped carry the Sharks to a 4-2 victory while avoiding elimination.

Martin Jones.

His play in a must-win Game 5 for the San Jose Sharks was a big reason, the main reason, why the Sharks have been able to extend this Stanley Cup Final to a sixth game. In three of the five games in this series, Jones has faced 40-plus shots, including 46 in that fifth game, in which he made 44 saves.

Outside of the opening five minutes or so, the Penguins were dominant. They have been most of the series. Jones, though.

The Penguins just couldn’t get that tying goal. As disappointing as that may have been, they seem to have taken the positives. Evgeni Malkin said what many may have already been thinking.

“Yeah, 4-2 we lost, but I think we played a little bit better than San Jose,” said Malkin, as per NHL.com. “They’re a good team, but they were a little bit lucky.”

“We really liked a lot of our game. We carried the play for long stretches. Our power play was good. A lot of the aspects of our game we really liked,” added head coach Mike Sullivan.

The Penguins can now clinch their second Stanley Cup in eight years with a win on the road Sunday.

Road team advantage?

There was plenty of anticipation in the city of Pittsburgh to see their team win it all at home. Heck, the city re-named a street after rookie goalie Matt Murray for at least day of Game 5.

“Well, we’d like to win the next game, regardless of where it’s being played. I think being on the road, it’s just the team,” said Sullivan.

“There are less distractions for sure.”