The San Jose Sharks fired 31 shots on goal against Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Jeff Zatkoff through two periods, yet they found themselves down 2-1 heading into the final frame. They eventually out-gunned Pittsburgh in a wild final 20 minutes to take a 5-3 win on Thursday.
The most hectic stretch came when Patrick Marleau tied it up with a 2-2 shorthanded goal 5:18 into the third, only to see Olli Maatta score his second goal of the game to give Pittsburgh a 3-2 to lead about 21 seconds later. Brent Burns tied it up once more a minute and 13 seconds later to wrap up a string of three goals in less than two minutes:
Eventually Joe Thornton ended up notching the game-winner:
Burns iced the game with an empty-netter for his second tally of the night, giving the Sharks their first win after trailing by more than two goals after one period since (wait for it) they beat the Penguins 4-3 via a shootout on Nov. 3, 2011.
Many East Coast fans stayed up for the late start on NBCSN, and quite a few seem willing to do so if the two teams manage to meet in the 2014 Stanley Cup Final. Puck Daddy’s Greg Wyshynski is one of those people, it seems:
OK we can stop the season now and just have these two play seven for the Cup thanks OK bye #Penguins #sharks
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) March 7, 2014
If that happens, it could be one of the most wide-open series in recent memory. Of course, a lot would have to go right for such a championship round to happen, yet a game like this makes the thought very enticing.