FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, May 30th, 2016

2016 STANLEY CUP FINAL NOTES & QUOTES – SAN JOSE SHARKS VS. PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

Game 1

“It ends up being a productive night for Sidney Crosby, and the captain led his team to victory.” – Keith Jones

“The Sharks waited a quarter of a century to get here, and then waited 20 more minutes to get going.” – Liam McHugh on Sharks first period

STAMFORD, Conn. – May 30, 2016 – NBC Sports Group began its exclusive coverage of its 11th consecutive Stanley Cup Final tonight with Game 1 featuring the San Jose Sharks and Pittsburgh Penguins on NBC. The Penguins won Game 1 by a score of 3-2, as Nick Bonino broke a 2-2 tie with 2:33 remaining in the third period.

Four-time Emmy Award-winning play-by-play commentator Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick, U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame member and analyst Eddie Olczyk, and Emmy Award-winning Inside-the-Glass analyst Pierre McGuire called Game 1 tonight from CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pa. This marks the 10th consecutive year that Emrick, Olczyk and McGuire have combined to call the Stanley Cup Final for NBC Sports Group.

Coverage began on NBCSN at 6 p.m. ET with NHL Live. Kathryn Tappen hosted alongside analysts Jeremy Roenick, Anson Carter and Brian Boucher on-set outside of CONSOL Energy Center. Coverage shifted inside the arena at 7:30 p.m. ET with host Liam McHugh, who was joined by analysts Mike Milbury and Keith Jones.

NHL Live on NBCSN (6-8 p.m. ET)

Roenick on the Sharks: “The San Jose Sharks are here because they are playing up to expectations. Their stars are playing like stars, their young guys have been picking it up offensively. Their goaltender has been good. The emergence of Brent Burns being one of the best defensemen in the NHL. This team has played great.”

Roenick on Sharks C Joe Thornton: “In my opinion, he’s the best passer in the game today. He’s maybe one of the top three to ever play the game.”

Carter on the Penguins: “There has been so much pressure on Malkin and Crosby over the last few years to get their team to the Stanley Cup Final, and rightfully so being two of the best players in the league. Now, the Penguins have added depth. Conor Sheary, the ‘HBK line’ with Hagelin, Bonino and Kessel, they have been outstanding. So now not all of the pressure is on Crosby and Malkin’s shoulders. You’ve got complementary parts now that can help pull the trigger.”

Roenick on Penguins C Sidney Crosby: “The way he’s playing, he has single-handedly brought this team to where they are today. He is playing some of the best hockey that I have seen him play in years.”

Milbury on the Sharks: “They have one of the most dynamic and efficient power plays in the NHL that I’ve seen in a long time.”

Game 1 on NBC (8 p.m. ET)

Pre-Game

Olczyk on Crosby: “He’s taken his game to another level at the most crucial point of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.”

First Period

McGuire on Crosby: “Star players make the players around them better. Sidney Crosby has been making everyone in black and gold better, and that’s made a huge difference in Game 1.”

Olczyk on Crosby: “Sidney Crosby has made a couple of incredible plays during the first period.”

McGuire on Penguins C Matt Cullen: “It’s been a tremendous playoff season for Matt Cullen. He’s found the back of the net plenty, but his leadership, mobility and flexibility of where he plays in the lineup is what makes him such a weapon for the Penguins.”

First Intermission

Jones on the strong start by the Penguins: “Pittsburgh put on a clinic here in the first period.”

Milbury on the Penguins: “Pittsburgh out-skated and out-played San Jose in a big way, and that is frightening emotionally for the Sharks. It led to some big opportunities for the Penguins. This period was all Pittsburgh.”

Second Period

McGuire on Sharks RW Dainius Zubrus: “Dainius Zubrus didn’t play a playoff game until Game 5 of the Nashville series, but man oh man, does he look comfortable as a fourth line player.”

Olczyk on the Sharks: “This second period is all San Jose.”

McGuire on Sharks G Martin Jones: He’s made some really, really good saves to keep San Jose in this thing.”

Second Intermission

McHugh: “The Sharks waited a quarter of a century to get here, and then waited 20 more minutes to get going.”

Jones on the Sharks: “In the second period, San Jose demonstrated all facets of how they play this game. The Sharks took the speed of the Pittsburgh Penguins away through the neutral zone, they defended, and they were much more aggressive in forcing the Penguins to turn the puck over. When the Penguins turned the puck over, the Sharks quickly turned it into offense. That was San Jose hockey at its best and it’s why we have a tie game.”

Milbury on Martin Jones: “I thought Martin Jones was terrific in the second period. San Jose needed their goaltender to come up big, and Jones was really good.”

Post-Game

Milbury: “This game was a microcosm of the playoffs in general. It starts off with a surprising push by Pittsburgh. Then, in the second period, San Jose comes back with equal pressure and ties the thing up. In the third period, it goes back Pittsburgh’s way.”

Milbury on Hagelin, Bonino and Kessel: “They’ve had some great moments all throughout the playoffs. It was no surprise that at some point they would pop up and make something happen.”

Jones on Crosby: “It ends up being a productive night for Sidney Crosby, and the captain led his team to victory.”

–NBC SPORTS GROUP–