FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sunday, June 5th, 2016

2016 STANLEY CUP FINAL GAME 3 NOTES & QUOTES – PITTSBURGH PENGUINS VS. SAN JOSE SHARKS

“The San Jose Sharks are back in the Stanley Cup Final.” – Eddie Olczyk

“They looked like they belonged in this series for the first time.” – Mike Milbury on the Sharks

STAMFORD, Conn. – June 4, 2016 – NBC Sports Group continued its exclusive coverage of its 11th consecutive Stanley Cup Final tonight with Game 3 of the 2016 Stanley Cup Final featuring the Pittsburgh Penguins and San Jose Sharks on NBCSN from SAP Center in San Jose, Calif. The Sharks won Game 3 by a score of 3-2, as Joonas Donskoi scored with 7:42 remaining in the overtime to give San Jose the victory in the franchise’s first-ever Stanley Cup Final home game.

Pittsburgh now leads the Stanley Cup Final 2-1. Game 4 is Monday night at 8 p.m. ET on NBC in San Jose, with pre-game coverage beginning at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

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 3 tonight from SAP Center. 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 SAP Center. Dave Briggs reported on the action inside and outside the building.

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.

Tonight’s pre-game coverage also featured interviews with Sharks radio play-by-play voice Dan Rusanowsky, one of five original employees since the 1991-92 season; Steve Carlson, who played Steve Hanson in the iconic hockey film Slap Shot; and a feature on Penguins rookie Conor Sheary, who scored the game-winning goal in Game 2, In addition, first intermission coverage included an essay by Bob Costas on boxing legend Muhammad Ali, who passed away late Friday night at the age of 74.


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

Roenick on Penguins forward Conor Sheary: “There are not too many players that have been playing as hard in the Stanley Cup Playoffs as Conor Sheary.”

Boucher on the Sharks: “The San Jose Sharks are trying to make long passing plays, but the Penguins have safeties sitting there picking passes off…there’s no doubt they’ve looked slow through Games 1 and 2.”

Boucher on Sharks and Warriors: “Pretty amazing to be a fan in the Bay Area right now…this is a special time to be a fan here.”

Roenick on travel for Penguins, who haven’t played on west coast since December 2015: “When you’re sitting on a plane, it takes a toll on your body. You’re trying to ice down on the plane. It really plays with your muscles, and when you aren’t getting to your bed until 3 a.m., it messes with your body.”

Milbury on the Sharks: “These are not quotes from (Brent) Burns and (Peter) DeBoer of a team that’s confident. It looks like their looking for excuses. It looks like they’re trying to justify what happened in the first two games, and you can’t justify what has happened to the stars of the San Jose Sharks.”

 

Game 1 (8 p.m. ET)


First Period

McGuire on Sharks following Justin Braun goal, 1-1: “They’re starting to figure something out with that high glove on Matt Murray.”


First Intermission

Milbury on the Sharks: “Simply not good enough from Martin Jones in the puck-handling department and the Penguins were able to get in and take advantage on the forecheck – including on their goal.”

Milbury on the Sharks: “The challenge was just to get a shot on net. Through the first 17 minutes they had three shots, and one of them was so weak, it shouldn’t have event counted.

Milbury on the Sharks: “They looked like they belonged in this series for the first time.”

Second Period

Olczyk on Penguins D Kris Letang following Logan Couture’s shot off the post: “The second or third time in this period that Kris Letang has made a bad read.”

McGuire: “The iron has come up large yet again against the Sharks.”

Second Intermission

Milbury on the Sharks second-period power play: “Execution was just terrible from a power play that should be so much better than that.”

Jones on the Penguins: “Mike Sullivan has done an excellent job of spreading ice time among his four lines equally. Tom Kuhnhackl has played just 1:30 less than Sidney Crosby in San Jose, and the Penguins have a 2-1 lead.”

Third Period

McGuire on Sharks trailing 2-1: “San Jose just looks stunned on their bench right now. They need something go this team and this building going.”

Emrick prior to the Sharks four-minute power play, leading to Joel Ward’s tying goal: “You have significant points in any game – but now an opportunity to generate some consistent offense.”

First OT Intermission

Milbury on Ward’s tying goal: “There’s absolutely no reason that Matt Murray shouldn’t make that save.”

OT

McGuire on frenetic pace of overtime: “Not a lot of conservative play from either team here in overtime – both clubs are really airing it out.”

Olczyk on game-winner by Donskoi: “The play beneath the goal line. We talked pre-game about what the Sharks needed to do down there. The San Jose Sharks are back in the Stanley Cup Final.”

Post-Game

Jones on the Sharks: “Through three periods, I thought San Jose was the better team. Overtime was outstanding, both teams had great opportunities. For the first time in this series, San Jose got to their game. It was the best game for Joe Thornton in this series. A lot of things to build on for San Jose going forward.”

Carter on the Sharks’ win: “In Games 1 and 2, I don’t think the Sharks deserved any breaks. In this game, the Joel Ward goal in the third period was the break the Sharks needed.”

–NBC SPORTS GROUP–