Martin Jones is the only reason the Sharks are alive in the Stanley Cup Final, and he has given them some life as San Jose bested the Penguins 4-2 in Game 5.
Martin Jones steals Game 5 win as Sharks live to fight another day
San Jose had no business winning Game 5, but their goaltender stole them the win anyway.
Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
In what was supposed to be the Penguins’ crowning moment in Pittsburgh, Jones held them to two goals on 46 shots for the Game 5 victory.
Four goals in five minutes highlighted a crazy opening to Game 5. The Sharks got their first lead of the series from Brent Burns a minute and four seconds into the game. Much like the Sharks' overtime winner from Joonas Donskoi, Burns got a wrap-around high over the shoulder of Matt Murray that opened the scoring 1-0.
A minute and 49 seconds later, Logan Couture doubled the Sharks' lead to 2-0 on a redirection. Couture was left all alone in front of Murray, and the shot from Justin Braun hit off the forward and in high.
A delay of game penalty issued to Dainius Zubrus for throwing the puck out of play then turned into a Penguins goal minutes later. Evgeni Malkin got a fortunate redirection off the skate of a Sharks player in front, which went past the goaltending of Martin Jones and cut the lead to 2-1 at 4:44.
Just 22 seconds later, the Penguins tied it on another deflection, this time from Carl Hagelin. Nick Bonino banked his shot off Hagelin at the front of the cage that Jones had no chance on.
A gorgeous backhand pass from Couture and a flub from Murray allowed the Sharks to take a 3-2 lead with 5:13 to play in the period. Melker Karlsson’s close range shot bested Murray from the glove side, as the netminder was unable to get his arm down far enough to stop the goal.
The rest fell on Jones’ shoulders, as the netminder made more than a handful of amazing stops to keep the Penguins from tying Game 5 through periods two and three. An empty net goal from Joe Pavelski sealed the win for the Sharks. The Penguins ultimately outshot the Sharks 46-22 in the loss.
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