PITTSBURGH — For several members of the San Jose Sharks, losing a 3-1 lead in a playoff series is not a foreign feeling. But the one positive those players can draw from those painful experiences is the knowledge that momentum in a series can change. Quickly.
Trailing 3-1 in games, the Sharks say they will take that attitude into Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday.
“I think the one thing about our group is there’s a lot of belief in our game and in each other,” Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said Wednesday. “The other thing about our group is they’ve been on the other side, up 3-0, and saw how quickly that vanished against L.A. (in 2014). We have some guys that vividly remember that. They know how quickly a win can turn the momentum.”
Not only were some current Sharks around for that epic collapse to the Kings in the first round two years ago. But first-year Shark Joel Ward and Paul Martin have also endured their share of heartbreak in the postseason.
Last season, Ward and the Washington Capitals lost a 3-1 series lead to the New York Rangers in the second round of the playoffs. Martin, in his time with the Pittsburgh Penguins, lost two 3-1 leads. Once in 2011 in the first round against the Tampa Bay Lightning and the other time in 2014 in a second round series with the Rangers.
“Each individual is different, every team is different, but there is that mental element that ‘OK, there goes one game and they have some momentum and they’re pushing and getting better. So we need to make sure we’re ready to go.’ There’s a lot that goes into it,” Martin said.
“But yeah, I’ve been up 3-1 a couple times. Once you get that first win, which is the most important and the biggest because you need that one, a lot can happen from there.”
With a possible Game 6 on Sunday at SAP Center, can a victory plant some seeds of doubt in the minds of the opposition?
“There’s so many things that can happen when you win just one game,” Martin said. “It can change a series. That’s our focus to get this win.”
Some Sharks have been on the winning end of a series turnaround, albeit in the Ontario Hockey League.
In 2010, Sharks assistant coaches Bob Boughner and Steve Spott were on opposite benches in the OHL’s Western Conference final. Boughner’s Windsor Spitfires came back from a 0-3 deficit to beat Spott’s Kitchener Rangers in seven games, something that Boughner reminded Spott of Wednesday.
“That was a pretty humorous moment this morning,” DeBoer said.
In the 2013 OHL final, Chris Tierney was part of a London Knights team that was down 3-1 to the Barrie Colts before it came back to win three straight games and the league championship.
“If we win one, we can take it back to home ice where we can try and force a Game 7 there,” Tierney said. “It starts with one. If you get one, the momentum can change. You just have to win one at a time, I think. You get the momentum and you never know what can happen. Maybe get in the team’s head a little bit. But, it starts with one.”
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