Huge effort in second period maybe sunk Sharks in the third

The second period featured a superb effort from the Sharks, but it netted them only one goal — and it just might have wiped them out when it came to the crucial, and crushing, third period in the deciding game of the Stanley Cup Finals at SAP Center on Sunday night.

In the third period, the Sharks managed just two shots as Pittsburgh grabbed a 3-1 victory.

“It’s just not good enough,” Couture said of the offensive effort in the final period, which included a two-minute power play in which San Jose put zero shots on net.

[...] frantic, desperate hockey isn’t always the best hockey.

San Jose often found itself out of position in that final period as everyone tried to chip in to get some pucks on net.

The Sharks, outstanding with a man advantage in the earlier rounds, failed on their last 11 power plays in the Finals.

“They did a great job of killing them and sacrificing,” Burns said of the Penguins, who blocked 33 shots Sunday night.

Pittsburgh was remarkably consistent, scoring in each period, winning fights for loose puck, getting sticks and bodies in shooting lanes and winning face-offs — a whopping 65 percent.