Cup Final Home Game ‘Meaningful’ to Sharks

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks have waited 25 years to host a game in the Stanley Cup Final. When it finally arrives at SAP Center on Saturday, home-ice advantage will never have been more important to them.

After losing Games 1 and 2 to the Pittsburgh Penguins at Consol Energy Center, the Sharks hope their fans’ pent up emotion gives them a boost in Game 3 (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports).

“It’s very meaningful to the people here,” Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said Thursday. “I think I saw the emotion after we won the Western Conference, that night and the days following before we left for Pittsburgh. It’s important to the people here.

“Obviously we’re not coming home under the best circumstances, but we also know we’re a tough out. We’re going to be a tough team to beat at home, I think. Pittsburgh showed you that on the road. I think them being at home and the home crowd definitely made it a tough environment for us on the road, and we want to do the same to them. Return the favor.”

The Sharks struggled at home during the regular season, going 18-20-3, but they regained their home-ice edge during the first three rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and are 7-2 at SAP Center. That includes a series-clinching 5-2 win against the St. Louis Blues in Game 6 of the Western Conference Final and a 5-0 victory against the Nashville Predators in Game 7 of the second round.

San Jose lost Game 1 at Pittsburgh 3-2 on Monday and Game 2 2-1 in overtime on Wednesday.

DeBoer told his players to “tune out the noise” going into Game 3.

“There’s a lot of noise,” he said. …

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