Stanley Cup Final Update

Malkin Celebrates as he puts the Pens up 2-0.

Photo courtesy of ESPN.com /  Ezra Shaw/Getty Images /

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The Pittsburgh Penguins are one win away from their fourth Stanley Cup championship. On Monday night, the Pens outplayed the Sharks to the tune of 3 - 1. Coming off their first ever Stanley Cup Final victory on Saturday night, San Jose came out flat in the first period. An unlike goal coming off the stick of Pittsburgh's Ian Cole 7 minutes into the game took all the energy Metallica built up with an amazing rendition of the national anthem out of the SAP Center. According to NHL.com, this was Cole's first goal in 105 games (Link to Source).

After the Sharks took a penalty early in the second period, the Penguins quickly made it a 2-0 game. Sidney Crosby won the ensuing faceoff back to Kris Letang who passed it to Phil Kessel. Kessel sent a beautiful back door pass to Evengi Malkin who dunked it in for his first goal in six games. San Jose struggled to get their offense going only posting 4 shots the entire second period.

San Jose finally broke Matt Murray's shutout when Melker Karlsson capitalized on a rebound. Assisting on his goal were Chris Tierney and Brenden Dillon. While the Sharks out shot the Penguins 12 - 7 in the third, they were unable to find the back of the net again. With two minutes to play, Pittsburgh's Eric Fehr put the game out of reach, ripping a shot past Martin Jones' blocker side.

Now the series shifts back to Pittsburgh with Game 5 scheduled for Thursday night at 8 pm. If the Penguins win, this will be the first time in their history that they would hoist the cup in front of their home fans.