Penguins, Sharks open Game 5 with historic first period

PITTSBURGH – The Pittsburgh Penguins and San Jose Sharks opened Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final with a wild, historic first period.

In the opening 5:06 of the game, the two teams combined for four goals, breaking the record for fastest four goals to start a Stanley Cup Final game, according to Elias. It was Brent Burns and Logan Couture scoring 1:49 apart to give the Sharks an early 2-0 lead, but the Penguins answered right back as Evgeni Malkin and Carl Hagelin evened things in a span of 22 seconds.

The previous record also involved the Penguins as they helped set it with the Chicago Blackhawks during Game 4 of the 1992 Final, which Pittsburgh would go on to win 6-5 to claim their second straight Cup.

During that game 24 years ago, the Penguins and Blackhawks exchanged a pair of goals each in the opening 6:51 of the game. Jaromir Jagr and Kevin Stevens tallied for Pittsburgh while Dirk Graham notched both of Chicago’s.

After that wild start, the Sharks would head into the first intermission up 3-2 after Melker Karlsson beat Matt Murray with 5:03 to go.

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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy

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