Martin Jones has been the story for the San Jose Sharks in the Stanley Cup Final, and his performance in Games 3 and 5 of the series where he had to stop a total of 84 shots in his team's two wins is the biggest reason the series is still going.
He has, quite simply, been the Sharks' best player in the series.
He is also facing a workload unlike almost any other goaltending in recent Stanley Cup Final history.
Through the first five games of the series against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Jones has already had to face 179 shots. That is an average of 35 per game. Three times he has had to face at least 40 in a single game, including both of the Sharks' wins.
To put that in perspective, we looked at every Stanley Cup Final goaltender since the 2000 postseason and the type of workload they had to face through the first five games of the series.
Jones is fourth out of the 34 goalies in terms of most shots faced.
Here are the top-10.
| Player (Team) | Year | Shots | Saves | Save Percentage |
| Tuukka Rask (Bruins) | 2013 | 203 | 190 | .936 |
| Henrik Lundqvist (Rangers) | 2014 | 194 | 179 | .923 |
| Marc-Andre Fleury (Penguins) | 2008 | 194 | 179 | .927 |
| Martin Jones (Sharks) | 2016 | 179 | 167 | .933 |
| Corey Crawford (Blackhawks) | 2013 | 175 | 162 | .926 |
| Tim Thomas (Bruins) | 2011 | 171 | 165 | .965 |
| Arturs Irbe (Hurricanes) | 2002 | 161 | 148 | .919 |
| Ed Belfour (Stars) | 2000 | 156 | 144 | .923 |
| Roberto Luongo (Canucks) | 2011 | 155 | 141 | .910 |
| Antti Niemi (Blackhawks) | 2010 | 154 | 136 | .883 |
The average shots against for the 34 goalies is around 140 shots. Jones is 59 over that average.
Here is the thing about that and Jones being fourth on the list.
He has had to face that number of shots almost entirely in regulation. Even though two games in the series have gone to overtime they have been relatively quick games with only 14 minutes of additional hockey being played.
Compare that to the three goalies ahead of him on that list and how much overtime they had to play to face those shot totals.
In 2013, Rask played 74 minutes of overtime hockey through the first five games against the Blackhawks. That is like playing an extra game-and-a-half. In 2014, Lundqvist played 68 minutes of overtime hockey through the first five games (an extra game's worth of hockey), while Fleury played 49 minutes of overtime hockey in 2008.
If nothing else, it shows how dangerous the Penguins have been in this series in terms of generating shots and chances that Jones is so high on the list. It also shows how great Jones has been that the series has been so close.
The Sharks are going to need more of it.
