In the buildup to Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final, there seemed to be an air of inevitability. The Pittsburgh Penguins had a 3-1 series lead and a chance to win a title on home ice, the first championship won inside Pittsburgh since the 1960 World Series. Heck, Bill Mazeroski, who hit the "shot heard 'round the world" that won that series, was in the building.

Someone forgot to tell the San Jose Sharks that it was supposed to be Pittsburgh's night. With a 4-2 victory, they spoiled the party and extended the series, sending it back to San Jose for Game 6. They can thank their goalie for making sure this series rolled on. Martin Jones made 44 saves, facing an incredible onslaught from the Penguins in a game that was essentially decided in the first period.

Now the Penguins will get another crack at clinching, while the Sharks have eyes on forcing Game 7. Here are the main takeaways from Game 5:

1. Martin Jones is why there will be a Game 6. If the Sharks find some way to come back in this series, Jones is the reason. He has been their best player throughout the Stanley Cup Final and looked more like the best goalie on the planet Thursday night.

With 44 saves, which included stopping all 31 he faced over the final two periods, Jones was the proverbial brick wall in net. The only two goals scored against him both came off of deflections. Meanwhile, he made multiple game-saving stops, none better than this stunning pad save on Nick Bonino:

Jones now has a .932 save percentage through five games in the Stanley Cup Final and a .922 mark in the playoffs.

2. The Sharks finally got a lead. After not leading for a single minute of clock time in this entire series, the Sharks got one early in the first period. Brent Burns scored on a nice play just 1:04 into the game. When Logan Couture made it 2-0, it looked like San Jose had finally put things together. Of course, that feeling was short lived when the Penguins erased that lead over 22 seconds just minutes later.

The Sharks managed to rebound from that shock to regain the lead, one that they held for the final 45:13 of the game. Again, Jones is the biggest reason that happened, but for the first time all series, the Sharks weren't chasing the game.

3. Matt Murray had a tough first period. Murray has had some great nights in these playoffs and he has had some rougher ones. With three goals allowed on seven shots in the first period, the young netminder did a nice job of recovering, but enough damage was already done.

The Burns goal in particular looked like it could have been played better as the Sharks defenseman read the young netminder pulling off his post to give the opening for the goal. Then he whiffed on Melker Karlsson's shot on the winner, though you can also credit the Sharks' quick puck work on that one for surprising the goalie.

He has been one of the Penguins' best players throughout the playoffs and perhaps his team can take some solace in the fact that he has not lost back-to-back starts yet this postseason. His response in Game 6 could be the key to the whole series.

4. That first period was insane. Seriously, you'll rarely see a period that insane in a Stanley Cup Final. Four goals within the first five minutes of the period is just a ridiculous way to start things off. Our Adam Gretz had a great recap of the opening 20 minutes of Game 5 here.

This first period also essentially decided the game. Aside from the empty-netter Joe Pavelski scored in the dying minutes, all of the scoring was done in that first period. What may be most impressive about the whole thing is how well the Sharks responded to the nightmarish 22 seconds in which they gave up the lead.

They were also a bit lucky, too, though. Phil Kessel very nearly put the Penguins up 3-2 shortly after they tied things up. Instead, the winger's shot clanked off of both posts before bouncing away. That could have been a game-defining play if that bounced the right way for Pittsburgh.

5. Logan Couture had his breakout game. The playoffs' leading scorer had his breakout game of the final. After notching an assist in each of the first two games, Couture was in on all three goals the Sharks scored in the first period, netting the second one himself. His pass to set up Karlsson's goal may have been his best play, though.

Couture now has 29 points (nine goals, 20 assists) through 23 games, which is the most by a player in the playoffs since 2010 when Jonathan Toews had 29 for the Chicago Blackhawks and Daniel Briere had 30 for the Philadelphia Flyers. The Sharks needed their stars to come through offensively and most of them did.

6. The Penguins dominated possession again. It doesn't make anyone feel any better when the team loses a game, but it's hard to deny how well the Penguins played in defeat. Coach Mike Sullivan was mostly positive in his postgame press conference. The Pens are still in a position to clinch, but sometimes a good goalie is going to beat you.

What made the Sharks more effective than usual was how well they forechecked early. They took advantage of their three best scoring opportunities and their goaltender played his best game of the series. Aside from that, we saw more of the same, with the Penguins pelting the San Jose net with shots.

You can't come away from this game feeling like Pittsburgh choked in this one. It controlled 69.4 percent of the shot attempts at even strength and outshot the Sharks 46-22. Jones made these numbers irrelevant.

That said, the Pens don't look any less dangerous heading into Game 6. Now the pressure of trying to win at home is one less stress on them in a game where they still have a chance to win the Stanley Cup.

7. Joe Pavelski finally scored a goal in this series. It may have been into an empty net, but the Sharks captain ditching his scoring drought at four games was a positive development for both him and his team. Pavelski now has 14 goals, extending his lead on all players.

However, beyond the goal, Pavelski probably had his best game of the series overall. He was buzzing offensively a lot more and had a key shot block in the third period that definitely stung him, but he remained in the game. He looked like he was favoring his arm for a while, but ended up scoring with an emphatic shot into the empty net to get back going again.

With Pavelski, Couture and Burns all scoring meaningful goals, maybe this is they can open the flood gates a little bit. It will certainly be interesting to see if any of this carries over to Game 6.

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Martin Jones was heroic for the Sharks in Game 5. USATSI