Cullen warns Penguins against 'Pisani Moment' The San Jose Sharks are looking for a spark in Game 5 to breathe new life into the Stanley Cup Final and create doubt for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Frank Seravalli writes.

Frank Seravalli TSN Senior Hockey Reporter Follow|Archive

PITTSBURGH - Don’t mention the name Fernando Pisani around Penguins forward Matt Cullen, or any of the other members of the 2006 Carolina Hurricanes.

“Pisani” is practically a swear word to them.

The Stanley Cup was buffed and polished, waiting just out of view near the Zamboni doors to be wheeled onto the ice. It was Game 5 of the 2006 Stanley Cup final. The Hurricanes were up 3-1 in the series.

Three minutes into overtime, Carolina was heading to the power play. All 18,974 crammed into RBC Center were on their feet on a steamy June 14 Raleigh evening.

“It was deafening,” Pisani said Wednesday from Edmonton. “I just remember everyone in that building was anticipating scoring.”

This was Carolina’s moment – until Pisani stole it.

“It was a broken play in overtime,” Cullen said Wednesday. “It goes the other way and all of the sudden you find yourself in trouble. It’s that fine of a line.”

Ethan Moreau got just enough of his stick on a Cory Stillman breakout pass, leaving Pisani with a clear breakaway path on Cam Ward.

“It felt like time stood still,” Pisani remembered. “I picked my head up and just saw the opening. As soon as it left my stick, I had a pretty good feeling about it.”

Pisani hit the top right corner, just inside where the post and crossbar meet, sliding the Stanley Cup back into its travel case and onto a plane bound for Edmonton.

Cullen, 39, is the same age as Pisani. He is one of three players from their 1996 draft class still kicking - Sharks forward Dainius Zubrus is another - and his only other trip to hockey’s biggest stage is the perfect lesson for these Penguins how not to treat a 3-1 lead in the Stanley Cup final.

Pisani nearly singlehandedly pushed the Oilers to Game 7, the level ground that 26 of the 28 teams before them in the same 3-1 Stanley Cup final hole failed to reach. Four other teams that found themselves down 3-1 since the Oilers pushed the 2006 final to seven games bowed out in five or six. The 1942 Maple Leafs were the only other team to force a Game 7; they won after trailing 3-0.

“I think you can share those experiences,” Cullen said. “Really, it comes down to try to make the most of each moment. It’s a bit more of a challenge to keep your focus here. That’s the test for all of us. You’re close to the end of the road here. It’s exciting, but it’s about using that excitement as energy. We’re really happy with the position we put ourselves in, but now the work really begins.”

The Sharks will be looking for their ‘Pisani Moment’ on Thursday night at Consol Energy Center, as the Penguins attempt to become the first team to win a major league sports championship on Pittsburgh soil since 1960.

“All it takes is one little thing,” Pisani said. “To be on that penalty kill, all I was thinking was that we don’t want to get scored on. We don’t want to go out that way.”

Pisani spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach with the University of Alberta Golden Bears. His goal to become an NHL skills development coach, working with players on specific situations like the penalty kill.

Pisani said the belief never wavered for the eighth-seeded Oilers in that Game 5 because the players “always knew we had the personnel to do it.” One moment not only rejuvenates the trailing team, giving new life and a spark, it also creates a shadow of doubt in the mind of the team so close they can almost taste it.

San Jose certainly has the firepower to climb back into the series, they just haven’t shown it so far in this Cup final. The Sharks have not held a lead for a single second through the first four games and they’ve been dominated in nearly every possession metric available.

They need to create their own belief. At times, the Sharks have sounded in the last three days like a team trying to convince themselves they can win three games in a row against the hottest team in the NHL over the last five months.

“I think the results are closer than it feels right now, I really do,” Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said Wednesday. “We’ve had some good looks. They’ve all been one-goal games or late-in-the-game losses … This isn’t easy. It’s a really hard thing to do. It's going to be hard for them to close us out. It's going to be hard for us to show up here tomorrow and win a game in this environment. I think our guys are up for some heavy lifting.”

Heavy lifting is defined as shorthanded in overtime facing elimination in the Stanley Cup final. Even though Cullen made it through with a shiny new ring, he said it would still be tough to sleep, knowing that even the most lopsided lead is never guaranteed.

“I have that same excitement. It’s hard to approach it as just another game. It’s not like you can say it’s Game No. 40 in December,” Cullen said. “The trick here is nothing’s done yet. We haven’t done anything other than give ourselves a good opportunity.”

Contact Frank Seravalli on Twitter: @frank_seravalli