The San Jose Sharks street party ahead of Monday's big Game 4 got off to a boisterous start outside SAP Center as the home team was looking to even things up with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup Final.
One family crossed the border and the country - coming all the way from Toronto - to get to the Shark Tank for the crucial game.
"It's been on my bucket list to see a Sharks game in San Jose," Andreja Milasincic said. "I've seen a couple in Detroit and Buffalo, but this was a big one."
Milasincic's dad also was on board.
"My daughter has been a die-hard Sharks fan all her life," said Chris Milasincic. "I'm her dad, and I'm doing it for her, and I'm cheering with her."
One drawback amid the championship frenzy in the South Bay is counterfeit merchandise, the NHL warned Monday. Fans should be on the lookout for laser etching on the hologram tag attached to the goods they're buying, the league says.
"You might buy something that looks teal to you, but then you show up at the arena and everybody else is wearing a different teal," said Jia Wang, attorney for the NHL. "We see a lot of typos on products, believe it or not. You see loose threads; shrinking a couple of sizes in the wash. That's not the kind of fan experience we want our fans to have for the Stanley Cup."
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Before Monday's faceoff, the Sharks trailed the Penguins 2-1 in the best-of-seven series, which shifts back to Pittsburgh for Game 5.
