The 2016 Stanley Cup Final is set. The San Jose Sharks will play the Pittsburgh Penguins. This marks the first ever Stanley Cup Final appearance for the Sharks in franchise history, and the fifth ever appearance for the Pens. However, this is the first time Pittsburgh is playing in a Stanley Cup since they won it in 2009, which was supposed to be the beginning of a dynasty led by Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. The series is shaping up to be a high scoring affair, as both teams are built to put the puck in the net.
The Sharks and Penguins are ranked first and second in goals per game respectively. This is to be expected when the rosters are filled with players such as Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Brett Burns, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel, and Kris Letang. Currently, Joe Pavelski (13), and Phil Kessel (9) lead their teams in goals scored, and don’t show any signs of slowing down. Both high powered offenses will look to continually trade punches, which should result in one highly entertaining series.
With such offensively talented teams, the goaltending in this series will be incredibly important. The Sharks net minder is Martin Jones, while the Penguins have been using Matt Murray primarily, although Marc Andre Fleury has seen some ice time. It appears Matt Murray will make the start for the Penguins, which means both of the goalies are pretty inexperienced when it comes to the Stanley Cup. Matt Murray has had a breakout playoffs in his rookie year, besting both Henrik Lundqvist and Braden Holtby in the first two rounds. However, Murray may be a bit edgy in the net for his first ever Stanley Cup Finals as a rookie at the age of 21. Opposite of him is Martin Jones, who does have some Finals experience, albeit as Jonathon Quick’s backup. Therefore, this is the biggest stage either of these goalies have ever played on, and the pressure may get to them. The Penguins do have Fleury to fall back on, who has won a Stanley Cup in 2009, but he has played only a few games over the past few months. Matt Murray (.924) has a slight edge over Martin Jones (.919) in save percentage, although Jones (2.12) holds the edge in goals against per game over Murray (2.21). The two goalies are both coming in incredibly hot, and should match each other in performance.
What is likely to separate these two teams is their success on special teams. Both teams have very high powered power plays, with the Sharks converting 27% of the time and the Penguins scoring 25.4% of the time. These high numbers are to be expected, as both teams have one incredible power play unit. The Sharks top unit consists of Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton, Logan Couture, Joe Pavelski, and Brett Burns. Patric Hornqvist, Sidney Crosby, Phil Kessel, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang compose the top power play unit for the Penguins. On the opposite side of the puck, the penalty kill units are pretty solid, with the Sharks killing the penalty 80.4% of the time and the Penguins 83.3%. With the two teams being pretty evenly matched during five-on-five play, the series may come down to which team can convert on the power play and successfully kill penalties. Whatever the outcome of the series is, the two high powered teams will surely make it an entertaining one. �
