3. GO DEEP
The Penguins' offensive depth is one of the reasons they've made it this far. They eliminated the Washington Capitals in six games in the second round despite getting a combined four points from Sidney Crosby (two assists) and Evgeni Malkin (one goal, one assist) because they got 18 points from their third line of Carl Hagelin (three goals, four assists), Nick Bonino (two goals, three assists) and Phil Kessel (two goals, four assists).
The Sharks also have scoring depth. Like the Penguins, their top players (Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton, Logan Couture, Brent Burns) get a lot of the attention, but they have eight players in double figures in points and seven with at least five goals in the playoffs. By comparison, the Penguins have eight players in double figures in points and five with at least five goals.
Players such as Joel Ward (six goals, five assists), Tomas Hertl (five goals, five assists), Joonas Donskoi (five goals, four assists) and Chris Tierney (five goals, two assists) will have to continue to be productive for the Sharks to win.
4. POWER UP
The Sharks power play has been lethal in the playoffs, clicking at 27.0 percent (17-for-63) and has been particularly influential when they win. They are 15-for-40 (37.5 percent) in their 12 postseason victories and 2-for-23 (8.7 percent) in their six losses.
They are 3-4 when not scoring a power-play goal, so they can win without converting on the man-advantage, but they know the importance of capitalizing on their opportunities. There might not be many of them in this series. The Penguins were shorthanded 13 times against the Lightning, including once in four of the seven games.