The Sharks and Blues are each coming off a victory in Game 7 in the second round; San Jose defeated the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 on Wednesday, and St. Louis defeated the Dallas Stars 2-1 in double overtime on Tuesday.
The teams have played five times in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with the Sharks winning three of those series, including the most recent, the 2016 conference final, in six games.
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"We understand we are halfway there," San Jose captain Joe Pavelski said. "There's a lot of things going, where we have a great team coming in and our focus has to stay there in front of us right now. It's only going to get tougher."
The Sharks won two of the three games against the Blues in the regular season; each team had a 4-0 shutout, and San Jose won the other game 3-2 in overtime.
"It's going to be a challenge no matter what," Blues center Ryan O'Reilly said, "and I think that's expected."
Here are 5 keys for Game 1: