San Jose Sharks vs. Pittsburgh Penguins Game One of Stanley Cup Finals Schedule, Streaming Info

Created by David Salazar May 30 2016, 02:08 AM EDT

The San Jose Sharks will make their Stanley Cup finals debut when they take on the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday.

Sharks Come Into their Own

For decades the Sharks have been seen as perennial choke artists with star players Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau coming under major criticism for being unable to lead the team deep into the playoffs. All the while, the team's immediate local rivals have picked up three Stanley Cup championships since 2007.

But now the Sharks are the big kings of California, toppling the Los Angeles Kings in the first round and never looking behind.

The team's tremendous offensive depth has been a major factor with captain Joe Pavelski leading the way as the top scorer in the playoffs with 13 goals while Logan Couture leads all scorers in points with 24.

Martin Jones has been a rock in goal with a .919 save percentage in these playoffs.

The Penguins have been dominant under Sullivan

But they will have to overcome a Pittsburgh Penguins team that has been unstoppable under Coach Mike Sullivan. Under Sullivan, the Penguins were 33-16-5 before going 12-7 in the playoffs thus far.

The team has surprisingly tapped into its depth with Phil Kessel leading the way with nine goals and 18 points. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have been surprisingly quiet in these playoffs, with only 15 points apiece and just 10 goals between them. When the Penguins won the Stanley Cup back in 2009, Malkin had 36 points and Crosby had 31.

But other players have risen to the challenge including Nick Bonino, Carl Hagelin and Chris Kunitz, who has been a dominant possession player in the playoffs.

The most important contributor however has been rookie goalie Matt Murray who has owned the crease since taking over. He has a sound .924 save percentage in goal and is the better of the two netminders debuting in the finals on Monday.

What the stats say

The Sharks have been one of the better possession sides, getting 50.8 percent of shot attempts per game; the Penguins have owned the puck 51.7 percent of the time.

On special teams the Sharks have had a 27 percent effective power play; the Penguins' power play has scored on 23.4 percent of its chances.

But the penalty kill is a different story. The Penguins have killed 83.6 percent of all penalties in the postseason while the Sharks have had an 80.4 percent success rate down a man.

Prediction for Game 1

The Sharks have a record of 2-1 in Game one's this season while the Pens lost two of their three game ones thus far. The Sharks took down the Kings 4-3 in the opener before dispatching the Nashville Predators 5-2 in the second round debut. However, the team lost 2-1 against the Blues in the first match of the Western Conference Finals.The Sharks only had the benefit of one home game for Game one thus far.

The Penguins topped the NY Rangers 5-2 in their playoff debut but lost in overtime 4-3 against the Washington Capitals in the first game of the second round. A 3-1 loss against the Tampa Bay Lightning also kicked off their Conference Final. The Penguins were home for two of the three game one matches.

The Sharks have been better at starting series so far, so they will pounce on the Pens quickly, winning 3-2.