The win propels the club to its first Western Conference finals since 2011 and helped match a rare feat: becoming just the fourth team in the last 20 years to win all four home games in a seven-game series.
The win also kept the Sharks perfect in playoff home games against the Predators, pushing their record to 8-0 and improving to 5-1 at the SAP Center in the postseason.
Home ice didn't provide much of an advantage during the regular season as the Sharks boasted the 23rd-best home record going 18-20-3. Whatever the case, the team is excelling at their own rink proving there is no place like home.
The teams will do battle in their fourth conference final since the 2004 season, while each will also be looking to punch their ticket to the Stanley Cup Final for the third time in that span.
The Lightning and Penguins have played the fewest amount of games of teams heading into the third round and have just five losses combined. Through two rounds, both matchup with near identical stats in almost every category, but the Penguins enter the series with an edge.
Here is why the Penguins will defeat the Lightning in the conference final and advance to play the best in the West:
Penguins have taken the tougher road
While the Lightning and Penguins each made quick work of their two previous opponents, it's quite clear the Penguins were dealt the tougher hand.
The Penguins' opposition had a combined 28 more points in the regular season than that of the Lightning's, not to mention the Penguins were able to knock off Alex Ovechkin and the Presidents' Trophy winning-Capitals.
Team
Regular Season Points
Goals for
Goals against
20-goal scorers
Red Wings
93
2.55
2.67
2
Islanders
100
2.77
2.57
4
Rangers
101
2.84
2.62
5
Capitals
120
3.02
2.33
6
The Lightning cruised through the first two rounds and will now face a team the likes of which they have not seen this postseason.
Sleeping giants bound to wake up
The Penguins got by the regular season's best club with next to no contributions from their top-2 players.
While the duo struggled in the second round, it should not be forgotten that the two were lights out against the Rangers in Round 1. During the five-game series, Crosby and Malkin pounded the Rangers with five goals and 15 points.
Crosby and Malkin have both been point-per-game players in their playoff careers and while they were both quiet in Round 2, silencing them for another four games - at least - appears unlikely.
X-factor: Hagelin, Kessel, Bonino
The trio of Carl Hagelin, Phil Kessel, and Nick Bonino currently occupies the club's second line, but best believe they are contributing at a first-line rate.
The threesome was without question the difference in the Penguins ousting the Capitals. The three led the team in scoring in the series with seven, six, and five points, respectively and combined for two of the four game-winning goals in Round 2.
Through the postseason, the three have combined for just shy of a three point-per-game average, meanwhile Kessel leads the team in scoring with 12 points.
If this trio can continue to roll and Crosby and Malkin start getting in on the scoring, the Penguins will surely be too much of an offensive juggernaut for the Lightning to handle.
Updates on the potential offseason plans of the Dallas Stars, Nashville Predators and New York Islanders in your NHL rumor mill. Dallas Stars DALLAS MORNING NEWS: In the wake of the Dallas Stars recent playoff elimination, Mike Heika examined potential offseason moves by GM Jim Nill. Some of their UFA defensemen (Alex Goligoski, Jason […]
Sharks eliminate the Predators, Kings re-sign coach Darryl Sutter and more in today’s collection of NHL morning headlines. THE MERCURY NEWS/THE TENNESSEAN: The San Jose Sharks demolished the Nashville Predators 5-0 to win Game 7 of their second-round series and advance to the Western Conference Final. Logan Couture picked up his franchise-record 11th point in […]
For Pekka Rinne, Thursday's Game 7 loss at the hands of the St. Louis Blues left heavy thoughts of what could have been.
The 33-year-old saw his Nashville Predators reach the second round for the first time since 2011-12, but for Rinne it wasn't far enough.
"You see yourself getting older and you realize how important these chances are," Rinne said, according to NHL.com's Thomas Willis. "This felt like our year."
The 27-year-old was only held off the score sheet in Game 2, and he capped off an incredible second round with a goal and two assists in Game 7 on Thursday. He finished the series with 11 points - eclipsing the franchise record of 10 set by Hall of Famer Igor Larionov in 1994.
With six goals and five assists against the Predators, Couture now leads the NHL with 17 points in the postseason, and his presence in the Sharks' lineup has been a catalyst for the team's success all season long.
After fracturing his fibula in October, San Jose won just 13 of their next 28 games. But the Sharks had the ninth overall pick from 2007 in the lineup, the team posted a dominant 33-14-5 record.
With an 8-4 record in these playoffs, the Sharks will now head to St. Louis to begin the Western Conference Finals against the Blues. The matchup should be welcome news to Couture - who recorded three points and a plus-4 rating in three games against the Blues during the regular season.
Pekka Rinne was not too pleased with the effort of his teammates on Thursday.
The Nashville Predators goaltender conceded five goals - including one on a 4-on-1 break - and after giving up the fifth showed his frustration, breaking his stick before being replaced by Carter Hutton.
It must also be frustrating to know captain Shea Weber has been on the ice for all five of the San Jose Sharks' goals.
Shea Weber is having a Game 7 to forget in San Jose.
The Nashville Predators captain was on the ice for both first-period goals, including Joe Pavelski's power-play marker, during which he was lying on the ice in front of goaltender Pekka Rinne as the Sharks captain sniped the puck home.
Weber was on the ice again for Joel Ward's breakaway goal nearly eight minutes later, and picked up an ill-advised interference penalty before the intermission.
Shea Weber is going to want to burn the film of this period. Absolutely terrible.
It didn't get any better in the second, as Weber became a minus-2 on the night after a brutal giveaway allowed Logan Couture to walk in and score his sixth goal of the series.
ALBANY, N.Y. - Connor Carrick and Connor Brown had back-to-back power-play goals as the Toronto Marlies beat the Albany Devils 5-1 on Thursday in the American Hockey League Eastern conference semifinal.
Toronto now leads the best-of-seven ser...
