A look at the special teams in the NHL conference finals

Every aspect of a team’s play has to be cranked up to 11 come the conference final, and special teams is no exception. In fact, the concept that a power-play goal can make or break a game becomes even more true when it comes down to the Eastern and Western Conference Final.

Here is a look at how each of the four remaining teams looks on paper and how each team matches up with its conference final opponent.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Pittsburgh Penguins
On the power play: 12-for-44, 27.3 percent success rating
On the penalty kill: 81.8 percent success rating
Versus the Lightning: Pittsburgh’s  power play has trended upward as the playoffs have progressed, with Patric Hornqvist finding the back of the net on the man advantage in Game 1 against the Bolts. The kill, on the other hand, will have to be better than it was toward the end of Round 2 against Washington, even against a Tampa Bay team with the least efficient power play.

Tampa Bay Lightning
On the power play: 8-for-45, 17.8 percent success rating
On the penalty kill: 87.2 percent success rating
Versus the Penguins: Tampa Bay’s special teams broke even in its first game against the Pens, with Ondrej Palat scoring a power-play goal early in the second frame, followed by Hornqvist’s power-play goal for Pittsburgh coming later in the period. Both aspects of the Bolts’ special teams would get a boost from getting a couple healthy bodies back, which says a lot about the top penalty kill in the playoffs.

Difference-makers in the matchup
Even with Hornqvist’s goal on Friday, Pittsburgh needs its top guys to start finding the back of the net on the power play. Evgeni Malkin is a prime candidate for giving the power play a jolt.

While Steven Stamkos has already been ruled out for Game 2 for Tampa Bay, a heavily anticipated return for Anton Stralman appears to be in the works. As Sports Illustrated points out prior to the second tilt, the veteran defenseman “can make an impact at even strength and on both special teams.”

WESTERN CONFERENCE

St. Louis Blues
On the power play: 12-for-42, 28.6 percent success rating
On the penalty kill: 81 percent success rating
Versus the Sharks: St. Louis entered the series with similar special teams numbers as its opponent, although the Blues came out of Game 1 with the upper hand. Goaltender Brian Elliott helped the Blues’ kill silence the Sharks’ dominant power play in Game 1 Sunday, although San Jose wasn’t without chances. St. Louis’s power play opened up the scoring in that game when captain David Backes found the back of the net in the first frame.

San Jose Sharks
On the power play: 13-for-45, 28.9 percent success rating
On the penalty kill: 80.5 percent success rating
Versus the Blues: San Jose’s impressive penalty kill stopped every attempt by the Nashville Predators in the latter four games of Round 2. The Sharks did, however, surrender a power play goal to St. Louis in the first frame of Game 1. Their power play — particularly the top unit consisting of Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton, Brent Burns, Logan Couture and Patrick Marleau — has been stellar through these playoffs, although the Sharks only had five shots on goal in six power-play minutes Sunday evening.

Difference-makers in the matchup
San Jose’s top unit as a whole won’t be stymied for the duration of the series and will get plenty more opportunities, especially if the officials decide to send Backes to the sin bin for continuing to pull on Joe Thornton’s beard. Josh Dubow of the Associated Press reported that the Sharks have won all eight postseason games in which Joe Pavelski has scored a goal, making the captain a top catalyst for leading Team Teal to victory.

St. Louis’s penalty kill created a lot of traffic in front of Elliott on Sunday and will look to continue that pattern throughout the series. Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, a big part of the Blues’ kill unit, spoke of San Jose’s potent power play to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “They were hot in the last series, they have a lot of big numbers on the power play… We stepped up to the challenge like that, it was a huge topic for us all week. We executed the way we wanted to.”