Defense could play a huge role in who wins the Stanley Cup

Despite not meeting up more than twice during regular-season play, the San Jose Sharks and Pittsburgh Penguins have quite a bit in common. They are both fast teams with offensive depth and strong special teams. They both have relied on young goaltenders to keep them in pivotal postseason games. Both have stepped up against steep competition to punch their tickets into the Stanley Cup Final.

There is one area in which these two teams differ, however — on the blue line. And the performance of both defenses could be a huge deciding factor in who takes home Lord Stanley’s mug.

After a couple seasons battling injury and inconsistency, San Jose’s D corps has emerged as a force to be reckoned with in the 2016 playoffs. A big piece of that is the addition of former Penguin Paul Martin, who became an anchor this season for swingman Brent Burns. The bearded wonder now leads all defensemen with 20 points while Martin is ranked second among defensemen with a plus-10 rating, just behind teammate and Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who possesses a plus-13 in addition to leading the Final’s pack with 53 blocked shots. 

But it isn’t just on paper where the Sharks blue line has shined. Viewers have watched them cool off some of the Western Conference’s best scorers this postseason, including Vladimir Tarasenko and a deep St. Louis offense in the Western Conference Final. San Jose’s defense also has the upper hand with 20.6 blocked shots, ranked third in the league.

This isn’t to say that the Pens’ blue line is completely inferior. Pittsburgh’s defensive corps has stymied its fair share of offensive opposition this postseason, facing rough competition in the Presidents' Trophy-winning Washington Capitals and last season's Eastern Conference champion Tampa Bay Lightning. A tough blue line has stopped the Sharks’ top goal-scorers in these playoffs as well, as was seen against the Nashville Predators in Round 2 and St. Louis in the Conference Final. Yahoo! Sports’ Greg Wyshynski summed up Pittsburgh D corps, by Kris Letang and current partner Brian Dumoulin:

That pairing is the top one for the Penguins, and their best possession drivers: Letang at 54.60 Corsi (5v5, score adjusted) and Dumoulin at 53.54. They’re a shutdown pairing that, thanks to Letang, can also add to the attack. 

Ben Lovejoy has been the third best possession driver for the Penguins on defense (50.83). His partner, Olli Maatta, appears to finally be rounding back into effectiveness after some rough patches in the postseason. 

Ian Cole and Justin Schultz make up the other typical pairing. Schultz’s puck-moving game has been vital with Daley out. Cole is a negative possession player, but honestly, this duo’s sum can be greatest than its parts.

That being said, the widely shared opinion is that San Jose’s blue line is stronger. The Sharks' defense is a healthier product, with the Penguins missing Letang’s usual partner Trevor Daley, who is sidelined with a broken ankle. San Jose is also deeper with the bottom pair of Brenden Dillon and Roman Polak playing significant minutes to take pressure off the top pairing of Vlasic and Justin Braun and the Burns-Martin duo. Kevin Kurz of CSN California further broke down San Jose’s advantage on the blue line:

The Sharks’ advantage here could be a significant one, after the Blues’ Vladimir Tarasenko was the latest star to get shut down by San Jose’s blue line corps. While they will have their hands full with the Penguins’ offense, the best they have seen so far in the postseason, the Sharks offense should get plenty of chances against Pittsburgh's D throughout the series.

In fact, the San Jose defense will be plenty busy trying to slow down Evgeni Malkin; Sidney Crosby; and the very successful Penguins line consisting of Carl Hagelin, Nick Bonino and Phil Kessel. Conversely, it will take just as much work for Letang and company to contain the top line of Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski, a second line anchored around Logan Couture, and a third combo consisting of postseason scoring machine Joel Ward.

Whichever defense can go into shutdown mode first could be the deciding factor in the Stanley Cup Final.