Speedy pace of the Penguins-Sharks Stanley Cup Final

After Game 1 of the Western Conference Final, Sharks head coach Pete DeBoer commented that his team and the opposing St. Louis Blues were “feeling each other out” at the start of the tilt.

That “get-to-know-you period” probably won’t be a luxury this time around, as San Jose has left behind the gritty Blues and now faces a speedier product in the Pittsburgh Penguins.

In fact, “speed” was a key word reportedly coming out of the Stanley Cup Final media day at Consol Energy Center. While the Penguins and the Sharks don’t meet up very often, they both appear highly aware of how speedy the opponent is.

“It’s going to the fast hockey,” Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said, according to NBCSports.com. “Two teams that want to play the exact same… It’s going to be quite the series.”

As NHL.com has already pointed out, there isn’t a whole lot of "head-to-head history" between the Penguins and Sharks. The teams split the two-game regular-season series with the road team winning each tilt. The Sharks have a leg up in regular-season play going 18-12-2 with three ties against the Penguins overall. This is the first time that Pittsburgh and San Jose are meeting in the Stanley Cup Final, being that this is San Jose’s first trip to the Cup Final in its franchise’s 25-year history.

Even so, both parties have admitted that the Final is going to be an up-tempo affair, with DeBoer calling the Pens the “fastest team in the league.” That's not to mention that Pittsburgh also wins 50 percent of face-offs, giving the Pens a leg up on finding the back of San Jose’s net.

This isn’t to say, however, that the Sharks are also a slow team. In fact, it's a fast team that has fully adopted DeBoer’s “puck possession” methodology.

Plus, as the Sharks coach simplified for the press on media day: “If you control the puck, it’s harder to create speed.”

San Jose also has sturdy defense to help simmer the speedy opposition, ranking third overall with 20.6 blocked shots per game and turning away some of the league’s best scorers in through three rounds of the playoffs. (Pittsburgh comes in seventh with 16.4 blocked shots.)

So what’s the key for two speedy teams in pursuit of hockey’s ultimate prize? Taking even the first couple of minutes of the opening frame to get a feel for the other team isn’t the safest bet. It will be pivotal to take control of the pace of the game early — as early as opening puck drop, really, for both teams — and get in front of as many shots as possible to break up that speed.

Using those first couple of minutes to get a feel for the other team might have worked in the conference finals. This won’t be the case a fast-paced Stanley Cup Final.