Stanley Cup Final scouting report

OFFENSE: Buckle up for speed, skill and lots of goals. Typically this time of year the team that checks best excels, but as structured as the Sharks and Penguins are, they're electrifying offensively and use speed as a weapon. They boast the postseason's two most prolific offenses, with the Sharks scoring 3.5 goals per game and the Penguins 3.22. San Jose features the league's top three scorers in Joe Pavelski; Logan Couture, now healthy and playing like a superstar; and former Wild defenseman Brent Burns. Pittsburgh's best player this postseason has been Phil Kessel, the former Gopher run out of Toronto. He has nine goals and 18 points. Stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have combined for 30 points. The Sharks' depth has been tremendous. If the stars aren't scoring, Joel Ward, Tomas Hertl and Patrick Marleau are. Advantage: Sharks.

DEFENSE: Burns not only scored 27 goals in the regular season, he has another six in the postseason and is the first defenseman to have 20 points in a single postseason before the Stanley Cup Final since Brian Leetch had 23 for the Rangers in 1994. Burns has developed into one of the most dynamic blue-liners in the NHL, but the Penguins feature one as well. Kris Letang has followed a 67-point regular season with 10 in the playoffs. The Penguins' blue line could be affected by Trevor Daley's absence because of a broken ankle. Olli Maatta has been erratic all season, and Justin Schultz is typically suspect defensively. Marc-Edouard Vlasic and White Bear Lake native Justin Braun have done a great job going up against stud opponents all postseason. It'll be interesting to see how coach Pete DeBoer uses them. Crosby and Malkin, obviously, need to be checked closely, but Pittsburgh's most effective line this playoff run has been the Carl Hagelin-Nick Bonino-Kessel line. Advantage: Sharks.

GOALTENDING: With veteran No. 1 and 2009 Stanley Cup winner Marc-Andre Fleury riding the pine other than one rusty start since returning from a concussion, 22-year-old Matt Murray has an 11-4 record, 2.22 goals-against average and .924 save percentage. On San Jose's roster, there's Martin Jones, who won a Stanley Cup as Jonathan Quick's caddie in L.A. in 2014. Jones is 12-6 this postseason with a 2.12 goals-against average and .919 save percentage. Advantage: Penguins.

SPECIAL TEAMS: There have been few more electrifying power plays in recent NHL memory than San Jose's. The way the No. 1 unit creates chances with Burns and Thornton running things from the point or half wall has been something to watch. Burns, Pavelski and Couture have combined for 13 power-play goals. Pittsburgh's power play is connecting 23.4 percent of the time, but Penguins fans have seen the power play as a source of frustration for years. But when you boast Crosby, Malkin, Kessel and Letang, you're dangerous every time. The teams' penalty kills have generated momentum throughout the postseason and are both north of 80 percent. Advantage: Even.

COACHING: Mike Sullivan did an outstanding job helping Pittsburgh resurrect its season after GM Jim Rutherford fired Mike Johnston as coach in December. Perhaps history can repeat itself, because the last time the Penguins fired a coach in-season, it was Dan Bylsma replacing Michel Therrien and the Penguins went on to win the Cup in 2009. On San Jose's bench, there's DeBoer. The Sharks are the first team to advance to the Stanley Cup Final after missing the playoffs the previous season since the 2011-12 New Jersey Devils. Both achieved that feat with DeBoer at the helm. Advantage: Sharks

RUSSO'S PREDICTION: It's so fitting that San Jose is in this spot. After the Sharks played a league-high-tying 24 playoff series in the past 12 years and missed the postseason last year, pundits got tired of looking stupid after picking these guys to do something special every year. So most picked them to miss the playoffs this season and again were made to look stupid. So, of course, we'll try to look smart here and probably won't. SHARKS IN 6.