NHL Playoffs 2016: Game 1 TV Schedule and Prediction for Blues vs. Sharks

The San Jose Sharks and St. Louis Blues begin the Western Conference Final Sunday fresh off blowout Game 7 victories. 

St. Louis derailed the Dallas Stars 6-1 Wednesday before the Sharks thoroughly beat down the Nashville Predators 5-0 a day later. The Blues are playing in their first conference final since 2001 while San Jose is returning for the first time since 2011.

Both teams feature tremendous depth throughout their lineups, which have impressed during the postseason. This should make for a fun series that seems destined to go seven games. 

Date	Time	Network	Live Stream
Sunday, May 15	8 p.m. ET	NBC Sports	NBCSports.com

Special Teams Will Be Key

A big reason why both of these teams are still skating is the power play.

The Sharks, 31 percent, and the Blues, 27.5 percent, have the best remaining extra-man units in the postseason.

San Jose's Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski are tied for the playoff lead with four power-play goals each. The team also deploys one of the league's best passers in Joe Thornton on the wall and Brent Burns on the point. 

Take a look at a sparkling example of a Sharks power-play goal, which came at the expense of Nashville Thursday:

The quick passing and high-to-low action is beautiful to watch and a nightmare for teams to defend against. The penalty-killers cannot commit to one side of the power play with dangerous players manning each position. This allows guys such as Thornton and Patrick Marleau the space to utilize the rapid puck movement and find open teammates while the defense rotates.

However, St. Louis features snipers Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Tarasenko to go along with a hulking David Backes patrolling the front of the net. 

The Blues focus more on creating traffic in front of the net. This allows blueliners Colton Parayko, Alex Pietrangelo and Kevin Shattenkirk to find deflections while giving Tarasenko space on the wing to walk in and pick a corner.

Each team's penalty killing has been decent, with San Jose sporting a 82.4 percent rate and St. Louis with 79.5 percent, but it's not strong enough to offset the other's power play.

Staying out of the box will be key, but penalties naturally occur throughout the course of games. The team that is able to consistently survive opposing power plays will gain a strong advantage in the series.

Who Can Protect Home Ice?

To have made it this far, both teams have obviously played well in these playoffs on home and opposing ice.

San Jose is solid at 3-3 on the road while flying at home to a tune of a 4-1 mark. St. Louis is underwhelming at home, 3-4, and fantastic on the road at 5-2. So what is going to give?

Jeff Roberson/Associated Press

The Blues hold home-ice advantage for this series—and the remainder of the postseason, should they make it to the Stanley Cup final. Yet that might not be such a promising situation with their record.

St. Louis forward Patrik Berglund believes his team needs to use the same style of play no matter where it is playing.

"I think on the road we've been just simplifying the game much more than we have at home," forward Patrik Berglund said, per Jeremy Rutherford and Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "I think that's the only reason. If we can just play that simple game at home the way we do on the road, we will be successful at home as well."

This is not as easy as it sounds, but the Blues have some margin for error, with San Jose having lost three consecutive road games.

Considering they beat the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center twice before taking three out of four from the Stars in Dallas, the Blues have a great chance to steal a win in San Jose. If it can do so, St. Louis may be able to grind its way to the Stanley Cup Final. 

All statistics courtesy of ESPN.com.