Sharks vs. Penguins: Keys to Victory in Game 4 of NHL Stanley Cup Final

Joonas Donskoi made history on Saturday night when his overtime goal earned the San Jose Sharks their first win in franchise history in a Stanley Cup Final.

The Sharks had fallen behind 2-0 in their series against the Pittsburgh Penguins before heading back to California for the first Final in the Bay Area. They never led in Game 3 before the goal clinched the 3-2 victory.

Though they will once again be without injured winger Tomas Hertl, per Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, expect to see San Jose hit the ice with some extra swagger and to hear the pumped-up fans at the SAP Center get louder than ever when Game 4 kicks off on Monday night.

The festivities begin at 8 p.m. ET, with television coverage on NBC in the U.S. and CBC in Canada.

Here are the keys to victory for both teams in Game 4.

Pittsburgh Penguins: Keep Limiting Sharks' Chances

Keith Srakocic/Associated Press

Throughout the first three games of the Final, the Penguins have done an outstanding job of limiting quality scoring opportunities for the Sharks, who came into the series averaging a playoff-high 3.50 goals per game.

That average has dropped to just two goals a game against the Penguins, who have kept San Jose to 26 shots or fewer in each of the three games so far. 

On Saturday, Pittsburgh's biggest weapon was shot-blocking. Pittsburgh blocked an astonishing 38 shot attempts by the Sharks, including 12 from one player—Brent Burns—and another five from fellow defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic.

Only two Penguins skaters didn't block a shot on Saturday: Justin Schultz and Evgeni Malkin. Olli Maatta led the way with six blocks.

All that blocking means the Sharks did a lot more shooting in Game 3 than they managed in the first two games in Pittsburgh. To give themselves a chance to win on Monday, the Penguins will need to continue to do whatever is necessary to limit the number of shots that reach the net.

San Jose Sharks: Stars Must Chip In

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The Sharks boast the four top scorers in the playoffs this spring, but their stars have been uncharacteristically quiet so far against the Penguins—and don't have a single goal between them:

1. Logan Couture: 26 points, 0-2-2 against Pittsburgh
2. Joe Pavelski: 22 points, 0-0-0 against Pittsburgh
3. Brent Burns: 22 points, 0-2-2 against Pittsburgh
4. Joe Thornton: 20 points, 0-2-2 against Pittsburgh

If the Big Four can bump their scoring slumps to chip in a goal or two on Monday, it would go a long way toward helping the Sharks hold serve and head back to Pittsburgh with the series knotted at two games apiece.

Pittsburgh Penguins: Cash In on the Power Play

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

Through the first three rounds of the playoffs, the Penguins scored 15 times on 64 power-play opportunities, a solid conversion rate of 23.4 percent. Phil Kessel and Sidney Crosby led the way with nine power-play points each.

Penalty calls have been kept to a minimum so far in the Final, but the Penguins have failed to take advantage of their opportunities when they have come—they're 0-for-6 so far in the series.

An effective Pittsburgh power play in Game 4 would greatly enhance the team's chances of setting up the opportunity to play for the Stanley Cup when the series returns to Consol Energy Center for Game 5 on Thursday.

San Jose Sharks: Score the First Goal

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Will Game 4 mark the first time in the series that the Penguins are forced to play from behind?

According to Tom Gulitti of NHL.com, San Jose has trailed for 69 minutes and 20 seconds of the Final so far and has been tied with Pittsburgh for 125:33. The only time the Sharks have been ahead in the entire series was the moment of Joonas Donskoi's overtime goal in Game 3.

The pregame energy at the SAP Center should be at an all-time high on Monday night, complete with longtime fans James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett of Metallica performing the national anthem, according to the band's tweet.

If the Sharks can capitalize on that momentum to score an early goal and jump out to a lead, that should force the Penguins to take more chances defensively, which would in turn open up more quality scoring possibilities for San Jose.

Pittsburgh Penguins: Matt Murray Needs to Bounce Back

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

Matt Murray took some heat on Saturday for whiffing on Joel Ward's slap shot from just inside the blue line, which tied the game 2-2 midway through the third period, but the rookie refused to let the goal define his performance.

"One bad goal doesn't make it a bad game," he told reporters during Sunday's media availability, per Bill West and Jonathan Bombulie of Pittsburgh's TribLive. "I thought I was really good all game. A lot of big saves. They out-chanced us. I'm not really focused on results. I'm focused on the process and how I feel out there. ... Last game is no different."

Pittsburgh's only back-to-back losses so far in the playoffs came when Marc-Andre Fleury replaced Murray to start the third period of Game 4 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Fleury was also in net in Game 5 when the Penguins fell to the Lightning in overtime, 4-3.

Murray has been resilient so far, bouncing back with strong performances after Pittsburgh's four earlier postseason losses. Even one bad goal is one too many in the Stanley Cup Final—he'll need to be better on Monday.

San Jose Sharks: Get More Shots Through

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The Sharks may not have been able to increase the number of times that they tested Murray in Game 3, but they did increase the number of times they tried to get shots on net.

In Game 1, the Sharks missed the net 11 times and had 21 shots blocked along with their 26 shots on Murray—a total of 58 attempts. In Game 3, the 26 shots were the same, but the attempts had ballooned to 15 misses and 38 blocks for a total of 79 tries—an increase of 36 percent from the first game of the series.

"We've got to keep shooting," said Peter DeBoer, per Gulitti. "We've got to work for lanes. There's not much you can do. It can't deter us from shooting the puck. I think there's no bad shots for us. Even if it gets blocked, a lot of times we can recover it. We're going to keep our shooting mentality and keep firing."

All stats from NHL.com.