Stanley Cup Final 2016: Sharks vs. Penguins Game 5 TV Schedule, Odds, Pick

The Pittsburgh Penguins should be amped up when they arrive at the Consol Energy Center Thursday night.

They have dominated three of the four games of the Stanley Cup Final against the San Jose Sharks, and they will take a 3-1 series lead with them when the puck is dropped at the start of Game 5. If the Penguins outwork and outskate the Western Conference champions once again, then they should be able to get the best of the Sharks and skate around their home ice with the Stanley Cup.

Pittsburgh fans have witnessed their share of successful teams over the years with the Steelers, Pirates and the Penguins. However, no Pittsburgh team has won a championship within city limits since Bill Mazeroski finished off the New York Yankees in the seventh game of the World Series in 1960 with one of the most famous home runs in baseball history.

Since that time, the Penguins have won three Stanley Cups, and all were on the road. The Pirates have added two more World Series titles, but both were won in Baltimore against the Orioles. The Steelers have won an NFL-record six Super Bowls, and none of them were played in the Steel City.

Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan cannot be thinking about how much it would mean for his city to win a title on home ice. He needs to think about what the Penguins have to do in order to keep getting the best of the Sharks.

That most likely starts with another excellent skating effort. At this point, the Sharks are not skating the way they did in their first three series against the Los Angeles Kings, Nashville Predators and the St. Louis Blues. The Sharks simply look gassed, and if they are not too tired to give their best effort, then they simply are not as fast as the Penguins.

The oddsmakers are looking square at the Penguins to close out the 2015-16 NHL season Thursday night. As of Wednesday 9 a.m. ET, the Penguins are minus-148 favorites, according to Odds Shark, while the Sharks are plus-134 underdogs to win the game and keep the series alive.

Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer is trying to keep his team's spirit up as San Jose prepares for Game 5, and he did that by pointing at his team's road record.

Game 5 Matchup	Series Standings	Date	Time (ET)	TV	Prediction
San Jose Sharks at Pittsburgh Penguins	Pittsburgh, 3-1	June 9	8 p.m.	NBC, CBC, TVAS	Pittsburgh, 4-1

"There's no quit in our group," DeBoer told NHL.com staff writer Amalie Benjamin. "We've been the best road team in the league. We're going to show up and try to get this back here for Game 6. Until you win four, this isn't over."

The big problem for the Sharks is that they have been behind throughout the series. They have never been better than tied at any point while the game is in action, and their only win in Game 3 came after a late goal tied the score in the third period before a fine wrist shot by Joonas Donskoi gave them the victory.

The Sharks can impose their will on their opponents when they have the lead. Since that has not been the case, they have grown frustrated. DeBoer went on to say, per Benjamin:

"

We've been chasing the game the whole series by not scoring first. That takes you out of your four-line rhythm. It affects all parts of your game. We've been on the other end of that in the playoffs, where we've jumped out to the lead on some teams and made them change their game. That's the biggest thing we have to fix. We have to find a way to get on the board earlier in the game instead of chasing it all night.

"

That's nothing new. That has been the case since Game 1, and as much as the Sharks want the lead, they have not been able to get it.

Much of that is due to the way the Penguins' forecheck has made it so difficult for the Sharks to get out of their own zone and past center ice.

Players like Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture, Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau have been outplayed and outworked by the Penguins.

If that doesn't change in Game 5, then the Sharks will have to watch the Penguins celebrate into the wee hours of the night.

Prediction

The Penguins were a team that was on the outside of the playoff structure looking in earlier this year, but they started to come together after Sullivan was named head coach in December.

The Penguins won 14 of their final 16 regular-season games, and they have gotten better throughout the postseason in beating the New York Rangers, the Presidents' Trophy-winning Washington Capitals and the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The improvement has continued into the Stanley Cup Final. Led by Sidney Crosby and Phil Kessel, they are on the verge of a memorable championship run.

Pittsburgh has also gotten sensational play in goal from Matt Murray. He has been steady throughout and spectacular at times.

The Penguins have live legs, while the Sharks appear to have slowed. That should leave Crosby, Kessel, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang with plenty of opportunities in Game 5.

The veterans will get the job done at home, and the Penguins will win the game and the series by a 4-1 margin.