from Seth Rorabaugh of Empty Netters,

-For the first time, the Penguins lost the possession battle. They had a ton of shots (42) but in terms of shot attempts 79-76. That's not a huge difference but considering the Penguins won that battle in Game 1 (67=58) and Game 2 (59-49), it's room for concern.

-The Penguins really had trouble going through the neutral zone. In Games 1 and 2, they seemed to overwhelm the Sharks with their speed. Tonight, the Sharks seemed much more prepared for what the Penguins threw at them.

-Another area the Penguins seemed to have trouble with was their chip plays. Since they have so much speed, they usually just chip the puck up ice behind the defensemen and let guys like left winger Carl Hagelin, right winger Phil Kessel and others just outrace the defense to the puck. Tonight, it seemed like the Sharks did an effective job of just reading those plays and got to those pucks first.

-The ice was really bad tonight. We know the standard response is "Both teams play on it" but one of these teams is clearly faster than the other. That said, the Sharks seemed to do a much better job of adjusting to the conditions.

-From what we were told, today was an exceptionally humid day for San Jose. It's usually hot but dry here. Today, there was a good deal of humidity. And given that SAP Center is one of the older buildings in the NHL, we can't imagine this was ideal conditions for hockey.

-The Penguins blocked nearly as many shots (38) as they took (42). Blocked shots are a sign of bravery and commitment to your team. It's also a sign of not having the puck a bunch.

much more on both teams...