SAN JOSE, Calif. -- This just about sums up how badly the San Jose Sharks wanted a chance to play in the Stanley Cup finals:
Following the Sharks' Western Conference finals-clinching win over the St. Louis Blues, forward Joe Thornton was asked on NBCSN if he had a preference -- Pittsburgh Penguins or Tampa Bay Lightning -- for the next opponent.
"I'll play them both if they want to dress 40," Thornton answered.
He would, too. And the way the Sharks are going, they might make a series of it.
Fortunately for the Sharks, who finished the Blues in six games, they'll only get one of those two teams -- and that opponent will be coming off an intense seven-game series.
San Jose did just about as well as you could in navigating its way out of the West, with only one series going seven games (against the Nashville Predators). They'll come in rested for Monday's start and with years of pent-up frustration ready to manifest itself.
There's no easy matchup for the Sharks, of course. Average teams don't advance to the Stanley Cup finals. But here's a look at which of the two Eastern Conference finalists would be a better opponent for San Jose:
The case for the Sharks playing the Penguins
There's something to be said for starting a tough playoff series on the road.
The Sharks have benefited this postseason from flying under the radar. They didn't have to manage the huge expectations and pressure that come with being a favorite. That will to change now, following their impressive win over the Blues, and there will likely be more pressure on the Sharks to win if the final series opens at home, as it would against Tampa Bay.
Starting in Pittsburgh would allow the Sharks to try to go in and steal one early, as they've already successfully done in this postseason.
They started on the road against Los Angeles and swept the Kings the first two games. They started on the road against the Blues and split. In their Game 1 loss in St. Louis, the Sharks outplayed the Blues and probably deserved a win. Fast series starts have been a big reason for the Sharks' success, with San Jose 5-1 in the first two games of its three series thus far.
The Penguins, by comparison, are 3-3 in the first two games of their three series.
The Sharks' top line of Thornton, Joe Pavelski and Tomas Hertl dominated a Blues team that had effectively shut down Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Jamie Benn. They bested great defensive players like Alex Pietrangelo and Alexander Steen in the West finals.
As good as the Penguins are, they don't have quite the same caliber of shutdown defensive players. The Sharks' top line would likely rather face Kris Letang than Tampa Bay's Victor Hedman for seven games. So that's another potential edge.
Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Justin Braun have quietly emerged as a top shutdown pair and, after slamming the door on Vladimir Tarasenko, would likely get a heavy dose of Sidney Crosby. They've been great all postseason and the underrated Vlasic would make life hard on the Penguins captain.
The case for the Sharks playing the Lightning
The Sharks' power play has received a lot of attention and deservedly so, since its clicking at a rate of 27 percent. But there's a chance the Lightning's strong penalty kill would wipe out that advantage, so this series might hinge on even-strength play.
That's where it appears the Sharks would have an advantage against the Lightning. According to war-on-ice.com, no team in the postseason has had more even-strength scoring chances than San Jose, with the Sharks at the top of the list with a scoring-chance plus/minus of plus-54. Tampa is far down the list at minus-29.
That suggests the Lightning have been opportunistic and maybe even a bit lucky along the way in this postseason.
Their postseason PDO -- a shooting and save percentage metric that measures luck -- is at 103.2. (Although it's the Sharks at No. 1 in the playoffs, slightly ahead of Tampa.)
The Penguins are at 100.5, an indication that their success on the ice has reflected their play. In a small series, it might not matter; but if there were to be any regression from the Lightning in the finals, that would be trouble.
The Lightning are also the poorest possession team remaining, controlling just 48.5 percent of even-strength shot attempts.
The possible return of Steven Stamkos would help that cause, but if he comes back in the Lightning will also have to deal with working him into the lineup. Sometimes when a team successfully pushes itself without its star player and that player returns, there's a tendency for the other players to back off a bit.
Andrei Vasilevskiy has been great in place of Ben Bishop with a .921 save percentage, but we have no way of knowing how a 21-year-old goalie who spent most of this season as a backup would handle the biggest stage in hockey.
One Eastern Conference goalies coach pointed out that backups often do well in short spans but there often comes a point where they've hit their limit.
"It's hard, man," he said. "You have to be special to do it again and again."
Vasilevskiy has the skill to be a special goalie. It's just a challenging time of year to try and find out.
Outlook
There's no easy answer in sorting out the best opponent for the Sharks. Both the Lightning and Penguins are great teams -- but the Penguins have been as good as any team in hockey for months. They are the matchup San Jose would want to avoid.