Three periods: Jake Guentzel historically efficient this postseason for Penguins

FIRST

Net efficiency

Unless Jake Guentzel piles up shots without finding the back of the net in Game 6 and, potentially, Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, he'll likely finish the postseason with one of the most efficient double-digit goal-scoring performances in Penguins playoff history.

Guentzel's 26.5 shooting percentage in the playoffs (13 goals on 49 shots) ranked second only to Mario Lemieux's 12 goals on 41 shots (29.3) in 1988-89 among Penguins with at least 10 tallies. Lemieux also holds the third spot, 23.2 percent, for his 16 goals on 69 shots in 1991-92.

What sticks out as remarkable about Guentzel's goal efficiency is he has done it without much help from the power play. Eleven of his goals came at even strength, the most by a Penguin in at least three decades, according to NHL.com. In 1989, Lemieux generated seven of his 12 goals on the power play. In 1992 eight of 16 goals came with the man advantage.

second

Controlling chances

In Game 5, for the first time in the Stanley Cup Final, the Penguins generated significantly more high-grade five-on-five scoring chances than they allowed. The final tally of high-danger chances, as measured by naturalstattrick.com, was 11-3 in favor of the Penguins — better than 13-10 in Game 4 and a far cry from Nashville's 6-2 margin in Game 1.

“I think we've done a better job of staying on the right side of the puck, and I think we've done a better job with the details,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “Because of that, we've been able to at least cut down some of the quality opportunities that Nashville has gotten.”

Maintaining a big edge in high-danger chances represents a significant challenge away from home for the Penguins. While the team's shot generation and suppression trends are almost the same in home versus road performances in these playoffs, the high-danger chance shares split quite a bit — the Penguins accounted for 53.0 percent (96 to 85) of the chances in games at home compared to 48.5 percent (99 to 105) on the road, according to naturalstattrick.com.

third

A better shot

Sullivan said he feels like the Penguins have been improving each game throughout the Stanley Cup Final.

The shot differentials agree.

The Penguins were outshot by 14 in Game 1 and whittled that discrepancy in every game since — from 11 to five to two before they finally broke even with a 24-24 count in Game 5.

“We just keep building every time we go on the ice together and try to get better every time, and now we're standing here in front of a huge goal,” winger Patric Hornqvist said.

With one more win in which they finish with fewer shots than their opponent, the Penguins will tie their 1990-91 team for most playoff victories with that criteria — the 1990-91 team went 10-4 when outshot and 5-4 when ahead in shots, while the current team is 9-8 and 5-1, respectively.

Last season's Penguins went 11-8 when they outshot opponents and 5-0 when they finished with a deficit.

— Bill West