Six reasons the Sharks have the upper hand on the Blues heading into Game 3

As the Western Conference finals shifts two time zones to the Bay Area, with the San Jose Sharks and St. Louis Blues tied 1-1, here's why the Sharks look like the stronger team entering Game 3 Thursday at 9 p.m. ET:

Their top line has been finer

Alexander Steen's unit has done some excellent work this postseason, helping limit the likes of Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Jamie Benn, so we all wondered how things would play out for his line when it matched up against perhaps the most impactful offensive trio in the playoffs.

Through two games in this series, it hasn't been close. Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski and Tomas Hertl are -- hands down -- winning the matchup with Steen, David Backes and Patrik Berglund. Thornton's line didn't score 5-on-5 in Game 2 but, oh man, did it have another good night at the office in terms of time spent in the Blues' zone.

"They're a good line,'' Pavelski said of Steen's trio. "They're playing hard. You've just got to match that intensity. You've got to work and support and we've been able to do that. You just can't take your foot off the gas. You've got to stay with your game.''

They've taken some of the sheen off Steen

Logic would dictate that, with the Sharks owning last line change for Games 3 and 4 at SAP Center, coach Peter DeBoer might want to try to shield his top line from Steen -- one of the NHL's preeminent two-way forwards -- and get a more favorable matchup.

I mean, that's the normal course of action when you have the last line change. But given, as noted above, how well Thornton's line played in the opening two games, why bother changing anything? DeBoer isn't always one to chase matchups anyway.

So far, the third trio has been grand

I always laugh when I hear athletes or coaches say that they don't read or hear what's being said in the media. Um, yeah, OK.

Example No. 1,894,983,982: the Sharks clearly had their collective nose slightly out of joint at the suggestion, after they lost Game 1, that the Blues' superior top-nine forward depth posed a matchup problem for San Jose's third line, which is centered by Chris Tierney.

"After Game 1, there were questions about our depth and our third line, and guys responded pretty well to that,'' second-line center Logan Couture said after Game 2, echoing a comment DeBoer also made after the 4-0 victory about the team's forward depth.

Tierney had a dynamite game Tuesday night, responding to the challenge at hand. While I still question how much offensive production the Sharks are going to get from that third line overall, their defensive play and decisions with the puck in Game 2 were top notch. If Tierney's third line can play either the Paul Stastny line or the Jori Lehtera line to a draw, then it's all gravy from there, even if the Sharks' third unit doesn't score itself.

All of which -- for now, anyway -- puts to rest the debate about whether second-line San Jose winger Patrick Marleau should be put back into the third-line center role he's had most of the season. Tierney played well enough in Game 2 to quiet that discussion. Again, for now.

Even the Sharks' fourth line has bite

Speaking of depth, how about Sharks centerTommy Wingels opening the scoring in Game 2? His fourth line, with Nick Spaling and Dainius Zubrus, stood out -- and not just because of that goal.

"I think our four lines match up as well any anybody's," said Zubrus. "What was said and what was talked about before the series, we didn't pay any attention to that. I think one of our team's strengths is depth. We have four lines that are committed to doing jobs and doing what they are supposed to. When we roll four lines, I think we match up pretty good. I think it's important for us to keep that energy going. Our line, we got in on the offensive zone in the first period and second period we had a chance."

Wingels said it's important for his line to contribute offensively when it can.

"It's very important," Wingels said. "We talk, as a line and as a team, how as a fourth line can we be effective. Maybe most nights it's creating energy. It's punishing the defensemen in the offensive zone. It's forechecking hard, winning battles, playing well defensively.

"That all being said, we have the confidence as a line that we can score. We can wear their D down. We can play in the offensive zone. [In Game 2,] I thought we did a great job of that."

Home cooking will help

San Jose was only 18-20-3 at home during the regular season, the worst record of any of the 16 playoff teams and certainly a talking point -- somewhat irritating to the Sharks -- entering the postseason.

They've since quieted that narrative by going 5-1 at home during the playoffs, including dominating performances against theNashville Predatorsin Games 5 and 7 of the second round.

So what changed?

"The roles have kind of been reversed here in the playoffs," Couture said. "It's tough to say. SAP Center is different come playoff time. It's full, it's loud, it's an intimidating building, and that definitely helps."

Penalties continue to burn the Blues

St. Louis can't win this series unless its players show better discipline than they did in Game 2. They cannot hand the Sharks freebie power plays; they will make the Blues pay, as Brent Burns did twice Tuesday night. The Kings learned in the opening round that trying to get under the Sharks' skin won't work. San Jose has turned the other cheek in these playoffs for the most part. With that in mind, will Blues coach Ken Hitchcock pull agitator Steve Ott out of the lineup for Game 3? The veteran winger can be very effective at driving the other team crazy, like he did against Dallas last round. But I don't think that tactic is going to work against this poised Sharks team.