The Sharks and Kings face off in Game 7 tonight in a Western Conference semifinal series. We will be conducting a live chat during the game.

The contest and the chat each begin at approximately 9 p.m. Click here to join the fun or participate in chat box down below.

(Photo: Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

The Penguins spent a significant portion of yesterday's practice working on faceoffs and with good reason. Their opponent in the Eastern Conference final is pretty good on the draw.

With a success rate of 57.5 percent, the Bruins are far and away the best team in the postseason at faceoffs. In comparison, the Penguins are eighth at 50.1 percent. The teams they faced in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds - the Islanders and Senators - rank ninth and 10th at 49.5 and 49.3 percent respectively.

In all, the Bruins primary rely on five players to take faceoffs. Only one of them, David Krejci, who leads the NHL in postseason scoring with 17 points, has won fewer than half of his overall draws.

If you compare the Bruins five faceoff specialists to the six players the Penguins primarily rely on for faceoffs, the Bruins enter this series with a decided advantage.

Here's how the teams' faceoff specialist compare in various situations on the ice based off their postseason numbers:

Even Strength

Penguins' power play
vs. Bruins penalty kill

Penguins penalty kill
vs. Bruins power play

Overall

(Photo: Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)

Playoff Stuff
Penguins - Bruins

-Jarome Iginla's decision to accept a trade to the Penguins is paying off thus far.

-With the series not starting until Saturday, the Penguins will take another day off today. (PG+)

-If you're a Penguins fan in Poland, you have to stay up late.

-Dan Bylsma speaks:

-Brenden Morrow speaks:

-Mark Eaton:

-"He's a guy who, when he's physical and gets his physical game going, the rest of his game will take shape." - Brooks Orpik on Bruins forward Milan Lucic.

-“Maybe we don’t have the names that the Penguins have when it comes to Crosbys and Malkins, but we have guys that have done a great job in the past, that have worked well together and that have given us an opportunity to be a championship team." - Bruins coach Claude Julien.

Calder Cup Playoffs

-The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins signed defensive prospects Scott Harrington and Olli Maatta to amateur tryout contracts. (PG+)

-After the Jump: The Blackhawks force a Game 7 against the Red Wings and Sergei Gonchar wants to stay in Ottawa.

Note: Post-Gazette Digital News Editor Kim Lyons wrote this post:

As the Penguins get ready to take on the Bruins in the Eastern Conference final, their international fans are getting ready for more late nights. While the British Pens fan club has a devoted group who are active on social media during games despite the 5-hour time difference, the Polish Penguins deal with a 6-hour differential that means when there's overtime, the sun is rising as the game is ending.

The group was started in 2011, and co-founder Dawid Szewczyk, who has a healthy playoff beard growing, estimates the club has about 300 members. His attraction to the team started when he was young and received a Penguins t-shirt. They tweet about the team in Polish to their 400-plus followers, and have more than 500 fans on Facebook.

There is only one Polish player whose name is on the Stanley Cup, former Penguin Krzysztof Oliwa (he was part of the Devils’ championship team in 2000), and ice hockey is far from the most popular sport in Poland.  But the team has captured the attention of its small band of dedicated Polish followers.

Szewczyk says visiting Pittsburgh and attending a Penguins game is still on his “to do” list. “I haven’t been to a Penguins game, but I have seen a few Penguins players in other games,” he said, “ for example James Neal, when he was in the IIHF World Championships in Slovakia i n 2011.”

Mateusz Ostrowski of Łódź, says while the best-known Polish players in the NHL are Oliwa, Mariusz Czerkawski and Wojtek Wolski, he knows there are other players who have Polish heritage. Wayne Gretzky, he notes, has Polish ancestry, and John Tavares’ maternal grandparents immigrated from Poland to Sudbury, Ontario.

Adrianna Bugajny, also of Warsaw, says while she’s been impressed with all the Penguins’ acquisitions this season, the one who has stood out most is Jussi Jokinen.  “He has shown that he could make a big difference when he’s on the roster,” noting his work during Sidney Crosby’s absence with a broken jaw. “It would be great if [Jokinen] stays and keeps on going!”

Main website: www.penguins.pl or www.polishpenguins.com

https://www.facebook.com/penguinspolska

https://twitter.com/PenguinsPoland