The Pittsburgh Penguins will win their fourth Stanley Cup – two with superstar Mario Lemieux and two with current superstar Sidney Crosby – IF they beat the San Jose Sharks this Thursday. Pittsburgh took a 3-1 lead in the Cup Final with a 3-1 victory, as a +105 underdog, in San Jose on Monday..

Game Five offers a truly historical significance for Pittsburgh sports fans as it could be the first time since 1960 that a championship has been clinched on home soil since the Pirates epic World Series. The memorable game seven with Bill Mazeroski's legendary home run. San Jose has struggled mightily to score in this series, wasting an outstanding effort between the pipes from goaltender Martin Jones, who made a series-low 17 saves in Game 4 after a series-high 40 in a 3-2 Game 3 overtime victory.

NHL Odds: Penguins One Win Away from Cup

San Jose's Cup challenge became a bit more difficult with the announcement that center Tomas Hertl (six goals in 20 playoff games) would miss the rest of the Final with a knee injury. Hertl was knocked out of Game 2 and didn't suit up for Game 3, leaving the Sharks without one of their top two-way players. It has helped drive the line up as the Penguins are current -160/ +140 favorites on the money line at Bovada.

When the playoffs began, Pittsburgh goaltender Matt Murray wasn't available on the Conn Smythe futures market, but he stopped 23 of San Jose's 24 shots , enhancing his MVP resume on Monday night. The 22-year-old rookie raised his playoff save percentage to .930 in the process. Murray's play in the playoffs has drawn comparisons to Ken Dryden, the former Montreal Canadians legend, who won the Conn Smythe in 1971 and the Calder Trophy as the NHL's best rookie in 1972.

But on the scoring front, the Pens haven't been equally impressive. Crosby has failed to register a point in each of the past two games but has done a fine job on face-offs, while big-time scorer Evgeni Malkin broke a three-game pointless streak by scoring his first goal since Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Unlike their previous three Stanley Cup championship runs, defense has been the key to Pittsburgh's success this time around.

Despite having offensive stars like Crosby and Malkin, the Pens have consistently found ways to severely limit the opposition defensively throughout the playoffs, taking pressure off Murray. Their defense has been the difference in a series that has seen Jones face 35 more

The Under has cashed in every game, improving to 7-1 in the past eight meetings between the two teams. Bovada currently has the Over/Under on the game listed at 5 goals and it likely will remain there.

Glenn Greene covers the games from a betting angle every week exclusively at OSGA.com. For weekly betting insights, inlcuding previews and picks from Glenn, click here.