It's all come down to this.The , and it's a culminating matchup of teams with very different Jeremy Hellickson Jersey milestones to play for -- the and their fiery fan base are looking to claim their first title , while the are attempting to become the first back-to-back champions since the in 1998.What will it take for the Pens or the Preds to pull away and take the Cup?We're glad you asked. For starters, here are three keys for each side heading into the biggest series of the season:The No. 16-ranked team entering the postseason, the Preds would now hardly surprise the if they finished No. 1. They face a tall task, however, in trying to unseat the ailing, albeit dangerous, defending champs. Chief among their ingredients for succe s against the Pens are ...1. Lean on defensive dominance to offset an injury-riddled rosterEasier said than done, perhaps, when it comes to standing strong in the wake of a depleted line, but the Predators have no choice but to move forward without both and -- *gulp* -- . They edged the after losing the latter, of course, and that was in part due to the clutch contributions of guys like . But building off the blue-line dominance of , P.K. Subban and Co. is the obvious and smart approach to claiming victory, not to mention helping the Trey Mancini Jersey goalie ...2. Get another strong series from Again, if this were as simple as a snap of the fingers, the Preds would just demand -- and get -- another couple of gems from their goalie.Thankfully for them, however, Rinne been the clear-cut top dog in the net over the course of the playoffs, so counting on his efforts to beat the Penguins is not only an understandable Stanley Cup Final expectation, but also a feasible one. Rinne has taken on new life in the postseason (and he was solid before that), and if Nashville is going to top Pittsburgh, at least a few games are probably going to be credited almost entirely to Perfect Pekka. 3. Capitalize on Pittsburgh's blue-line injuries -- and don't stopThe Pens have done enough to overcome the in-and-out shuffle of banged-up defensemen this postseason sans , but the Preds should have more than a few shots to put Renato Nunez Jersey goalie to the test. Nashville needs to use its signature aggre sivene s to attack Pittsburgh early and often -- and then do it again and again.Yes, the Preds have to rely on their defense to lift them in the long run, but when windows open for Nashville to push its physicality onto the Pens or unload a barrage of shots via , there's no better time for the Western Conference underdogs to showcase their energy.Penciled in as likely contenders from the start of their po sible championship encore, the Pens have not always looked like the sharpest team in the playoffs. But here they are, back again with a legitimate -- no, favorable -- shot at winning it all once again, as long as they make sure they ... 1. Get in space and impose offensive talent early in gamesThe Penguins haven't to score a lot early to come away victorious this postseason. Just look at their double-overtime Game 7 win in the conference finals that eliminated the and got them here.But Nashville, like the Sens, boasts a stingy defense -- and a more energized one at that. No one doubts Pittsburgh has the guts to dig itself out of a hole if needed, but if the Pens want to ensure the Predators won't be taking home their first Cup, they'll have to find ways to put their speed in space and combat Nashville's physicality with lots and lots of pre sure on Rinne.2. Make sure the stars can work their magicNo-brainer, right? Sure, but it's worth noting that both Dan Straily Jersey and , despite an otherwise admirable run toward another potential title, have had a few hiccups this postseason. Perhaps that's overstating it a bit, because when either Crosby or Malkin has been mi sing in action, it's usually been a precursor to an offense-wide drought from Pittsburgh.And yet there's hardly anything more important for the Pens, a team built on its speed and its ability to score at a moment's notice, than getting its leaders -- its franchise centers -- involved and then watching their succe s correlate with scores from, say, , and the rest Manny Machado Jersey of the bunch.3. Stand tall for the long haul, especially in the netThe Penguins are coming off two straight seven-game series, the most recent of which ended in double-overtime. That doesn't mean they cannot endure one more series, even with their barrage of injury i sues, but it might be a symbol for one of Pittsburgh's keys against Nashville -- stamina. If any team's stamina should be questioned, it's probably the Pens, who willed their way past tough blows from both the Sens and the .But Nashville figures to leave everything on the ice, and the Preds are no slouches when it comes to bringing intensity and roughne s. Murray needs to display the same poise he did in the conference finals, and Pittsburgh has to make sure it is prepared for another potentially frustrating bout with a team sometimes bent on fighting speed with, well, a real fight.