Bring on the Sharks for the Western Conference final

The San Jose Sharks survived Game 7 Thursday with a 3-2 win over Detroit. The Sharks face the Canucks in the Western Conference final, that starts Sunday at Rogers Arena ( 5p.m., CBC-TV, Team 1040). Here’s how the teams match up:

Regular-season record: Vancouver Canucks (54-19-9); San Jose Sharks (48-25-9).

Season series: Vancouver 3-0-1.

The Canucks and Sharks, two teams with a history of playoff failure. are meeting in the Western Conference final so one has to win, right? The Canucks haven’t been this far since 1994 while the Sharks were here just a year ago and face-planted four straight to the Chicago Blackhawks.

Despite advancing to this stage in 2011, neither team has shown a killer instinct. The Canucks needed four chances to close out the Blackhawks in round one and two to dispatch the pesky Nashville Predators in the second round. The Sharks, meanwhile, required two swings to banish the L.A. Kings and four to take care of Detroit. Their combined “˜close-out’ record this spring is 4-8, hardly awesome.

With that backdrop, it’s difficult to imagine one team making short work of the other. The Canucks had the better regular season record, winning twice in regulation and once in a shootout, while the Sharks’ lone victory was via the shootout. Expect this one to go the distance – and maybe to overtime in a seventh game.

Here’s a position-by-position look at the two teams:

GOALTENDING: Roberto Luongo has an Olympic gold medal, a higher profile and bigger contract but Antti Niemi has something even better: a Stanley Cup ring and an undefeated record in playoffs series. Niemi went 4-0 last spring and is 2-0 this year so he’s done it when it counted despite his various rough patches.

Advantage: None

DEFENCE: We’ve been hearing all season long that the Canucks have never been deeper on defence but that was also predicated on Alex Edler performing at a high level and Keith Ballard motoring the puck out of his zone and delivering devastating hip checks. Dan Hamhuis and Keith Bieksa have been excellent and Christian Ehrhoff has a lot of points but Vancouver’s second and third pairing have been an adventure the first two rounds and Ballard is buried in Alain Vigneault’s doghouse.

San Jose’s top pairing has the lumbering Douglas Murray with the offensively gifted Dan Boyle, not a bad unit. After that, it’s vet Niclas Wallin with Leaf castoff Ian White, and Marc-Edouard (Pickles) Vlasic with mobile up-and-comer Jason Demers. It’s not an exceptional group on paper but it got the job done against the Wings. Enough said.

Advantage: Canucks

FORWARDS: Both teams have marquee forwards who have under-achieved through the first two rounds despite their advancing this far. Canuck Ryan Kesler is on top of his game while Alex Burrows and Chris Higgins have been next best. The Sedin twins? They have to be better. Ditto for Patrick Marleau and Dany Heatley of the Sharks. On paper, San Jose is bigger and deeper. It’s a toss-up.

Advantage: None

COACHING: You reach the Western Conference final and you’re pulling the right strings, even with the blips of those pesky close-out game failures. Both Alain Vigneault and Todd McLellan yanked their teams back from the brink of collapse to reach this stage. McLellan also has a Cup ring as an assistant with the 2008 Red Wings so he’s been to the finish line.

Advantage: Sharks

INTANGIBLES: With both teams not noted for triumphant playoff runs, it’s going to be an intriguing series. San Jose’s core group has been knocking on the door a bit longer than the Canucks’ main guys and Niemi has proven he can go four rounds and win while Luongo has not.

Advantage: Sharks

PREDICTION: Sharks win in seven games.