The NHL's top three superstars will be facing off in the second round match up of The Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals. The series will feature the last three points leaders in the NHL, Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby was the top point getter two years ago, the Caps Alexander Ovechkin won it last year, and the Pens Evgeni Malkin took it this year. This has been a match up that the NHL has been hoping for since Crosby and Ovechkin were taken as the top two picks in the post lockout draft. These two teams have been linked together ever since that draft with the constant comparisons of who is better between Crosby and Ovechkin and more recently because Malkin and Ovechkin are from the same country. These three guys finished 1,2,3 in this year's scoring race with Malkin ultimately winning out over Ovechkin and Crosby. Washington won the regular season series 3-1 with the Penguins only win coming in the their last match up on the road. The season series is a little skewed because when they face off the first three times the Pens were not the team they are right now. This playoff series will only take the rivalry to a whole new level giving the winner more than just bragging rights but an opportunity to advance to the Eastern Conference finals. These teams have taken drastically different roads to get to this point. The Penguins struggled early this year and needed to rebound late and they got into the playoff mode by having to win almost every game just to have a chance. The Capitals dominated all season long and cruised into the playoffs. The Pens faced a familiar foe in their first round series defeating Philadelphia in six games. The Caps squared off against the struggling New York Rangers and fell behind 2-0 and needed to rally to force a Game 7, which they eventually won. Both teams look to be on top of their game so this series should be really good. For the sake of the NHL I hope it goes seven games and every game is highly competitive. I think the Pens will win the series in 6 games. Game 1 will be in Washington on Saturday at 1pm.
GO PENGUINS!
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