Wow, the amounts of story lines that have come up heading into this series are enough to write a whole book, it’s unbelievable. Of course, anytime you get Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin on the same sheet of ice it provides for some great hockey, and those are just regular season match ups. Imagine what will happen now that they are involved in a best of seven series. Besides the Crosby versus Ovechkin hype, how about Ovechkin versus fellow Hart Trophy nominee Evgeni Malkin, the league’s leading scorer. Is there still some bad blood between these two? Or, you could even focus in on Alexander Semin versus Evgeni Malkin, the playoffs two leading scorers. When it boils down, ninety percent of the hype and focus will revolve around Crosby and Ovechkin, for the simple reasons that they were both drafted first overall in back to back draft seasons. These two have won the latest Hart Trophies back to back. Both of these players will be leading their respective countries at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Basically, these two are the best hockey players in the world, and you could even throw in Evgeni Malkin, and you’ll have the three best players in the world on the same ice. How about that?
Even after the individual focus on the players mentioned above, this series will be a good one to watch. First off, the Capitals hold home ice advantage and made good use of it in their first round series comeback win versus the Rangers after being down 3-1, even after losing games 1 and 2 at home. Will the Penguins be able to play as strong as they did versus the Flyers after they polished them off in six games without home ice advantage this time around? Keep in mind, the Penguins did win two games on the road in Philadelphia, including the game six series win.
Starting with the Penguins, they had no trouble in beating the Flyers, and their defense really stood out as they shut down a high octane Flyers offence. In the back end, Marc-Andre Fleury really stood tall and came up big in the series when necessary. Offensively, the Penguins had no trouble in filling the net, and their two guns Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were unstoppable. Malkin led the way with four goals and five assists. The Penguins do need some other players to step up and provide secondary scoring. Even though Crosby and Malkin can lead a team by themselves, you always need support from the other players.
As for the Capitals, they struggled through the first four games of their first round series before they finally got it together as a team. Luckily for the Capitals, they were up against a weak and fragile Rangers team, and coming back from a three one deficit wasn’t out of the question. The Capitals do need a strong start from the get go, and have to win on home ice early to keep pace with the Penguins. If the Penguins get a lead they will not squander it, but build on it.
Goaltending was a weak point for the Capitals, which was until twenty year old rookie Simeon Varlamov was thrust into the series after a poor showing from Jose Theodore in a game 1 loss. Remember, this guy is still a rookie, and his nerves could get shot at any time, but in the six games he did play in, he looked good.
The star players on the Capitals also need to get off to a good start, because their leader Alex Ovechkin only had three goals in the first round, and looked as if he showed up when he wanted to. The supporting cast of Alex Semin, Niklas Backstrom and Mike Green must produce like they did during the regular season, if not, this series will be done with quick.
In the end, the Penguins have a more solid group with plenty of playoff experience, and the star players on the Capitals can be shut down, and put down.
SERIES PREDICTION --> THE PITTSBURGH PENGUINS WILL WIN THIS SERIES IN 6 GAMES, ONCE AGAIN ON THE BACKS OF SIDNEY CROSBY, EVGENI MALKIN AND MARC-ANDRE FLEURY.
*THE ONLY WAY THE CAPITALS COULD WIN THIS SERIES IS IF THEY WIN GAMES 1 AND 2 AT HOME TO KICK OFF THE SERIES.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
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