Capitals or Penguins?

Well I called the Pens in 6 against the Flyers so what the heck:

Pens in 5

Taking 7 games to beat an offensively poor Rangers team does not auger well against a team with a potent offense.

o.k. Nick prepare an remarkable checklist of motives so i'm gonna try to arise with my very own. a million. The caps have had a much greater advantageous offseason so a methods then the pens. The caps further Mike Rebeiro to their line up who would be a important stress to be reckond with. The caps picked Foresberg interior the draft who would be a much greater advantageous participant then Derrick Pouliot. 2. The pen's are led by the biggest wuss interior the league Sidney Crosby, the place because of the fact the caps are lead by Ovi, who even tho slowed down, is a monster on the ice. 3. The caps have greater advantageous goaltending: Holtby > Fleury. 4. The capitals made it greater suitable interior the playoffs this season than the pens did. 5. MIke green > Letang. 6. Washington does not cry and throughout the time of slightly lady in advantageous condition because of the fact they misplaced a sport. ( Crosby " i do in contrast to all of them" on the tip of the flyers sequence. Come on it is in simple terms the form of diik ingredient to declare. No appreciate for absolutely everyone. 7. interior the final 5 years the caps have performed greater advantageous interior the standings greater then the pens. 8. The capitals have 4 stable traces, while the pen's have 3 max. 9. The capitals do no longer supply stupid contracts that make no experience: pen's presented sutter a 10 years seventy 8 million greenback income. The caps will possibly never supply a mediocore d that lots funds, the have basically presented green 5 million and he's a greater advantageous ordinary d then sutter. 10. The caps do no longer ought to beg to Bettman to enable them to have a often happening %.. 11. The caps are lots greater durable group than the pen's 12. i'm no longer able to stress this sufficient the caps have not got that vast toddler Sidney Crosby.

I don't care who wins, because I believe the Red Wings are going to win the Stanley Cup, but I'll say the Capitals because I picked them in a bracket, and because I hate Sidney Crosby. Penguins are made of 2 types of players: skill players, and big players. Their big players aren't even that good, so I think if the Capitals get in their heads (and Crosby's), force some penalites, they will win the series in 6. They also know not to go easy because the Rangers almost scared them.

I'm very nervous about the Pens playing the Caps.

I call somebody on the Pens getting really hurt =/

Not that I want that... Cause obviously i'm a huge fan of the team, but I feel like the Caps are out to kill the pens hahaha

Pens in game 6.

I want the Penguins to win and I think the Penguins will win in 6 games.

Seriously, I want the Pens to win, but I don't know if they can do it...

Arrrgh.... The Stars ain't in the playoffs.... so I picked my 2nd and third favorite teams....WAS and PIT. I'd be happy no matter the outcome, but I'd have to go with the Pens.

Should be a great series. The hype motivating the players will push this one to 7. I'll take the Pens. I think Varlamov is going to run out of steam.

We all knew this day was coming and for the National Hockey League you could argue that it couldn't have come at a better time.

Franchises on the brink; we don't care. Supplemental discipline in chaos; it doesn't matter. Two of the three qualifying Canadian teams out in the first round; fogettaboutit.

Round Two of the Stanley Cup playoffs features the high-flying Pittsburgh Penguins vs. the equally soaring Washington Capitals in a showdown match that features Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby going head-to-head with his Washington counterpart Alex Ovechkin.

This is the Wayne Gretzky-Mario Lemieux showdown we never saw, but for hockey's new generation, it's as good as it can get

It's a match made in hockey heaven or at least in the dream works factory that is Commissioner Gary Bettman's Sixth Ave. offices in New York City and if that were all it was it would be enough, but as they say in the infomercials: "Wait, there's more."

Pittsburgh has Evgeni Malkin, a super-skilled forward who was drafted second overall (behind Ovechkin in 2004) and has forced his way into the "who's better" debate between Hart Trophy winners Crosby and Ovechkin by winning the league's scoring crown this season and likely being named a finalist for the Hart Award as the league MVP. That puts this matchup over the top in terms of star power but there's even more.

The Penguins bring fast-rising goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury to the series. Fleury made his mark with a strong performance that carried the Penguins to the Stanley Cup final last spring and has maintained form both in the regular season and the first round of the playoffs, but the Capitals counter with their own emerging force in net, Simeon Varlamov, a rookie who carried the Caps to a first round win over the New York Rangers. Varlamov played a major role in erasing a 3-1 deficit in a dramatic seven-game series en route to posting .952 save percentage after taking over from Jose Theodore.

The Caps have an offensive threat on the backline in Mike Green, a 30-goal scorer and a candidate for the Norris Trophy as the league's best defenceman. Green is the counterpoint to Pittsburgh's stellar offensive-minded defenceman Sergei Gonchar who missed most of the regular season due to injury, but has returned to help jump start Pittsburgh's attack from the backend.

In case you think the Pens have too much of an offensive edge because of the Crosby-Malkin combo, let us introduce Nicklas Backstrom into the mix. Backstrom matched Ovechkin in points (each had seven) in the series with the New York Rangers, but truly excelled as a playmaker and team leader, especially after the Caps fell behind 3-1 in the series. Alexander Semin was also effective for the Caps, matching Crosby and Anaheim's Ryan Getzlaf in playoff points with eight, one behind Malkin's playoff leading nine. In addition, Sergei Fedorov may be a shell of his former self, but he still has a mind for the game and a veteran's sense of making the big play at the right time.

Want more, Crosby and Ovechkin have started to develop a genuine dislike for each other and that extends to the way the two teams feel about each other. Washington dominated the regular-season meetings, 3-1, and gets home ice by virtue of winning the Southeast Division crown, but Pittsburgh has recovered well from Stanley Cup fatigue and dispatched a formidable Philadelphia team in a comfortable six games.

Injuries are likely to have an influence in this series but there are no serious ones that we know of and the hidden ones are likely to remain that way.

Washington had a better power play (18.2 percent) against a strong-willed Rangers team. The Penguins were far less effective against the Flyers (12.5 percent). The two were virtually even in penalty killing with Washington killing at an 87.1 rate to Pittsburgh's 86.7.

This is a pick-em series that's likely to have ups and downs and twists and turns, but in the end it's likely to be settled by mistakes, adjustments and more than a little bit of luck. We think the Caps are looking like a team that made brilliant adjustments against the Rangers and as a result can make its own luck.

Capitals!!!!!