The second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs are underway, and for the third straight year, fans are being treated to/bored by another series matchup between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals. This is another popular, but not necessarily exciting series as the Penguins have beat the Capitals for the past two years in the second round, each time en route to their Stanley Cup victory.
Pens-Caps is regarded as one of the NHL’s best rivalries (not as great as Avs-Wings, Pens-Flyers, though that could just be my inner, bitter Flyers fan speaking), but for much of history, Pittsburgh has been the clear winner. The Penguins last lost to the Capitals over 24 years ago and have since won nine of their last ten playoff series against them.
So will this year be different? Will Alex Ovechkin finally get his revenge or will we see the Pens cruise to another conference finals? So far, all signs are uneasily pointing towards the latter option. The Caps are already up 2-1 in the series after going off for the game-winning goal in just under 2 minutes left to play. If I may analogize, the Pittsburgh Penguins are like the Tom Brady of the NHL. No matter the deficit, no matter the time left on the clock, you can’t really fully count them out. The Caps led Game 1 by a score of 2-0 for nearly the entire game until Patric Hornqvist set off the Penguins three minutes into the third period. The Caps, stunned, just couldn’t battle back; they ceded Game 1 on their home ice to their most hated foe.
Now, this Pens team isn’t fully back on the ice. Evgeni Malkin and Carl Hagelin are still sitting out with injuries and it’s not clear when they’ll return for this series. However, if Game 1 was any evidence, Pittsburgh is coping just fine during their absence. The Capitals have held home-ice advantage in each series since 2016 but still have yet to capitalize on that. They lost in Pittsburgh in 6 games in the 2016 playoffs and lost again at home in 7 games during the 2017 playoffs. Their franchise is shaping up to be a bit of a running joke by now. You could ask, “How will the Caps do this year?” Well, they’ll win in the first round and get beat by the Pens in the second. This pattern is so repetitive that it’s hard not to sympathize with Washington fans, or at the very least, just be absolutely sick of the Penguins’ dynastic run.
While the Penguins may not be as strong as in their previous seasons, they still pose an intimidating threat to a Caps team that’s also weaker than in prior years. A few injuries plague both teams – Hagelin and Malkin, for the Pens, while Capitals’ forward Andre Burakovsky is still out after needing a minor surgery to repair an upper-body injury. Pittsburgh’s defense is down some key players from last season’s Stanley Cup victory, including Trevor Daley and Ian Cole, who are now with the Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets, respectively. And go-to defensemen Kris Letang has looked off his game for a while during both the regular season and in Round 1. Washington’s defense actually seems a bit more well off, especially after adding former Chicago Blackhawk Michal Kempny to the lineup. The Caps’ defense should undoubtedly give Pittsburgh more trouble than they faced against the Flyers in Round 1.
That being said, the Pens are still riding some serious playoff momentum, coming off a solid series win in the Battle of Pennsylvania. Their Game 1 win in Washington for only added to it. Coach Mike Sullivan has yet to lose a playoff series since heading to Pittsburgh. Goalie Matt Murray has yet to lose a playoff series since being called up. And Sidney Crosby is still the best hockey player in the world, no matter who says that the young guns are coming for him. (Here’s looking at you, Matthews and McDavid.) As much as we want shock and wild entertainment, a Pens series win seems all but confirmed.
The NHL has been pushing the three-peat narrative ever since the Pens clinched a playoff berth, back in March. And I understand it, dynasties are incredible feats. The last true dynasty the NHL has seen was the New York Islanders, who won four straight Cups from 1980-1983. If the Pens can take the Cup again, the dynasty will be renewed. That can only be accomplished at the defeat of Ovechkin and the Caps, though – and there is no greater player who’s never seen a Conference Final than Alex Ovechkin. Plus, dynasties can become boring. It’s like the Yankees – eventually, people get sick of the same team winning, especially when that team is so easily hated.
I’m not going to say that most people are Caps fan, but more so, most people want to see the Pens lose. Crosby and Co. have had it too good for too long, and fans are getting tired. The tragedy of it is that the Penguins are so undeniably good. It’s not that they don’t deserve to repeat as champions, and it’s certainly not that they lack the talent to do so. It’s simply that if the Pens win again, it’s something we’ve all seen before. Judging by their annual matchup with the Caps, they have a decent path towards the Cup Finals for a third straight season, and we all know how that story ends.
