Pittsburgh Penguins Ready for Round 2 No Matter Who They Face
With the Pittsburgh Penguins eliminating the Columbus Blue Jackets quite early in these playoffs, they have a few days to rest and prepare themselves.
The Pittsburgh Penguins will face the winner of the first round series between the Washington Capitals and Toronto Maple Leafs. That series is currently at 3-2, with the Capitals having the lead. However, that series has been very close, with four of the five games going to overtime, and each one having only a one goal differential.
No matter who wins, Toronto or Washington, the Pittsburgh Penguins should be ready for them. And trust me, the Pens are more than ready for either of them.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Too Hot
The Penguins have been hot to end the season and they carried it into the playoffs. Winning the first three games of the series and only letting one slip away is a pretty impressive feat nonetheless, and I bet this intensity will carry into the next round for sure.
Whichever team we face should be ready to face a red-hot Penguins team. Whether we have home advantage against Toronto or not, we’ll surely be fuelled up to play some good hockey.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Let’s face it, we shouldn’t have too much of a problem against the young Toronto Maple Leafs.
There’s no denying that they’re fast and skillful and surprised many this post-season. If they are able to take out the top-seeded Washington Capitals in seven games, it would be nothing short of impressive.
But let’s take a look at what our Penguins have. We’re a much more experienced team with skillful players all around. Yes they have a trio of skillful rookies in Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and WIlliam Nylander, but we have some of the biggest star players in Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel.
Not to mention, we have them beat on the defensive end easily, and perhaps in net too, as Fleury has been hot as ever.
The season series may be slightly in the Leafs favour, but that should’t matter too much. They may have defeated us twice out of the three games we played this season, but they still aren’t as effective in the playoffs as us.
Washington Capitals
The Capitals. Do I really have to say much about them?
Every year, they are one of the best in the league. Winning the President’s Trophy this season, they seem like the team to beat. They could very well have us slightly beat in every aspect of their team.
But that doesn’t matter, because we all know we match up very well against the Washington Capitals. Year in and year out, they come in ready to defeat us, yet they cannot get past us in the second round.
Can this be the year they finally get past us? I wouldn’t bet on it. We are still as effective of a team as we were last season, and we know this Washington team.