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Pittsburgh Penguins: Bring on the Washington Capitals

By Matthew Rodrigopulle

Jan 16, 2017; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Matt Murray (30) makes a save against Washington Capitals left wing Marcus Johansson (90) during the first period at the PPG PAINTS Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 16, 2017; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Matt Murray (30) makes a save against Washington Capitals left wing Marcus Johansson (90) during the first period at the PPG PAINTS Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /
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With a 2-1 win in overtime last night against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Washington Capitals move on to round two of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and will face the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Pittsburgh Penguins wrapped up their first round matchup against the Columbus Blue Jackets rather quickly, allowing the series to only reach five games. With a well fuelled team fired up, the Penguins will be looking to take out the Washington Capitals once again.

History is in Our Favour

We all know the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals have a storied rivalry. Ever since the Lemieux days, these two divisional rivals would battle it out constantly, with Pittsburgh always coming out on top.

Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh Penguins /

Pittsburgh Penguins

This rivalry was only strengthened in this decade when both teams got generational talents in Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin. It’s almost like the narratives write themselves. Will Ovechkin finally get it done? Or will Crosby take home another Cup?

Well looking at our history against the Capitals, it’s heavily in our favour. The Capitals have won no Cups in their history. Pittsburgh has won four. All four of these Cup wins had the Penguins defeating the Capitals during their run.

Historically as well, we lead in all time regular season series wins with a record of 106–90–16–5, and we also lead in playoff series wins going 34-21.

Ever since Alex Ovechkin arrived in Washington, the Capitals have never got past the second round. Many of these second round match-ups featured the Penguins taking out the Capitals.

We’ll be looking to continue this tradition of winning, and you have to think that at this point the history could be messing with the Capitals heads.

This Season

This season, the Penguins and Capitals seem very evenly matched. During the regular season series between the two teams, Washington took two games and the Penguins also took two games.

More from Pens Labyrinth

The games were intense, including one Washington blowout in which they won 7-1, and another OT victory for the Penguins with a score of 8-7.

Next: The Re-emergence of Olli Maatta

Washington finished first in the entire league standings, while Pittsburgh finished right behind them in second. These two teams couldn’t be closer, and we’re in for quite the series.

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