Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Washington Capitals Round 2 Preview

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Jan 16, 2017; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Washington Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom (left) defends Pittsburgh Penguins center Nick Bonino (13) during the third period against at the PPG PAINTS Arena. The Penguins won 8-7 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /

Offence

This is where things get interesting. Both Washington and Pittsburgh have dominant offensive cores, and a look at the numbers from this season proves this,

Pittsburgh was first in the entire league in goals scored this season with 278. Washington was right behind them in third with 261 team goals scored. The two teams were also third (Washington) and fourth (Pittsburgh) in team power play percentage, with both teams having a percentage of 23.1%.

Although Pittsburgh is still fighting injuries, their offensive core is led by Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel and Patric Hornqvist. They’ve also seen many depth players come up big this year, like Jake Guentzel, Conor Sheary and Bryan Rust.

The Capitals boast a top line of Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie. Other key players include Evgeny Kuznetsov, Andre Burakovsky and the ever-so clutch Justin Williams.

The offence will definitely be something to watch for in this series.

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