Penguins To Face Washington Capitals In Round 2 Of Playoffs

For the third consecutive postseason it will be the Washington capitals and the Pittsburgh penguins in the semifinals of the capital division.

"Here we go," - said the center Nicklas Backstrom after the "Capitals" liquidated the "Columbus Blue Jackets" in victory 6-3 in Game 6 on Monday evening. Penguins also won in six games, destroying the Philadelphia flyers on Sunday.

Backstrom was asked whether the Capitals enter this autopsy as an outsider, despite winning the Metro division.

"Yes, but it does not really matter if we are outsiders or not," he said. "They won the Stanley Cup two years in a row. Good for them. We will play in the second round against them. It will be fun".

In 2009, the penguins won an epic series of seven games, in which the famous game 2 was presented, in which Alex Ovechkin and Crosby played tricks. The penguins captured game 7 in D.C., 6-2. In 2016, penguins replaced Capital in six games after losing the game 1 on the road in overtime. In 2017, rivals again went to seven games, and the winner of the "Penguins" won the game 7 in Washington with a score of 2: 0.

For this edition of the post-season rivalry, the capitals will again have their home ice. They will have Ovechkin and Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov and goalkeeper Braden Holtby, as in the last two playoffs. This leads to an obvious question: how can this be otherwise for capitals, when so many seem strangely familiar?

"We knew that the chances were that we would need to go through them at some point. We were well prepared. We used a year to improve our team, "said Holtby, who was impressive in creating 35 saves in Game 6.

Winger T.J. Oshima believes that Holtby is locked up, and the defense improved before him, this time the result may be different.

"Defensively, we understand better the correct reading a little. Defensively, we are a bit more responsible. I think that in previous years our line was rather complicated. It seemed like we somehow left with good players reading, but at times Pittsburgh can use it when you're not sharp at your own end, with how they see the ice. I think that we are a little more responsible at our own end, and I hope this can deter their crime, "said Oshi,

Over the past two seasons, Washington and Pittsburgh were set to collide in the second round due to the NHL playoffs format, what Captain coach Barry Trotz complained about in the NHL National game earlier this season.

"I think the format worked well and I'm not going to go against the league, but when you win the Presidents Trophy, you will not need to play the second [best] team in the second round," Trotz said.

If the Stanley Cup playoffs were replaced after the first round, the penguins (100 points) faced Tempa Bay Lightning (113 points), and in Capital (105 points) would face the winner of the Boston Bruins (112 points) and Toronto Maple leaves (105 points).

But this is not a format. Bracket says it's "Capitals against penguins," again. And Ovechkin said he was ready.