Keeping this short and sweet, because for once the sports world is actually paying attention to a hockey playoff series and everything I would say has already been said 40456 times. Penguins and Capitals, two teams that have a long history of playoff clashes, and a dream matchup for the NHL. In the Pens case, they've feasted on the Caps over the years during the playoffs (a 6-1 series record I believe.) But these aren't your dad's Capitals, there's no Dale Hunter, Don Beaupre or Al Iafrate. Instead, they're oozing with European talent, players that love to play an open, uptempo style. When looking at the Capitals, it's almost like looking in the mirror from a Pens fan's perspective. They were a team that was successful in the '90s (without the two Stanley Cups) fell on hard times at the turn of the century, then used multiple top draft picks to draft world-class superstars, which eventually turned them into a force. This is the series everyone in hockey was looking forward to seeing. It should go a long way in answering the unanswerable question...who is the best player in the world? Is it Sidney Crosby, or is it Alexander Ovechkin? That's the two names that have been mentioned over the past few days leading up to Saturday's kickoff. But one name tends to be forgotten in the Crosby/Ovechkin matchup, and that's Evgeni Malkin. How anyone has the audacity to leave Geno out of the "Best Player in the World" conversation is beyond me. That's why I believe that Malkin goes off in the series, leaving everyone else in the dust, and propels the Pens back into the Eastern Conference Finals. Pens in six. LET'S GO PENS
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