Part one of the Washington Capitals Metropolitan Division analysis begins with analysis with the Stanley Cup champions, the Pittsburgh Penguins. For the Capitals to go deep into the playoffs and win the Stanley Cup, they must first know how to surpass their most hated rival. How exactly will they fare against Pittsburgh this season?
The Washington Capitals begin their season facing one of their most hated rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins, inside of Pittsburgh’s arena. Of course, this will also be the night where the Penguins will unveil their banner for last season’s Stanley Cup victory, which may be considered adding insult to injury. However, for the Caps, they will have to forget that and focus on the current season instead.
Adding the season opener at Pittsburgh on October 13th, the Capitals will play the Penguins four times over the season. The other dates are November 16th and January 11th and 16th. Should both teams make it into the playoffs, it is a possibility that the Caps and Penguins will face off once again in a seven game series, but that right now is uncertain.
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Last Season
The meetings between Washington and Pittsburgh proved to be a battle between two of the best teams in the Eastern Conference, as the Capitals finished with a record of 2-2-1 against the Penguins. Even in the playoffs, as the Capitals fell to the Penguins in six games, three of those games required extra time and the overall scoring summary was 16-15 in favor of Pittsburgh. Part of why this playoff series was was because of the work of both Braden Holtby and Matt Murray as both goalies had a save percentage above .920.
As for Pittsburgh, they found themselves as the second team in the Metro division with 104 points. They were very efficient in scoring, finishing third behind both Dallas and Washington with an average of 2.94 goals per game, and were just as good as defending the puck as they let up an average of only 2.43 goals per game, which was sixth best in the league. On special teams, though the Penguins were average when it came to power-play percentage, Pittsburgh finished the regular season as the fifth best penalty killing team.
Pittsburgh’s strong play carried into the playoffs, led by Conn Smythe Trophy winner Sidney Crosby, as well as the play of guys like Phil Kessel and Nick Bonino. Despite this, they perhaps would not have gotten too far without the impressive play of Matt Murray. Murray’s performance would lead him to being Pittsburgh’s starter throughout the playoffs, seating long time goalie Marc Andre Fleury. That is the one question that Pittsburgh had going into the offseason, whether or not to keep Murray, Fleury, or both goalies.
This Offseason
Pittsburgh’s offseason mainly consisted of re-signing players that were close to entering free agency themselves, including Matt Cullen and Justin Schultz. Still, the one lingering question everyone had was what they would do with their goalie situation. Would Pittsburgh keep one and trade the other? This question seems to have been answered, as the Penguins so far plan on keeping both Fleury and Murray for the upcoming season.
Still, it remains to be seen who will be the main goalie in net for the Penguins. For many teams, having two goalies that are starter caliber is both a good and bad problem to have. Good because their depth is strong at that position and bad because it would be tough to decide which way Pittsburgh wants to go in the future. With the addition of a team in Las Vegas, one of Pittsburgh’s goalies would be a big target for the Las Vegas team to take in the expansion draft. That being said, Pittsburgh has the choice of going with a trusted player in Marc Andre Fleury or putting their future in Matt Murray, who has success but a small sample size compared to the player he replaced.
Final Thoughts
Overall, Pittsburgh’s main core hasn’t changed too much from last season, and given that last season’s team won the Stanley Cup, who can blame them? Despite the fact that their goalie situation between Fleury and Murray is up in the air, Pittsburgh will likely return to the post-season barring any major injuries. That also means they will likely be a major obstacle for the Capitals to overcome this season. If the Washington Capitals are going to win the Stanley Cup this season, then beating Pittsburgh is probably on their minds going forward. Given the current structure of the playoff format, it’s likely these two could meet up once again. And once again it will be the series to decide who could represent the East in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Next: Capitals Metro Division Preview - Introduction
Next time, I’ll be covering a New York team with a familiar history with the Capitals, but not the one most Caps fans are probably thinking of. The next team covered will be the Islanders, who have been through plenty of changes this offseason.