The Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals are playing in the second round for the second consecutive year.

The Capitals finished with the league’s most points and the Penguins were in second. This should be as entertaining of a matchup as any, with many people predicting that the winner of this should breeze through the rest of the NHL playoffs.

The Capitals just got through a six-game series with the Toronto Maple Leafs and didn’t look like the NHL’s premier regular-season team doing it. They were projected to have swept the series due to Toronto’s youth and inexperience but such was not the case. Toronto even had a 2-1 lead at one point in the series, and despite losing the next three games, they gave the Capitals a better fight than had been expected.

The Penguins didn’t have such troubles against Columbus, handily disposing of them in five games. They were very good for the most part and got good enough goaltending against Columbus to win. They will need to shore up a few things up to beat Washington.

Both teams have questions heading into the second round series that may need answered if they want to be the victor.

Washington is going to need more offense out of Alexander Ovechkin.

The Capitals have suffered for years because their stars fade away in the playoffs. Ovechkin, one of the most potent goal scorers in NHL history, had three goals in round one. While that is impressive, Ovechkin scored two on the power play and one at even strength. He was not the Ovechkin fans are used to seeing in the regular season. He may need to get on the scoreboard more often to lift the Capitals to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in his 12-year career.

The Penguins have a problem on the other side of the puck.

Their defense in round one was very porous. They gave up far too many shots for their liking. They got away with it because of how bad Columbus’ goaltending was and how good their own offense is. Playing against another highly offensive team will surely get the Penguins eliminated if they don’t cut down on the amount of shots their goalie sees.

The Penguins have won four Stanley Cups and have had to beat the Capitals in all four runs, including last season when they beat the Caps in six games. This year should be no different.

Marc-Andre Fleury is coming off of a good series in round one coupled with Evgeni Malkin’s league-leading 11 points. The firepower Sidney Crosby will provide will be too much for Ovechkin’s Capitals.

Pens in six.