This is a much anticipated series. The Capitals have much to prove. I'll fade them in this Game 1 taking a 'dog price with the defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins.

Pittsburgh has the better forward depth and the hotter goalie. The Capitals have some prolific goal scorers but they can't match Pittsburgh's one-two center punch of Sidney Crosby and Evegni Malkin. No team can.

The Capitals have to prove they can get over the mental hurdle of beating Pittsburgh something they couldn't do last year.

Washington endured a much tougher first-round series than Pittsburgh did. The Penguins did away with the Blue Jackets in five games, while the Capitals were hard-pressed to put down the upstart Maple Leafs. Toronto took Washington to six games with each matchup decided by one goal and five of the contests going into overtime.

The Penguins can follow the well-coached Maple Leafs' blueprint of limiting the Capitals' time in the offensive zone while taking advantage of broken plays. They have the skaters who can do this well.

Note this trend, too: The Penguins have won six of the past eight times when having three or more days off between games. The Capitals are 1-7 when in that situation.