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I think everyone would agree Washington vs Pittsburgh is the headliner of 2nd round matchups. With that in mind, in today's hotstove, we share our picks for the series.

Todd Cordell

The Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Conor Sheary line scares the heck out of me, as does the Evgeni Malkin-Phil Kessel duo, but I'm going with the Capitals in this series. I think the Caps have enough firepower to keep up with the Penguins and a much better blue line, especially with the Pens missing Kris Letang. I also feel the Capitals have the advantage in goal.

I expect this series to go the distance -- any team with as much skill and experience as Pittsburgh will be a tough out -- but I like the Caps to advance when all is said and done. I think this is their year.

James Tanner

The Capitals should be the favorite here. The Penguins are a good team no matter what, but their defense without Letang and their goaltending without Murray make them vulnerable.

The Penguins speed might give the Caps some trouble, but they adjusted to the (likely) faster Leafs, so it should be OK.

The Capitals in a surprisingly short five game series.

Peter Tessier

Here's the thing about the Pens - Caps series, does it become about how well the player between the pipes on each team plays?

For the Caps,Holtby has to get over some sort of hump without getting beaten by his counterpart on the opposition. in 14-15 first series, he posted a .937 average over 6 games but then lost in 7 games to Lundqvist with a .944. In 15-16 he had .960 in the first 6 games but fell to .921 in the next series in 6 games. Sure the offence has to score but against the Penguins again he has to rise as big as he did in previous years in the second round. If he does the Caps come out, if not Pens are likely looking at the SCF.

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