Seth at the P-G has a nice little preliminary breakdown of the series and how each player performed in the regular season series.
As you can clearly see, the Pens didn't do so hot in the regular season against the Caps. The big difference now though is that rookie Simeon Varlamov is in the cage for the Caps. He just got done facing an anemic offensive team in the Rangers that didn't really challenge him. It'll be a key to the series to see how he fares against a more dynamic scoring team like the Pens. The Pens clearly showed that playing in a hostile environment doesn't rattle them, as they won two games in Philly, which is considered to be one of the more tougher arenas in sports to play in.
My official prediction is "Pain" and the Pens closing it out at home in Game 6.
I hate you for that picture-side by side...ugh
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