Penguins' Playoff Preview

The Pittsburgh Penguins will open the 2015 playoffs against their long-time nemesis the Washington Capitals.  Though the glory days of Crosby vs. Ovechkin have passed, the rivalry still features plenty of excitement as stars Jamie Benn and Ryan McDonagh look to counter the Caps' young guns Tyler Seguin and Ondrej Palat.

The Penguins will open with home ice but fell short of winning the division as the New Jersey Devils proved to be too much to overtake down the stretch.  The Penguins were without game-breaking rover Kris Letang for over a month down the stretch and it hampered their ability to gain ground.  Now healthy, Letang and the Penguins look to shift into overdrive into what should be an exciting playoffs.

"We certainly won't be taking the Capitals lightly.  This is a great first round test for us, and our guys know that we have to bury our chances early against this group. Their guy (Luongo) can steal games if he gets into a rythym so we need guys like Simmonds, Ladd and Abdelkader to get into his grill and pop in some rebounds if we're going to have success," said coach Joel Quenneville.

The Pens will look to draw from Quenneville's cup winning expertise, as he leads a talented roster into a series where there is a ton of pressure to succeed. "GM Fargas gave us all the best tools to work with, now it's a matter of following the blueprint to build the house for Stanley."

-AP-