Pittsburgh Penguins Poised to Put Punctuation Mark on Series With Caps

Like a matador about to finish off a bull, as Ernest Hemingway might have said, the Pittsburgh Penguins can close out their Quarterfinal Stanley Cup series against the Washington Capitals on Monday on home ice.

Like a sports writer proofreading a column, checking punctuation marks and capital letters, just before filing a story before deadline, the Penguins are poised to put an end to their series with Washington.

Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby have the Pittsburgh Penguins just one win away from advancing to the NHL's Eastern Conference finals.

Malkin scored at 3:28 of overtime to give the Pens a 4-3 triumph in Washington, beating the Capitals at home. Crosby got the game winner the night before.

Ovechkin has been great for the Caps, but when it comes to superstars Pittsburgh outnumbers Washington 2 to 1.

The Capitals' rookie goalie, Simeon Varlamov, has been solved, or his beginner's luck ran out, and their star forward has been vilified for horrible hits on the Penguins, especially Sergei Gonchar, who missed last night's game and may be out of action for weeks.

The Penguins are now 8-0 in playoff Game 5s against the Capitals. They have won three in a row to come from behind in this series and have the momentum plus home-ice advantage for Game 6.

The Penguins are undefeated at home in this series. If they win one more, there will be no need for Game 7 in Washington.

Prediction: Penguins in 6.