 It is playoff time with the Pittsburgh Penguins in year 1 of our GM mode and my god we are ready for it. So if you guys missed last episode we are taking on the Washington Capitals in the first round of the 2021 playoffs. So before we start simulating I'm going to go over our team and the Capitals team. So heading into the playoffs with Eric Stahl and Melkin and Gensel playing on that first line, Zucker, Crosby and Kaepern on the second line, Russ, McKen, Tanev on the third and then Jankowski, Grandlin and Sevier on the fourth line, Grandlin being that trade deadline pickup that we did pick up last episode. On D we have Michael Matheson paired with LaTang, Yanuk Weber with Pedersen and then CeCe with John Marino and then in the next we have Casey DeSmith and Tristan Jari and I think we are going to be starting Casey DeSmith to start the playoffs. I think he had a better regular season if I'm not mistaken we are going to go check that out in a minute and then looking at our depth because injuries are on we have Evan Rodriguez, Teddy Bluger and Zac Assen re-scratched. The Miners, Sam Lafferty can get a shell, Goudreau maybe, Rudeweal, Ricola they can get shells as well, Traumann so hopefully we don't have to really work or have to deal with our depth. We do have decent depth but it's obviously better to have a healthy team come playoffs. I mean it was pretty close, Casey DeSmith was technically the starter for the season so you know what we are going to have Casey DeSmith, he started in the playoffs, he earned it, he played more, he had better or similar stats to Jari given he played more so we are going to stick with him and now let's check on this Washington capital team. I know they are good, I just want to see if they made any changes so the first line Ovi is at a 97 overall, oh my goodness okay so Ovi Kuznetsov and Verana on that first line, Daniel Sprung, Backstrom and Conor Sheary the former Pittsburgh Penguin, we got Tom Wilson, Lars Eller, Oshi, Gathaway, Panic and Haglund so I think we do have a better fourth line, Ovi on that first line is crazy, our second line is probably similar if not better in our third lines, they might have the better third line there, on defense Chara and John Carlson at a 91 overall, Schultz and Orlov, Dylan and TVR so they definitely have a better defense than us and then in net they have Henrik Lankwas at an 84 and then Samson Ovi at an 83, they have Kempney and Jensen scratch so man it's going to be interesting, it's going to be a very interesting playoffs series. So given that we just made the playoffs we are on the road so the Pittsburgh Penguins are ready to start out their playoff journey looking to bring another cup home, 2021 first game in Washington first period, ooh that is not the start you want from the Pittsburgh Penguins so we got Nick Backstrom opening up the scoring less than 5 minutes in and then Justin Schultz with 4 to go gets the second one past Casey to Smith at a weird angle as well so not the greatest first period we are getting outshot 18-6, not good at all, second period 3-1, we give up another goal Lars Ellis and then Pedersen gets us a goal, our defenseman, okay third period here we are going to sim it slowly, power play, nothing going and Daniel Sprung makes a 4-1, essentially taking us out of the game who is now making a 5-1, wow not the game one we needed, I think some changes are going to be made because this Pittsburgh Penguins team not looking good especially in game one here 5-1 and we take the game 1L 5-1 it was it was known that we were going to lose that game, Backstrom had a goal in to assist, Lars Eller with a goal in assist and Henrik Lunkas had himself a performance of 0.926 a percentage so Tannif had an assist and Russ had an assist on that Pedersen goal not the greatest performance from us here, Casey Smith not the greatest a 0.875 save percentage in game one I think we're gonna stick with him in game two he is our guy for this season but we got to make some lineup changes I think, alright so we found a way where we can throw Michael Grandlin on or Mikhail Grandlin on the third line I think it's better to have him third line then on the fourth so we now have a third line of Jan Kelsky, Grandlin and Russ and then our fourth line being Sevier, McCann and Tannif so it's gonna be interesting it's a minor change it's nothing too too big so that's what we did on offense defense there really isn't much we can do we could get a plus three down here maybe that's a bit better we'll keep these guys at an 81 and an 87 like those aren't bad ratings we now have Michael Matheson up to an 83 and Yannick Weber up to a 81 and then these guys get a plus one 82 and an 80 not bad and like I said we're gonna stick with Casey to Smith he's been our guy this season so we're gonna lean on him to have a huge bounce back here in game two alright we're looking for a huge bounce back win here again still in Washington down 1-0 we do not want to go home down 2-0 we want to split the games in Washington so here we go first period 1-0 Mikhail Grandlin the third line forward we move them up from the fourth line to the third line he gets a goal that period big stuff from mr. Mikhail Grandlin the trade deadline acquisition second period make that 3-0 then Jason Zucker and Cindy Crosby checking into the series that is huge so we got three goal leading the third period we should be comfortable we just got to defend here and and close out this game really impressed with Mikhail Grandlin opening up the scoring and then we had a huge second period to follow up that third period so good stuff again we're just here to close it out Casey to Smith having himself a bounce back game three to go to one and that is a we take game number two three to nothing three to nothing I was a little bit critical of Casey to Smith last game comes into this one gets us the shutout which is absolutely huge let's look at the three stars Casey to Smith as deserved as a first star 26 save shutout Michael Matheson had to assist good for him and Mikhail Grandlin the guy that we moved up to the third line got the goal for us there to start the game off so very good stuff from the Pittsburgh Penguins team in that game to we split the games and we're heading home for game three so moving Pedersen up a little tang got him to assist last game so some good changes we made there we absolutely love to see that let's sim to the next game game three on home ice we want to continue our ways here we had a great second game first period make it one nothing Christopher let's hang on that first pairing checks into the series gets his first of the playoffs make that one nothing Pittsburgh we are out shooting the capitals by seven shots so a great first period let's have a follow-up second period like last game second period two to one I'm getting Malcolm gets his first of the playoffs but halfway cut in the lead to one there getting his teammate goal so a two one game heading into the third we need that insurance marker from our team we need someone to step up and Ovi has checked into the series he ties it up from his spot and then Lars Eller gets one for the make it three to two we need someone to show up here we are shooting them to bits and we cannot get one pass them and half away I believe that's a second of the game makes a four two pretty much making this game out of reach horrible third period from this Pittsburgh Penguins team we lose five to two and now Washington leads a series two to one three stars that game Henrik Longquist just had himself a performance a 33 save performance a nine four two save percentage halfway had two goals that game and Crystal Tang getting the third start with a goal and an assist not the greatest game three from this Pittsburgh Penguins team again you don't want to lose both on home ice let's split it at least here I don't think there's gonna be much we can do to the lines like I feel like we played good up until that third period all right game for the penguins are down two to one we need another bounce back win here so here we go first period so one one hockey game Tom will Tom Wilson opens up to scoring and the Jason Zucker gets one back there on the power play so good stuff to see second period oh can we talk about these shots we only have four shots to their 14 not good enough okay second period here two one 16 shots we up the shots there Jacob Verana though given his team the lead third period here we do not want to go down three to one heading back to Washington they're gonna have home ice advantage and look to close up the series here power play nothing going not good from the penguins here we were up in the shots we need a goal will tend to go here power play for the Capitals and we don't kill it off Justin Schultz gets one three to one they're up by two with five to go and it doesn't look like we're going to get a goal here and the offense isn't looking good Dylan's Daniel Sprung making it a four one game he's been turning it on the series it's another empty net or form for one the pens go down three to one heading back to Washington again Lunk was with another first star performance Schultz had a goal in an assist that second star Tom Wilson with a goal in an assist not good from the penguins backs against the wall heading to Washington we're gonna make some changes here we're forced to make some changes here all right we're loading it up on the first line here this might be my inner Sheldon Keefe in me here but I've getting milk and is now playing with Cindy Crosby and Jake and so we are loading up that first line we need offense man we need offensive drastically second line is looking like happening Grand Lynn and Zucker and then the third line is Jan Kalski Eric Stahl Brandon Brian Russ and then Sevier McCann in 10 of defense again there's not much we can really change here we can switch that back around but he's better they're getting a plus three we might as well just keep it the way it is for now and Casey to Smith I mean he's been pretty good this series a 903 say percentage could be a little bit better 3.10 goals against average ain't the greatest so we need our best Casey to Smith here loading up that first line I'm just looking at her scoring in these past recent games we're hoping this helps we have one that's four six seven goals in four games that isn't good enough so backs against the walls load up that first line let's see if it works first period we're up three to one so there it is Mikhail Grand Lynn getting more playing time on that second line gets a goal John Carlson ties it up but then Kasperi Kaepernan the former Toronto Maple Leaf gets two in this period to give us a 3-1 lead heading into the second huge from Kasperi that second line is absolutely flying Grand Lynn and captain they're liking it there so second period make it 5-1 Kasperi Kaepernan getting the hat trick and Sidney Crosby on that top line with Gino gets a goal makes it 5-1 huge performance from this Pittsburgh Penguins team it is just time to close out this game and head back home and look for another win to force a game seven we just got to close this game out ten to go huge performance from the team the lineup changes definitely did help that second line finally got going in the first line finally got going as well we close out this game we take it 5-6 to 1 Jay Gensel getting one we take it 6-1 there and it's a 3-2 series heading back home of good stuff from the team so looking at the three stars here Kasperi Kaepernan as expected gets the first star with three goals Sidney Crosby second star with a goal and two assists and Gensel third star with a goal and two assists that first line was absolutely feeling it good stuff so yeah Crosby with three points Kaepernan with three points Gino with three points that first line was flying the Gensel three points Granlin with two stall with one just good stuff all around Tristan Jari Kasperi Smith with a 0.963 save percentage absolutely what we needed from him there that's the best of Kasperi to Smith right there we're heading to game seven back still up against the wall we're trying to force a game seven we're on home ice and hopefully that will help us so here we go we need a huge performance from that first and second line again first period one nothing Washington Nicholas Box from gets the goal for them second period no scoring in the second so this one is a tighter game we need that first line to step up again Kaepernan had a great game if he continued going that'd be great we need Crosby, Malkin the first two lines just to check in here so here we go we need something big here again backs against the wall trying to force a game seven five on four power play nothing going and Pettersen gets us the goal and Mikael Granlin on that second line gets us another one two minutes later and Jared McCann another two minutes later makes it three to one Lars Eller cuts the lead to one though oh my god what a third period three to go to the Peng was looking to just close it out here and they don't do it no way TJ Oshie with four seconds to go ties it up and forces a overtime oh no Pittsburgh oh no I am in complete and utter shock right now the Penguins pulled a Leafs they did it four seconds ago TJ Oshie scores and ties it up and they force an overtime so who's gonna be the game six hero for either side here we go overtime period Penguins trying to force a game seven they have 40 shots on goal Lunk was playing out of his mind here who is going to be the hero for either side and we're hoping it's the Penguins side oh that is a huge kill and Michael or Mikael Granlin four to three second line absolutely flying he gets a second of the game the Penguins force a game seven I don't care how we did it I know we blew a lead in the third but we force the game seven things you love to see looking at our three stars here at Granlin the expected first star with two goals and an assist Jason Zucker with two assists and Pettersen with a goal and an assist absolutely amazing from this Pittsburgh Penguins team Granlin had three points Pettersen with two captain with another two Zucker with two good stuff and Casey to Smith with a 914 it's good just not a fan that we blew that third period lead there but we forced the game seven we're heading back to Washington boys oh no speaking of heading to game seven Chris LaTang will not be playing in game seven so that's our top defense man out I was gonna say we've been pretty lucky injury wise and now Chris LaTang is out so we got a call someone up from the miners here and rude wheels probably the the next specs best thing to call up so I guess he's getting the shot so what we'll do is we'll have John Marino up on the top pairing there and we'll throw a rude wheel on the third pairing we still get a plus three here so that's okay but damn that Chris LaTang being out for game seven definitely hurts us game seven on the road we need people to step up especially with Christopher LaTang out of the lineup here so here we go first period one nothing penguins Eric Stahl we're finally getting our depth scoring from our third and fourth line he gets one pass Henry Clonquist gives us a one nothing lead heading in to the second second period okay so we're feeling the loss of Christopher LaTang TVR gets one and then Lars Eller gets one as well so we're down by one in the third game seven we need someone to step up for this Penguins team it's a huge hill to start the period off so hopefully that gives us a momentum here someone on the first two lines no Nicholas Baxter gets one for them makes it a three two one game Malcolm giving us hope though he gets us one back six to go okay Eric Stahl with a second of the game make a three two to go in the third period oh my god we are heading to overtime in game seven and you know what we're gonna do we're gonna head into this game and watch the simulation because why not all right here we go overtime period starting here Crosby taking the draw against Evgeny Kuznetsov who is going to be the hero here it's what we're all thinking right now Evgeny Kuznetsov drops it to Ovi Verana oh my god Casey to Smith oh my god Casey to Smith oh my god we almost lost the game on some utter BS and comes Ovi has me a little nervous when I see that 97 Ovi with the poxprong good save by Casey to Smith here we go get a little third line action here they're getting something offensively tried passing it across there wasn't great on the front and the Pittsburgh Penguins win a game seven and they're heading off to the second round they were down 3-1 in the series and made these series come back what a play out in front and the third line gets it done let's go boys we are sending the Washington Capitals home packing with no trophies we take it over in the Crosby and Ovi era of playoffs facing each other goes to Sydney Crosby again they win it in seven with a huge comeback things you'll love to see we are heading to the second round oh my what a game Eric Stahl had himself a 3.9 for the three stars the penguins head into the second round what a series against the Washington Capitals just things you absolutely love to see so let's see who we are taking on in the second round and it is the Carolina Hurricanes so I know we get Christopher Latain back the 25th so we are without him for games number one and two so taking a look at the playoff tree here the Hurricanes won their series against the Flyers in five so they've been sitting for a while looking at the matchups here we're taking on Carolina Boston's taken on Tampa the Leafs got swept by the Bruins okay and the Lightning swept the Islanders looking at the West it is the avalanche taken on the Blues and the Oilers taking on the Arizona Coyote so some good matchups here and we are taking on the Hurricanes in the second round