The Wraparound: Unusual underdog roles for Capitals, Penguins

The Wraparound is your daily look at the 2022 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. We’ll break down the NHL playoff games today with the all-important television information.

• Catch up on the first night of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs with the NHL Rink Wrap. Hurricanes handled the Bruins, Maple Leafs dominated the Lightning, Blues blanked the Wild, and Kings outscored the Oilers.

• The four other Game 1s kick off Tuesday with Panthers-Capitals, Rangers-Penguins, Avalanche-Predators, and Flames-Stars.

• The Predators announced that Juuse Saros won’t suit up for at least Game 1 and 2 vs. the Avalanche.

The Capitals haven’t won a playoff series since they won the Stanley Cup in 2017-18. The Penguins last won a playoff series the year after they repeated as champs.

Despite those droughts, it’s still at least a little disorienting to realize that many view the Capitals and Penguins as underdogs as they approach Game 1 matchups in their respective First Round series.

With the Capitals, it’s less jarring. The Presidents’ Trophy-winning Panthers would be favorites against the Capitals (in Game 1 and beyond) even if Alex Ovechkin was totally healthy. While Ovechkin may play for the Capitals in Game 1 (7:30 p.m. ET; ESPN2), it’s unclear if he’ll be his same disruptive self (could his upper-body injury affect that still-elite shot?) vs. the Panthers.

With the Penguins, it’s a bit more nuanced against the Rangers.

On one hand, Penguins such as Kris Letang do indeed acknowledge some of that underdog talk regarding the Rangers.

“If we’re underdogs, fine,” Letang said Monday ahead of Game (7 p.m. ET; ESPN). “That’s all right. But I trust the guys I have around me. That’s all I care [about].”

Ponder the advantage Igor Shesterkin represents,