Talk about rubbing salt in the wound.
The Pittsburgh Penguins will play their home opener against the Washington Capitals on Oct. 13. Rivalry renewed, between the teams and their star players Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin. But there is a little more to it.
The Penguins will also raise their Stanley Cup championship banner prior to the game -- against the rival team they knocked out in six games in the second round of the 2016 playoffs.
The Capitals fell behind 3-1 in the series and couldn’t complete a comeback as Nick Bonino scored in overtime of Game 6 to send the Penguins through to the conference finals. And from there, they rallied for the franchise’s second Stanley Cup in the last eight years.
Meanwhile, the Capitals, after that Presidents’ Trophy-winning regular season, are still searching for their first championship.
Following the Penguins’ Stanley Cup victory, they were listed as 8/1 favorites to win it all next year, according to online bookmaker Bovada, while the Capitals followed close behind at 10/1.