The Stanley Cup Playoffs are set to begin, and there are several high-profile matchups on tap for the most exciting postseason in professional sports.
Over the next two months, we'll narrow the playing field down from 8 qualifying teams in each conference to just one left standing to hoist the Stanley Cup.
After a drama-filled race to the finish line of the regular season, the matchups are set, and it's time to break them down and give a series prediction.
In the Metropolitan Division, the New York Islanders rallied after appearing dead in the water in late February and early March to claim the third place spot.
In doing so, they set up a first-round rematch from last year's playoffs with the high-flying Carolina Hurricanes, who came up just short in the Presidents' Trophy race.
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NHL Playoffs First Round Preview: New York Islanders vs. Carolina Hurricanes
Last year, the Hurricanes knocked the Isles out of the playoffs in six games, with Paul Stastny scoring an overtime winner on the road to end the series.
In 2019, the Hurricanes swept the Islanders in the second round, and both teams have some similar core pieces to that year but as a whole are very different groups.
Regardless, the Hurricanes will enter as heavy favorites in this series, and that status is earned given their outstanding regular season and past dominance over the Islanders in the playoffs.
The style of play and roster construction is very relevant in this particular matchup, as the Hurricanes are frankly just a more complete and higher skill version of the Islanders.
Both teams model their games on generating offense out of their strong defensive structure, but Carolina is more dangerous with those quick strikes on offense and is better in its defensive structure.
The Islanders do have the advantage in net, as Ilya Sorokin is one of the top goalies in the league, and probably more trustworthy than Frederik Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov, though Carolina's duo has been outstanding for half the season now.
The Hurricanes loaded up at the trade deadline, adding Jake Guentzel to form what immediately became an ultra dynamic first line with Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis.
That addition has given the Canes even more of a scoring depth advantage over the Islanders, who will need to find a new level defensively to have a chance in this series.
For a team built around denying high quality chances, the Islanders sure did give up a lot of them this year, ranking 17th in the league in expected goals against per 60 minutes at 5-on-5. It's not horrible, but it's a far cry from where they need to be to be at their best.
The Islanders formula to win is improving the defense, getting either Mathew Barzal or Bo Horvat to catch fire, and Sorokin stealing a game or two.
That could all happen, but even if it does, the Hurricanes could still win this one in six or seven.
The Pick: Carolina Hurricanes in 5
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