The Carolina Hurricanes will be facing the New York Islanders once again in the first round of the NHL playoffs.
Game 1 is just days away so let's get started with breaking down the series.
First off, an overview of the two teams by the numbers:
General
Despite being a No. 2 vs. No. 3 matchup, this series actually has the largest gap in terms of point disparity in the first round behind only the New York Rangers vs. Washington Capitals matchup.
The Islanders managed to squeak into the playoffs in spite of an abysmal middle stretch of the season that saw former coach Lane Lambert fired in favor of Patrick Roy.
The new skipper has managed to get better results out of New York, leading to a nine-game point streak to end the year a key part in making the postseason.
Carolina on the other hand has been comfortably in the playoff picture for the majority of the season.
After an up and down start to the season, the Canes turned it on in mid-December and didn't look back.
The Hurricanes have had the best record in the NHL since December 10 and they ended the season on a five-game winning streak before benching nine starters for the season finale (a 6-3 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets).
5v5
While the 5v5 results may look similar, the two teams are quite close in both goals for and goals against, they're almost worlds apart in terms of process.
The Hurricanes are the league's best chance generating team both in regards to for and against.
They are puck dominant and just direct everything to the net.
While in the past they've been knocked for a lack of finishing those chances, the addition of Jake Guentzel as well as having a healthy Andrei Svechnikov back in the lineup should have a ripple effect on the team.
The Islanders are much improved in terms of finishing chances, but they struggle to control play a lot of the time.
The defense is not a strength it once was, although Roy has made a huge improvement in that regard, but goaltending is still the calling card of New York which has allowed them to weather the team's puck possession struggles .
Power Play
Penalty Kill
Special teams played a big role in last year's series with Carolina having a definitive edge, and it seems like that may easily be the case again this year.
The Canes' power play has been a weapon for them all season with a big step up from Seth Jarvis leading the charge in that regard.
Compare that to New York having the league's worst penalty kill and this series could be a short one if the Islanders don't figure out a way to slow down the Hurricanes' offensive might.
On the flip side, the Islanders have a struggling power play which will be facing the league's most dominant PK. So it doesn't even seem like they have much of a shot of balancing out that side of the game.
But the games are played on the ice for a reason and once the playoffs start, it's a whole new season.
So while Carolina has a definitive edge, they can't take any matchup lightly, especially against an opponent hungry for revenge.
Be sure to check back in as we'll have position-by-position breakdowns for the first-round series coming out soon.