NHL Playoffs 2015: Breaking Down Most Exciting Matchups

Something happens in the NHL playoffs. The hits get a little bit more vicious, the passes get a little crisper and the rushes become a bit faster. Oh, and the beards get a lot more unwieldy, too. Few sports have more thrilling postseasons than the NHL's version, and this year is no exception. 

Let's break down some of the most exciting matchups this year.

New York Islanders vs. Washington Capitals 

Tom Mihalek/Associated Press

This series is going to be so much fun.

The New York Islanders were fourth in the NHL this season in goals per game (2.99). The Washington Capitals were sixth (2.89). Three of the four games these teams played this season went to overtime and one went as far as a shootout, with the teams splitting the regular-season series. Two of the NHL's four leading scorers and more exciting superstars are in this game, with No. 2 John Tavares (86 points) facing No. 4 Alexander Ovechkin (81 points).

Are you excited yet? 

Not only that, but the Islanders give up a ton of goals, as the 224 goals they conceded ranked them 23rd in the NHL this year. The Capitals are hoping that fact, along with their superior size and strength, will be enough to help them advance, per Alex Prewitt of The Washington Post:

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Their more physical style—"heavier," the players called it—will match up against the Islanders’ speed, and as reductionist as such pigeon-holing may be, Washington still holds the goal of wearing down their smaller opponent and stifling roadrunners such as [Michael] Grabner.

"You’re always going to have contrasting styles," [Troy] Brouwer said. "Not too many teams play extremely similar to each other. We like the challenge of what the Islanders bring. That speed, that skill. They like to take off a little bit and try to go for breakaways. They’ve got guys who can create breakaways from standing still, like the last game they played against Pittsburgh. It’ll be a good mix of skill and speed."

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Washington's more physical style will serve it well, though the Islanders come at teams in waves and can be overwhelming with their speed and the fact that they don't really have a weak line. Everything about this series indicates that it will be a thriller and will likely head to seven games. 

Calgary Flames vs. Vancouver Canucks

Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press

These teams split the regular-season series, with one game going to overtime and just one game being decided by more than a goal. Calgary finished tied for sixth in the NHL with 2.89 goals per contest, while Vancouver was eighth with 2.88. And while these teams aren't poor defensively, they aren't exactly likely to post a series of shutouts, either. 

Calgary's Jiri Hudler and Vancouver's Daniel Sedin each finished with 76 points this year, while Henrik Sedin added 73 for the Canucks. Each team had a 30-goal scorer as well, with Hudler and Sean Monahan each scoring 31 for Calgary and Radim Vrbata equaling that mark for Vancouver.

Oh, and the fact that we'll get a bit of a rivalry mixed in—or that many folks wouldn't have expected this series before the season began—adds even more fun to the contest. 

While the Canucks are in the playoffs largely due to their offense and penalty killing—Vancouver was second in the NHL, killing off 85.7 percent of all power plays—both teams enjoyed smirking in the face of the advanced statistics community this year, namely Calgary, as Pierre LeBrun of ESPN noted:

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Neither club excelled in the advanced stats department, as Vancouver finished 19th in the NHL in shot attempt percentage (49.53), while it was well-chronicled that Calgary was really lousy in this department, placing 28th (44.43 percent). They are the two lowest-ranked Western playoff teams in this category. But Calgary enjoyed proving the advanced stats community wrong, underlining the fact that there are other ways to win games in this league, particularly in eliminating the NHL's No. 1-ranked possession team—the defending champs in LA. Talk about proving a point there.

Here's a stat Calgary owned: No. 1 in the NHL with 1,557 blocked shots this season. Granted, the fact that Buffalo was second in this category further illustrates Calgary's puck-possession woes. But it also illustrates the blue-collar, willing-to-sacrifice attitude of the hard-working Flames.

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If Mark Giordano wasn't out with a torn biceps injury, the Flames would almost assuredly be the favorites. As it currently stands, this one feels too close to call. Expect a seven-game series and a few overtime contests blended in.

Best of the Rest

Chris O'Meara/Associated Press

The Tampa Bay Lightning led the NHL in goals scored this season, while the Detroit Red Wings finished 10th, so expect a lot of high-flying action in that series. The New York Rangers may have won three of four against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the regular season, but two of the games in that series went to overtime, and the Penguins certainly don't lack for star power. The Montreal Canadiens may have finished with the most points in the Eastern Conference, but they'll face an Ottawa Senators team that beat them in three of four games. 

Anaheim beat Winnipeg all three times they faced this season, but one of those wins came in overtime and another came in a shootout. St. Louis and Minnesota split their season series, while Chicago beat Nashville in three of four games but needed an overtime victory and a shootout triumph to pull it off. 

It's going to be a fun playoffs, folks.