By Jacob Messing

The 2018 NHL Playoffs kick off Wednesday with the Philadelphia Flyers taking on inner-state rival and the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.

There’s plenty to love this spring with some great matchups and hefty turnover. Let’s dive right into the teams staring each other down for the first seven-game series. A full schedule can be found here.

Tampa Bay Lightning vs New Jersey Devils

Season series: New Jersey, 3-0-0

The Lightning stormed through the first half of the season before starting goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy began to show some fatigue and his once-certain Vezina Trophy campaign grew into a tighter race. But that’s why teams play 82 games.

Superstars Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos led the offense as they combined for 66 goals and 186 points. They teamed up for the league’s third-best power play unit with defenseman Victor Hedman. A young supporting cast featuring Brayden Point and Mikhail Sergachev was bolstered at the NHL trade deadline with J.T. Miller and Ryan McDonagh from the New York Rangers to create one of the deepest teams in the league.

“I kept checking up on him during the practice, and he said he was feeling good.”

91 hopeful for a Game 1 return: https://t.co/QJj5uHKyNJ

— z - Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) April 9, 2018

Hart Trophy candidate Taylor Hall recorded 39 goals and 93 points, largely carrying the Devils this season. He scored 41 more points than next leading scorer, rookie Nico Hischier. The Devils’ consistency helped solidify a playoff spot, but the lack of depth will ultimately be their undoing.

They added throughout the season, bringing Sami Vatanen from Anaheim, Michael Grabner from the Rangers, and Patrick Maroon from Edmonton. The acquisitions were enough to earn the postseason berth but aren’t likely to give the Lightning any problems.

Prediction: Look for the Lightning to score, score, and score as their depth outmatches the Devils in a five-game series.

Washington Capitals vs Columbus Blue Jackets

Season Series: Washington, 3-1-0

A bounce-back year from Alex Ovechkin and John Carlson helped the turnover in Washington go down easier, with the team winning its third straight Metropolitan Division title.

Ovechkin paced the league with 49 goals (83 points), while center Evgeny Kuznetsov posted a career-high 27 goals and 83 points. After a slow start, Nicklas Backstrom still managed 71 points, as he finished the season with 14 points (2 G, 12 A) in his final eight games. While the Capitals are fairly rounded team, they live and die by the offense. Carlson even led defensemen with 68 points this year.

It’s the opposite of Columbus, which boasts defensemen Seth Jones and Zach Werenski and added two-time Cup winner Ian Cole at the trade deadline. Artemi Panarin had an 82-point season as Pierre-Luc Dubois showed promise and Thomas Vanek has been a tremendous deadline grab with 15 points (7 G, 8 A) in 19 games.

Columbus’ Sergei Bobrovsky is the favorite in goal over Philipp Grubauer, who was named the starter over Braden Holtby as the hot hand.

Trotz on choosing Grubauer: "I just think that Grubi deserves the opportunity. I think the body of work, especially this year, presented itself. Trust me, it wasn't an easy decision. I put a lot of factors in. Braden has been the guy for a long time."

— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) April 10, 2018

Prediction: The Blue Jackets’ time will come, but their lack of experience will see them fall in six games to the heavier offensive team.

Boston Bruins vs Toronto Maple Leafs

Season Series: Toronto, 3-1-0

The Bruins have made a lot of changes since winning the Cup in 2011. A new general manager, new coach, and an influx of youth have seen them jump to their most impressive season since 2013-14.

“This is winning,” Bruins GM Don Sweeney said on Tuesday. “This is all about winning. It has [been] from day one. That's how you're judged and surveyed this time of year.”

Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron, Zdeno Chara, and Tuukka Rask have helped bring along rookies Charlie McAvoy, Jake DeBrusk, Danton Heinen, and Ryan Donato, all of whom have impressed this season. The Bruins remain gritty and strong, but have added a solid mix of skill which will be needed to hold off a deep Maple Leafs team.

It almost seems like with coach Mike Babcock, anything is possible, and his ability to get players to buy in likely has them feeling the same. They took the President’s Trophy-winning Capitals to seven games last year after a last-place finish in 2015-16 and are even deeper this year.

The bit of experience for sophomores including Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, Connor Brown, Nikita Zaitsev, and Zach Hyman will go a long way against the Bruins, who they bested three times this year.

Prediction: Even with the season series favoring Toronto, Boston is built for the playoffs and can’t be bested in a seven-game series, which is what it will take to make the Leafs go away.

Pittsburgh Penguins vs Philadelphia Flyers

Season Series: Pittsburgh, 4-0-0

On the outside, it’s certainly the series to watch. The bitter rivalry between Claude Giroux’s Flyers and Sidney Crosby’s Penguins has been a storied one through each of their careers, and they’re very similar on paper: potent power plays, deep rosters, questionable defense, and questionable goaltending.

Pittsburgh is deeper down the middle with Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Derick Brassard, and Riley Sheahan. They also boast Phil Kessel, Patric Hornqvist, Jake Guentzel and Kris Letang. Scoring comes from everywhere in Pittsburgh.

#Pens lines:
Guentzel-Crosby-Rust
Hagelin-Malkin-Hornqvist
Sheary-Brassard-Kessel
Aston-Reese, Jooris and Kuhnhackl are rotating with Sheahan.
The defensemen are also rotating.
-MC

— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) April 9, 2018

In Philadelphia, a grittier, red-hot team is hungry to dethrone the Penguins as Giroux, Sean Couturier, Jakub Voracek, Shayne Gostisbehere, Ivan Provorov, Travis Konecny, and Wayne Simmonds can do more than just hold their own.

Goaltending is a question mark for both sides. Matt Murray has struggled for the Penguins, who don’t have Marc-Andre Fleury to fall back on if Murray falters. But so has the collective Flyers crease in Brian Elliott, Petr Mrazek, and currently-injured Michal Neuvirth. In front of their goalies sit a shaky defense better in the offensive zone than its own.

Prediction: Philadelphia finally gets its revenge for four losses this year, outing the defending champs in a physical, high-scoring, and penalty-filled seven games.

Have a question or a comment for Jacob? You can find him on Twitter @JMessing23.