Second-round matches could be the best of the postseason

The Boston Bruins posted a wildly entertaining 7-4 victory in Game 7 against the Toronto Maple Leafs to earn a trip to the second round.

They will face the Tampa Bay Lightning in what looks like a toss-up series.

Both teams are exceptional at home, mentally tough on the road and deep enough to believe they can win the Stanley Cup. Of course, there are questions. Can Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask step up in the important games? He wasn’t at his best in Game 7. He is 6-12 lifetime in closeout postseason games.

And how about Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, who played brilliantly early in the season and then looked tired later in the season? Is he ready to be a postseason difference-maker?

The series looks as if it could it be a classic playoff match-up, the kind that will require overtimes, lucky breaks and unlikely heroes before it is decided.

But the truth is all four series in the second round look like they could go either way.   

Here is a look at why the second round could end up being the best round, or at least the most entertaining one, of this season’s NHL playoffs:

Washington Capitals vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (starts Thursday, 7 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network): Sidney Crosby. Alex Ovechkin. A media-fueled rivalry. Washington fans don’t like Crosby and Pittsburgh fans have no use for Ovechkin. Need we say more? The Penguins start the series without injured forwards Evgeni Malkin and Carl Hagelin. The Capitals start the series with Ovechkin confident after a come-from-behind series win against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Ovechkin was strong in the series, but the Caps have a recent history of coming up short, and the Penguins are a two-time defending champion. This season, though, the Caps have been flying under the radar. If there was a time when conditions seemed perfect for the Capitals to rise to meet the challenge, it is this season. They’ll have to conquer Crosby first, and he never goes down easy. Plus, the Penguins are highly educated in the art of winning important games.

Boston Bruins vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (starts Saturday, 3 p.m., NBC): The Lightning might be the higher seed, but they finished only one point ahead of Boston. The Lightning had a +60 goal-differential and the Bruins were +56. The Bruins were 3-1 against the Lightning in the regular season. Doesn’t this feel like a seven-game series? The Lightning have dynamic Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov, but the Bruins have the equally exciting Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-David Pastrnak line. The Lightning have Victor Hedman leading a strong defense. The Bruins have giant Zdeno Chara as the team’s tower of defense. Vasilevskiy and Rask might decide what could be a tug-of-war series.

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San Jose Sharks vs. Vegas Golden Knights (starts Thursday 10 p.m., NBCSN): If you love stingy goaltending, this series is for you. The Martin Jones vs. Marc-Andre Fleury goaltending matchup could keep this a low-scoring series. In the first round, Fleury gave up three goals in a four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Kings. Jones gave up four in a sweep against the Anaheim Ducks. Fleury’s save percentage is .977, slightly better than Jones’ .970. The Golden Knights are in their first NHL season, but opponents are already saying their arena is one of the loudest in game. The Shark Tank has long been a difficult road venue for visiting teams. Many fans are rooting for the Golden Knights like they are the Cinderella team. But how about some love for a Sharks franchise that hasn’t won the Cup in its 27-year history? This series will be worth staying up late to watch.

Winnipeg Jets vs. Nashville Predators (starts Friday, 8 p.m., NBCSN): The Jets boast one of the NHL’s most dangerous offenses and Nashville has the league’s most talented defense. Both teams have quality goaltending, with the Predators perhaps owning a small edge because Pekka Rinne is more experienced than Connor Hellebuyck. Maybe the Predators set the tone for this series when they towed in a plane, planning to paint a Jets logo on it, for fans to smash before they attempt to pulverize the Jets. The Predators’ offense is much deeper than it was a year ago when they reached the Stanley Cup Final. Despite the presence of quality goalies and proven defense, this series could feature an entertaining amount of scoring. Everyone talks about Winnipeg’s dangerous collection of scorers, but Nashville’s Filip Forsberg can be just as exciting.