It’s every hockey fan’s favorite time of year again, with the NHL’s Stanley Cup Playoffs set to begin tonight.

In Pittsburgh, of course fans are looking forward to the Pens taking on the New York Islanders in the Eastern Conference. But there are a lot of other storylines in this first round.

This season brings some new teams to the playoff mix, with both the Dallas Stars and the Islanders making the playoffs again after a few years’ drought. However, the biggest Cinderella story of the year is the Carolina Hurricanes, who had missed the playoffs for nine straight seasons, but managed to sneak in the wild-card playoff position this year.

Some familiar faces are returning in the playoffs, though, such as the No. 1 ranked Tampa Bay Lightning, who have been destroying teams left and right, even tying the NHL record for wins in a season with 62. The defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals are also back in the playoffs, facing off against the underdog Hurricanes in the first round.

The first round off the playoffs is going to provide some good matchups, especially in the Western Conference with the St. Louis Blues versus the Winnipeg Jets, and the Vegas Golden Knights versus the San Jose Sharks. These matchups are fairly even, with most NHL fans being undecided on who will take either series, as all four teams have extremely high skill.

Meanwhile, an exciting series seems likely for the rematch of the Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs, because both teams have arguably the best top lines in hockey, and it will be great to watch the superstars on each team attempt to outplay each other.

Most of the matchups for the first round are going to be interesting, but there are some that look to be one-sided.Specifically, the Lightning versus the Columbus Blue Jackets, who barely managed to hold a playoff spot, even with all of their talent, is one of those matchups. Another one-sided series is going to see the Western Conference champions, the Calgary Flames, take on the Colorado Avalanche, who are another inconsistent team.

Still, most of the series are bound to be exciting, with all the good teams hungry to take home the hardware and become the latest winners of the Stanley Cup.