On the Fly: 4 first-round playoff matchups we're dying to see
With the schedule steaming toward the stretch run, "On the Fly," theScore's NHL roundtable series, takes a look at four potential can't-miss first-round playoff series.
Battle of Ontario
O'Leary: It's been a while since the rivalry between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators meant something other than pride, but a renewal of hatred could be in the cards come April.
From 2000 to 2004, the Leafs and Sens met four times in the postseason, building an everlasting feud with a list of antics as long as the stretch of Highway 401 that separates the cities.
It can be linked all the way back to then-Senator Marian Hossa clipping former Leafs defenseman Bryan Berard with an errant high stick, which nearly ended the latter's career. From then, an uncalled hit from behind, a broken-stick mockery, a bench brawl, and almost everything imaginable in between developed immense animosity between the division rivals - and even more entertainment.
Toronto won all four series in the early 2000s, but has yet to reach the playoffs in a full season since Patrick Lalime's leaky Game 7 performance pushed the Maple Leafs to round two in 2004.
As of now, Toronto and Ottawa are scheduled to meet in the opening round, which would reignite one of the best rivalries of the modern era.
Metropolitan madness
Gold-Smith: The rivalry between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Columbus Blue Jackets is one of the NHL's newest, but it's also one of the best.
The cities are only a few hours apart, the two teams will have spent the entire regular season jockeying for position as mutual members of the Metropolitan Division, and most importantly, Sidney Crosby and Brandon Dubinsky clearly don't care for each other.
Throw in John Tortorella's disdain for the Penguins (who could forget his classic "Pittsburgh whines enough for the whole league" rant in 2015?), which dates back to his New York Rangers days, and you have the recipe for another can't-miss postseason battle.
Their 2014 playoff clash didn't even go seven games, but was still one of the most entertaining series of the last few years. There's a long way to go, but the standings have them on course to meet again, and we can only hope they do.
Albertan supremacy
Hagerman: You'll have to go back 26 years to remember the last postseason Battle of Alberta.
If you were lucky enough to be around then (I was not), you might recall the first-round matchup between the two clubs, won by Edmonton.
The matchup featured the likes of Al MacInnis, Theo Fleury, Doug Gilmour, Joe Nieuwendyk, Glenn Anderson, Grant Fuhr, Gary Roberts, and Gary Suter - a who's who of Alberta hockey legends.
Now we have the likes of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Johnny Gaudreau, and Sean Monahan. And while both clubs are young and exciting, this matchup goes to the next level based on their respective fan bases, which go ballistic when the teams clash at either rink.
Some movement in the standings would be required over the next couple months, but these rivals going head-to-head would be quite the spectacle.
We meet again
Wilkins: If the playoffs started today, hockey fans would be treated to the latest rendition of one of the game's greatest rivalries: the Montreal Canadiens taking on the Rangers.
The sides met in the third round of the 2014 postseason, battling it out in a six-game series with the Rangers ultimately emerging for a Stanley Cup Finals date against the Los Angeles Kings.
The Rangers opened that series with a pair of victories in Montreal, while Canadiens fans can't forget what happened to star goalie Carey Price, injured in the series opener following a hit by Rangers forward Chris Kreider. That left backup Dustin Tokarski to carry the load between the pipes.
The two Original Six franchises have met on 14 other occasions in the postseason, winning seven apiece.
(Photos courtesy: Action Images)