Division rivalries spice up 2nd round

It is the playoff format everyone loves to hate, but say this for the NHL’s divisional setup: It is serving up a tasty feast of rivalries in the second round.

Sidney Crosby and the Penguins will face Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals for the second consecutive season after they hadn’t met in the playoffs since 2009. The Caps and Pens were the league’s top two teams in the regular season and are the two top Stanley Cup contenders left playing in the final eight. They get underway Thursday instead of in early June.

“We’re ready,” Capitals forward Marcus Johansson said of facing the defending champions who knocked them out a year ago. “We can’t wait to get going. We’ve worked hard for it. We’ve worked all year and all summer to get back into this position, and now we’re here.”

The Oilers have waited 11 years to get back to the postseason, and they now face the Pacific Division-rival Ducks, with Game 1 set for Wednesday in Anaheim, Calif. In the other West semifinal, the Blues have home-ice advantage against the Predators.

Blues general manager Doug Armstrong expects it to be a far more physical series than most believe. That could also be the case for the Senators against the Rangers.

“When the NHL decided to go with division playoffs you do get divisional hatred really quick, and that is exciting,” Armstrong said. “This is the benefit of having divisional playoffs ... you play teams right off the bat that you have a history with and you play them consistently in rounds 1 and 2. There are downsides to it, but this is the upside.”

A year after no Canadian teams qualified for the playoffs, the Senators and Oilers give the Great White North two chances to end the nation’s Cup drought going back to the Canadiens’ victory in 1993. The Senators and Oilers are underdogs in the second round, but there are reasons to believe they have a shot.

The Senators’ methodical style of play can frustrate opponents and at times lull them to sleep, and goaltender Craig Anderson has better numbers against the Rangers than any other opponent. The Oilers have league-leading scorer Connor McDavid, and there’s no substitute for a star performance.

One-timers:

Sharks C Joe Thornton will undergo surgery to repair torn ligaments in his left knee before potentially becoming a free agent this summer. Thornton, 37, tore the ACL and MCL in his knee April 2 but returned to play the final four playoff games in a first-round loss to the Oilers . ... Norris Trophy finalist Erik Karlsson of the Senators played the entire first round with two hairline fractures in his foot that are almost healed. However, the Senators could continue to be without injured D Mark Borowiecki and F Tom Pyatt.