Pens-Caps series highlights the second round

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

For the second consecutive year, Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins will face Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals after they hadn’t met in the playoffs since 2009. Washington and Pittsburgh 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 night.

“We’re ready,” Capitals forward Marcus Johansson said of facing the defending Cup 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.”

The Edmonton Oilers waited 11 years to get back to the postseason — and they now face the Pacific Division rival Ducks, with Game 1 set for Wednesday at Anaheim. In the other West semifinal series, the St. Louis Blues have home-ice advantage against the Nashville Predators after both teams pulled off first-round upsets.

Physicality could be the narrative for the Ottawa Senators against the New York Rangers. Those teams don’t lack big guys — and have a thirst for tension.

Story lines for the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs: • New blood Pittsburgh and Anaheim are the only teams left that have won the Cup in the salary-cap era that began with the 2005-06 season. Washington is trying to make it to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in the Ovechkin era, while New York aims to get back to the Cup Final for the first time since losing to Los Angeles in 2014.

In the West, the Blues have another opportunity to break through after losing in seven games to the San Jose Sharks in the conference finals a year ago. Like former coach Barry Trotz now with the Capitals, the Predators have never reached the conference finals. • Canada’s Cup drought A year after no Canadian teams qualified for the playoffs, Ottawa and Edmonton give the Great White North two chances to end the nation’s painful Stanley Cup drought that dates to 1993. • Injuries Norris Trophy finalist Erik Karlsson of the Senators played the entire first round with two hairline fractures in his foot that are almost healed.

The Penguins hope to have veteran winger Chris Kunitz back for Game 1 and maybe even Carl Hagelin at some point, while Capitals defenseman Karl Alzner remains day to day because of an upper-body injury.

Defenseman Cam Fowler is on track to return for Anaheim.

A sweep of the Blackhawks has the Predators healthy against the Blues, who just got Paul Stastny back from an injury.

It was revealed Monday that Joe Thornton, whose Sharks were eliminated by the Oilers in six games, played four games of that series with a torn ACL and MCL.