The NHL’s regular season reached its dramatic conclusion this past weekend, with the Islanders securing the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot with a shootout victory over the Devils in their final game on Sunday afternoon. Now, the race for the Stanley Cup will begin in a 16-team tournament that will take nearly two months to complete.

It is often said that emerging victorious in the Stanley Cup playoffs is the most difficult task in professional sports, a theory that is easily supported. Sixteen hard-fought victories are required in order to hoist the Cup, with most contests played after only one night’s rest. Every game is played at a breakneck pace, and so the postseason is as much a war of attrition as a competition of skill. In the end, the team left standing must demonstrate an unparalleled combination of talent, toughness, and determination.

While Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux are rightly considered two of the NHL’s greatest players of all time, this tournament is so grueling that it’s the likes of Mark Messier and Scott Stevens — grizzled warriors above all — who have come to define the consummate Cup hero.

Last spring, a series of upsets — most notably in the Western Conference — set up an opportunity for the eighth-seeded Edmonton Oilers to vault all the way to the Cup Finals, where they fell to the upstart Carolina Hurricanes. Is another Cinderella story in the cards this year, or will the favorites reign supreme? Here’s a look at all eight first-round matchups:

EASTERN CONFERENCE

(1) Buffalo Sabres vs. (8) New York Islanders

Two prevailing story lines in this series will be Islanders head coach Ted Nolan (who won the Jack Adams Trophy while with the Sabres, before getting summarily dismissed) and goaltender Rick DiPietro (currently out of the lineup with post-concussion symptoms). But to focus attention on Nolan and DiPietro — and to ignore the Sabres — would be a mistake. The Sabres have played this season as a team with unfinished business, The disappointment of last spring’s Eastern Conference Finals defeat by the Hurricanes still leaves a bitter taste in their mouths. Now healthy and firing on all cylinders for the first time in months, look for Buffalo — the NHL’s fastest club — to outplay the overmatched Isles and emerge victorious.

Prediction: Sabres in five.

(2) New Jersey Devils vs. tlantic (7) Tampa Bay Lightning

The key to this series, without question, is goaltending. The Devils boast one of the NHL’s all-time greats in Martin Brodeur, while the Lightning’s netminding has been shoddy at best throughout most of the regular season. While it’s true that Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis have been two of the NHL’s most dominant offensive performers this season, Devils checkers John Madden and Jay Pandolfo should be more than up to the task of neutralizing Tampa’s top players. Look for Brodeur and company to come away with a relatively easy victory over a Lightning team that’s become a shadow of the one that won the Cup in 2004.

Prediction: Devils in four.

(3) Atlanta Thrashers vs. (6) New York Rangers

These two teams are surprisingly similar, with both relying on toptier young goaltenders (Henrik Lundqvist for the Rangers, Kari Lehtonen for Atlanta), and featuring topheavy rosters. The Thrashers made some huge upgrades at the trade deadline, adding Keith Tkachuk and Alexei Zhitnik to a star-studded lineup that already included Marian Hossa and Ilya Kovalchuk. But the Thrashers faltered a bit down the stretch, and there’s good reason to wonder whether the maneuvers will pan out. Meanwhile, the Rangers made a couple of comparably small moves — acquiring Sean Avery from the Kings and swapping Aaron York to the Bruins in exchange for Paul Mara — both of which have paid unexpected dividends. The Blueshirts were one of the NHL’s finest teams in the season’s final months and are primed to pull off a first-round upset, especially if Jaromir Jagr is ready to deliver an elite-level performance.

Prediction: Rangers in six.

(4) Ottawa Senators vs. (5) Pittsburgh Penguins

Perhaps the most difficult of all firstround series to predict, this promises to be one of the most exciting of the entire playoffs. This season, Senators GM John Muckler made a conscious effort to add some grit to the lineup, hoping to reverse a trend that’s seen his club consistently underachieve in the postseason. On the other side of the ice, the Penguins have improved more quickly than anyone expected after last season’s performance (58 points, second-worst in the entire NHL). Much will be made of the fact this is Sidney Crosby’s first playoff appearance, but there has been no indication whatsoever that the NHL’s youngest-ever Art Ross Trophy-winner will wilt under the pressure. This series is almost too close to call, but home ice advantage and a significant edge on the blue line will prove to be the difference makers for the Senators.

Prediction: Senators in seven.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

(1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (8) Calgary Flames

Last spring, the Red Wings won the President’s Trophy only to be summarily dismissed in the first round by the eighthseeded Edmonton Oilers. This year, the Wings are once again the top seed in the West, and they’ll again be going up against a Northwest Division team that barely squeaked into the postseason. Unfortunately for the Wings, the differences between this year and last aren’t in their favor, either. They’ll be going up against a Flames team that is — on paper, at least — better than the 2006 Oilers. Without question, Calgary netminder Miikka Kiprusoff is more than capable of matching Dominik Hasek savefor-save. So unless Pavel Datsyuk lives up to his recently inked sevenyear, $46.9 million contract and delivers an uncharacteristically clutch postseason performance, look for Jarome Iginla and company to pull off an upset that really shouldn’t be considered one.

Prediction: Flames in six.

(2) Anaheim Ducks vs. (7) Minnesota Wild

The Wild have been one of the most pleasant surprises of the second half, largely due to the exceptional performance of 29-year-old rookie goaltender Niklas Backstrom. He finished the season as the league’s leader in both goalsagainst (1.97) and save percentage (.929), and merits serious consideration for the Vezina Trophy (though he’ll be beaten out by either Roberto Luongo or Martin Brodeur). But though this Wild team has been good of late, they don’t have the firepower to take down the Ducks, who are built for postseason success. J.S. Giguere has rebounded to the form that enabled him to win the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2003; the Anaheim defense — led by captain Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger — is second to none, and the Ducks forward corps is deeper and more talented than the Wild’s. Look for Minnesota to win one of the games at Xcel Energy Center (where they’ve compiled a dominant 29–7–5 record), but not much more than that.

Prediction: Ducks in five.

3) Vancouver Canucks vs. (6) Dallas Stars

Much like the Devils, these teams both get it done with defense and goaltending. Canucks netminder Roberto Luongo has been absolutely stellar in his first season in Vancouver and should be a top candidate for both the Hart and Vezina Trophies. For the Stars, there will be a tremendous amount of pressure on Marty Turco, whose performances in the Stars’ 2004 and 2006 first-round ousters were disappointing (18 goals-against in five games, both losses to the Avalanche). If Turco can match Luongo save-for-save, the Stars will match up well against the Canucks. But that’s an enormous “if,” and it’s far more likely that Luongo will continue his elite-level play and backstop Vancouver into the second round.

Prediction: Canucks in five.

4) Nashville Predators vs. (5) San Jose Sharks

The San Jose Sharks have been one of the NHL’s hottest teams over the past six weeks, finishing with a 13–1–3 record. Leading the charge has been Joe Thornton, who has for the second consecutive season emerged as a legitimate Hart Trophy candidate with an exceptionally strong finish. Meanwhile, the Predators delivered a middling performance down the stretch, posting a mediocre 5–5–2 record while watching the Red Wings capture a sixth consecutive division title. And though they hold home ice advantage in this firstround series against the Sharks, there is every reason to believe that San Jose — on a clear upward trajectory — will defeat the Preds in the first round for the second consecutive season.

Prediction: Sharks in six.

Mr. Greenstein is the editor in chief of InsideHockey.com.