Crosby vs. Ovechkin one of many storylines in second round of playoffs

The second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs begins Thursday, so it's time to dive into some of the biggest storylines to follow in each of the four series.
Here are eight to get you prepared for the next two weeks:

RELATED: *[Stanley Cup Playoffs second-round schedule*]

Crosby vs. Ovechkin

The Washington Capitals will play the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Second Round for the third consecutive postseason. The Penguins won the past two, including in seven games last season, on the way to winning the Stanley Cup each time.
Game 1 is at Washington on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS).

This matchup is also usually billed as Sidney Crosby vs. Alex Ovechkin. It will be again, and there's nothing wrong with it even if the story of this series goes way beyond the two likely Hall of Famers.
Since each joined the NHL in 2005, the Capitals have never advanced past the second round, and the Penguins have won the Stanley Cup three times and reached the Eastern Conference Final five times.
The Penguins have eliminated the Capitals on their way to winning each of their past three Stanley Cup championships (2009, 2016 and 2017).
Ovechkin has outscored Crosby in their three head-to-head playoff matchups, 26-22, although Crosby missed one of the 20 games.

Malkin out for Game 1

Penguins center Evgeni Malkin's health is already an issue. He will not play in Game 1 because of a lower-body injury.
Malkin, who missed the Pittsburgh's series-clinching 8-5 win in Game 6 of the first round against the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday, is in Washington but didn't practice Tuesday or Wednesday.
He was injured when he went down along the boards with Flyers center Jori Lehtera with 3:36 remaining in the first period of Game 5. Lehtera fell on Malkin's outstretched left leg. Malkin didn't play the rest of the period but returned for the second and finished the game.
Penguins left wing Carl Hagelin, who was playing on Malkin's line, will not play in Game 1 because of an upper-body injury. He did not travel with the team.

Golden Knights' fairy-tale ride continues

Lady Liberty is still standing tall and wearing her Vegas Golden Knights jersey outside the New York-New York Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip.
The Golden Knights' remarkable inaugural season will have at least one more chapter with their series against the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference Second Round.

Vegas has done the unthinkable by making the playoffs, winning the Pacific Division with 109 points and sweeping the Los Angeles Kings in the first round, allowing three goals in four games.
The Golden Knights will need to rediscover the offense they had in the regular season, when they finished fifth with 3.27 goals per game. They scored seven goals in four games to defeat the Kings. The Sharks averaged four goals per game in their sweep of the Anaheim Ducks.
Game 1 is at Vegas on Thursday (10 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS).

Jones vs. Fleury: Something's got to give

Seven goals in eight games. That's how many Sharks goalie Martin Jones and Golden Knights goalie Marc-Andre Fleury allowed in the first round.
Fleury allowed three on 130 shots for a League-high .977 save percentage and League-low 0.65 goals-against average in Vegas' sweep of Los Angeles. Jones allowed four on 132 shots for a .970 save percentage and 1.00 GAA in San Jose's sweep of Anaheim.
Fleury started two of the four games against the Sharks in the regular season and had a .928 save percentage and 2.50 GAA. Jones started all four games against the Golden Knights and went 1-2-0 with a 3.32 GAA and .899 save percentage.

Winnipeg's whiteouts and Nashville's Cellblock 303

Two of the most unique atmospheres in hockey will be on display when the Nashville Predators and Winnipeg Jets play in the Western second round.
Game 1 is at Nashville on Friday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN360, TVAS), when the fans in Section 303, aka Cellblock 303, are expected to rally the Bridgestone Arena crowd as usual, with chants rooting on the Predators and mocking the opponent.
It'll also be interesting to see who will sing the national anthem; the Predators are known for country music stars belting out "The Star-Spangled Banner," including Rascal Flatts and Brad Paisley in the first round, and Carrie Underwood, wife of Predators center Mike Fisher, and Keith Urban during Nashville's run to the Cup Final last season.
The Winnipeg whiteout goes back to 1987, predating this version of the Jets. It returned three years ago, when they made the playoffs for the first time since relocating from Atlanta. Winnipeg didn't win a game in that series against Anaheim.

The whiteout is back in a big way this postseason at Bell MTS Place, helping the Jets win three home games by a combined 12-3 against the Minnesota Wild in the first round. It will be in full effect before Game 3.

Dueling Vezina Trophy finalists

You wouldn't know it by their numbers when going head to head this season, but Predators goalie Pekka Rinne and Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck are two of the three Vezina Trophy finalists (Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy is the other).
In the five regular-season games between the Jets and Predators, Rinne and Hellebuyck combined to allow 36 of the 41 goals scored for an .891 save percentage.
Rinne started four of the five games and won three despite a 3.52 goals-against average and .901 save percentage (14 goals on 142 shots). Hellebuyck started all five games, finished four, and had a 2-2-0 record, 3.91 GAA and .882 save percentage (19 goals on 161 shots).
The expectation is for the Jets and Predators to play more high-event games in the second round. Rinne and Hellebuyck will be tested in ways they were not in the first round, when the Predators defeated the Colorado Avalanche in six games and the Jets got past the Wild in five.
The series should be a blast, except maybe not for the goalies.

Lightning vs. Bruins: 'New York State of Mind'

Fans of the New York Rangers might want to pay close attention to the series between the Lightning and Boston Bruins, because it'll be Tampa Bay vs. Boston with some Big Apple flavor.
Four of the five players the Rangers traded prior to the 2018 NHL Trade Deadline on Feb. 26 are in the series.
The Lightning have defenseman Ryan McDonagh and forward J.T. Miller, who plays on the top line with Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos.
The Bruins have left wing Rick Nash and defenseman Nick Holden, who was McDonagh's primary defense partner in New York until each was traded. Holden was a healthy scratch for six of the seven games against Toronto.
The Lightning also have three more former Rangers: defensemen Dan Girardi and Anton Stralman, and right wing Ryan Callahan.
Game 1 is at Tampa Bay on Saturday (3 p.m. ET; NBC, SN, TVAS).

Point and Bergeron

The matchup game will be interesting to watch in the Tampa Bay-Boston series.
Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy will likely try to go best-on-best as often as he can, putting his top line, centered by Patrice Bergeron and including Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak, against the Lightning's top line of Stamkos, Kucherov and Miller.

Bergeron has a knack for shutting down the opposition's best forwards.
Lightning coach Jon Cooper likely will try to get Stamkos' line away from Bergeron, a four-time Selke Trophy winner who is a finalist again this season, as much as possible. That puts Brayden Point's line, which includes Ondrej Palat and Tyler Johnson, in the spotlight again.
Point's line and the shutdown defense pair of McDonagh and Stralman could see a lot of Bergeron or a lot of David Krejci, who is expected to start the series with Rick Nash and Jake DeBrusk on his wings.
Point's line saw a lot of New Jersey Devils left wing Taylor Hall in the first round. Hall had six points in the series (two goals, four assists), but other than Game 3, when he had a goal and two assists, Point and his linemates did an effective job of limiting him or shutting him down in Tampa Bay's five-game win.