John Tavares and Kyle Okposo look to lead the Islanders past Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and the Capitals.
Getty Images

Tonight’s the night for the Islanders and their fans. They return to the playoffs following a disappointing ’13-14. During the first half, coach Jack Capuano’s club was the story vaulting into first in the Metropolitan Division and at one point atop the league standings.

Everything went right. GM Garth Snow’s new additions worked. Johnny Boychuk and Nick Leddy stabilized the blueline. Jaroslav Halak strengthened their Achilles heel in net. Nikolay Kulemin and Mikhail Grabovski improved the Isles’ forward depth. The development of young guns Anders Lee, Brock Nelson and Ryan Strome are a big reason they’re here. The play of the fourth line led by Matt Martin, Cal Clutterbuck and Casey Cizikas made them hard to play against.

It isn’t just about talented captain John Tavares, who finished second in scoring with 86 points (38-48-86). Kyle Okposo was able to return from a torn retina and scored in the final regular season game. Josh Bailey and Frans Nielsen have been frequent contributors. Without Grabovski (concussion), Snow added Tyler Kennedy and recalled Colin McDonald. Even Eric Boulton got in. When they start, dangerous penalty killer Michael Grabovski will be in the lineup.

These Islanders have plenty of depth. However, they won’t have defenseman Travis Hamonic available for Game 1 tonight against the Capitals. One of the keys to their back end, Hamonic had an excellent season tallying five goals and 28 assists for 33 points with a plus-15 rating in 71 games. He’s a strong defensive player who Capuano trusts. Still nursing a injury sustained in last Friday’s loss to the Penguins, his status is uncertain for the first round. If he’s unable to return, it’s a huge hit.

Facing the game’s top sniper Alex Ovechkin, who again led the league in goals (53) and power play goals (25), it puts more pressure on Leddy and Boychuk to stifle the Great Eight. They not only have to contend with Ovechkin but one of the game’s best passers in Nicklas Backstrom, whose 60 assists led the league. It’ll be interesting to see how Calvin de Haan fares in his NHL playoff debut. A solid skating defensive defenseman, the 23-year old former ’09 first round pick is a smart player who makes good reads. Along with vet Lubomir Visnovsky, they’ll be keys to the Isles’ success. Thomas Hickey and Brian Strait are in the top six with Hamonic out. The team recalled Griffin Reinhart but it looks like he’s a healthy scratch along with Matt Donovan.

How will Capuano use his D? His top pair of Leddy-Boychuk should see plenty of Ovechkin. Interestingly, he’s not playing on the same line as Backstrom. Rookie Evgeny Kuznetsov will center Ovechkin and Joel Ward. Backstrom anchors Marcus Johansson and Troy Brouwer. The Isles’ second pair is Hickey-Visnovsky and their third pair will be de Haan-Strait.

While the Isles’ lines are uncertain, here are the Caps:

Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Ward

Johansson-Backstrom-Brouwer

Laich-Fehr-Beagle

Glencross-Latta-Chimera

Orpik-Carlson

Alzner-Niskanen

Gleason-Green

Holtby

Peters

Scratches: Orlov, Burakovsky

*Injured-Wilson

If there’s a determining factor, it could be special teams. The Capitals boast the league’s top ranked power play converting 25.3 percent. Led by Ovechkin with top set up man Backstrom and trigger Carlson, they are dangerous. The Caps also use Brouwer in front giving them a net presence. Johansson, Kuznetsov, Ward, Green and Niskanen are also key components.

For most of the season, the Islanders penalty kill struggled. However, they improved to 26th at 78.0 percent. While not earth shattering, they only allowed three power play goals over the last 18 games going 39 for 42 (92.9 percent). They’ll have to be at their best to win the series. That includes getting some big saves from Halak. Staying disciplined will be huge.

It’ll be a fun and exciting series. One that should feature both scoring and physicality. Even with the Caps minus Tom Wilson, they’ll mix it up. Ovechkin is like a runaway locomotive and Orpik hits everything. Brouwer never shies away from the rough stuff. The Isles have the NHL version of the Bash Brothers in bruisers Martin and Clutterbuck. If they are back together with Cizikas, that gives Capuano a crash line that gave opponents fits in the first half. It’ll be interesting to see what he decides with his bottom lines.

It shapes up to be a very competitive series. Nothing separated these teams in the standings except for a silly tiebreaker that gave the Caps home ice. If they do have an edge, it’s in net with Holtby. He had a great year winning 41 games with a 2.22 goals-against-average, .923 save percentage and nine shutouts. The only thing is he played every single game down the stretch. Can the Isles wear him out?

Will Halak perform? He won 38 games but was not the same in the second half. He is capable of making big saves but also can give up the crusher as seen in a befuddling loss to the Flyers with Brayden Schenn beating him with under three seconds to spare.

The offense is almost even with the Isles holding a slight edge. The defense points towards the Caps due to former Pens Orpik and Niskanen. The goaltending points towards Washington. The coaching I’m not sure about. I get that Capuano gets a lot of criticism for some of his decisions. Barry Trotz is one of the best and has turned around the Caps with Ovechkin buying in. This is a whale of a series. Possibly the best.

As much as I would love an Islanders/Rangers second round series, I see the Capitals as an improved team that’s deeper than years past. Tougher D and stronger in goal.

Series Prediction: Capitals in 6