NHL playoffs: can the Washington Capitals handle the pressure?

MVP: Captain John Tavares. A lot will hang on how Tavares performs in the post-season, both as the captain and as the Islanders top point producer through the regular season.

Player to watch: Cal Clutterbuck leads a pretty scary fourth line for the Islanders. In an important late season game against the Carolina Hurricanes, Clutterbuck was the difference, scoring late to tie the game and then adding the winner in overtime. Its guys like Clutterbuck who are often essential to a teams prolonged playoff success.

Key stat: The Islanders have a decent home record, even while the ice at the Barclays Center is notoriously bad. It might end up being an advantage for them.

Why should you care? Instead, heres a fun fact: This is the only team in the NHL that sells seats from which you cant even see part of the ice.

12. Nashville Predators

Current form: Had a rough spell in March when they lost four straight, including to conference rivals Dallas, Colorado, and San Jose. Goaltender Pekka Rinne was pulled twice.

How they can win: More consistency. The Predators are a good team when theyre playing well. With lots of talent in net (usually), a good defensive squad and the ability to score, the Preds can get it done.

How they can lose: Stay out of the penalty box. The Predators are not the most penalized team in these playoffs (that would be Anaheim), but unlike the Ducks, who are very good at killing those penalties, the Predators PK is about the middle of the pack not great if they start playing undisciplined hockey.

MVP: Filip Forsberg. Hes the team leader in points, and in last years playoffs created highlight-reel goals. With a big more experience now, he could be the difference maker in important games.

Player to watch: Two of them, actually: defencemen Shea Weber and Roman Josi. Together, they combined for over 100 points this season they are a key component in both the Preds attack and, of course, defence. Theyll be putting in big minutes on the ice, and will be crucial to any success the Preds have.

Key stat: When trailing in five-on-five situations, the Predators are among the elite in the NHL in possession stats better than the Capitals, the Stars, the Ducks, and the Blackhawks. Even if theyre down, they might not be out.

Why should you care? In the teams eight playoff appearances, it has only made the semi-finals twice. A conference final for the Predators, let alone a Cup, would be a win.

11. Tampa Bay Lightning

Current form: Short on bodies as of the last week of the season. Tampa Bays best player, Steven Stamkos, is out indefinitely with a blood clot. Defenceman Anton Stralman is also out for a while with a leg fracture. Defenceman Victor Hedman suffered a head injury and will be day-to-day as the playoff start. And forward Ryan Callahan suffered a lower body injury and might not be 100% to start the playoffs.

How they can win: The Lightning are a talented squad all the way through, and are among the best puck possession teams in the league. Last season, the Lightning were simply overrun by the Blackhawks in the Cup Final. Like any Eastern team of late, if they are to go far, Tampa Bays biggest challenge will be keeping enough fuel in the tank to face whoever comes out of the West.

How they can lose: Without Stamkos, the Lightning are in a bit of trouble. Stamkos accounted for 36 goals this year before he left, which is about 16.5% of all the goals the Lightning scored altogether. The Lightning are not a particularly high-scoring offence overall, so that kind of hole will be tough to fill. If the other injuries last into the post-season, well

MVP: Ben Bishop. Whatever success the Lightning have will be due in large part to him. He has the third-best GAA in the NHL (2.06), and the second-best save percentage (.927) overall. He also backstopped his way to six shutouts this season. He was a workhorse for Tampa Bay in last years playoffs, and he will have to be again.

Player to watch: If there are any left on the bench, maybe Nikita Kucherov, whose 30 goals were second only in number to Stamkos this year. The Bolts will need some scoring. He might be the man to provide it.

Key stat: The Lightning have by far the worst power play of any playoff team this year. They convert on the man advantage only about 16% of the time.

Why should you care? If they somehow pull this off, it will be stunning.

10. San Jose Sharks

Current form: The Sharks are just find, thank you very much, finishing the last couple weeks of the season with wins against the Rangers, the Kings and the Predators.

How they can win: Hope that James Reimer does not for some unfortunate reason become their starting goaltender. More likely, stay the course. The Sharks are a strong puck possession team, they can score, especially on the power play, during which they score 22.5% of the time, which put them behind only the Ducks and Blackhawks this season.

How they can lose: Because they always do? The Sharks have been denied a post-season birth only twice since 1998. They exited in the quarter-finals six times, in the semi-finals six times, and in the conference finals three times. If there is a way to lose, the Sharks will find it.

MVP: Tomas Hertl? Brent Burns? Take your pick. Hertl had a great season, with 21 goals and 25 assists, and a Corsi score over 56%. For his part, Burns, a defenceman, played a big role in the Sharks being one of the best goal-scoring teams in the NHL, notching 27 goals to go with his 48 assists.

Player to watch: Martin Jones has emerged this season from behind the long shadow of Jonathan Quick in LA to become a high-calibre starting goaltender for the Sharks. His GAA of 2.26 could be better, but with a save percentage hovering near .920, hes the go-to for the Sharks.

Key stat: The Sharks are arguably the best team on the road in the NHL, with a 28-10-3 record on the year. That can be crucial in a long playoff series, especially one in which they dont have home ice advantage.

Why should you care? Wouldnt it be nice for the Sharks to actually win for once?

9. Florida Panthers

Current form: The Panthers went on an amazing run this season, including nearly a month between December and January where they won 12 games in a row. This is the Panthers first visit to the post-season since 2011-12, and only their second playoff run since the 1999-2000 season.

How they can win: Experience. This is a team of veterans: Brian Campbell, Olli Jokinen, Roberto Luongo, Jaromir Jagr, for example. Not all are serious playoff vets, but that combined knowledge might go a long way to calming any fears of playoff jitters. The Panthers are also a high-scoring team, averaging 2.83 goals per game through the regular season, while also being one of the top teams at keeping pucks out of their own net.

How they can lose: Despite their success, the Panthers are not a great puck possession team, either at home or on the road at even strength. They also dont score much on the power play only about 17% of the time and are also ranked in the bottom third in the NHL for penalty killing. If they find themselves in the box too much, it might be a problem.

MVP: Jagr. Because hes Jagr, Czech Time Lord.

Player to watch: Roberto Luongo. Luongo has had one very good playoff run, in 2011, when the Canucks made it to the Stanley Cup Final, only to lose to the Boston Bruins. Luongo was stellar as he was during the 2010 Winter Olympics but does he still have those capabilities? Also of note is whether young forward Vincent Trocheck returns from injury in time to make any difference in the playoffs hes expected to be out until mid-April.

Key stat: The Panthers are a heavily penalized team, which combined with a bad penalty kill rate, might spell trouble.

Why should you care? Even more than the Capitals, the Panthers are this years Cinderella story.

8. Pittsburgh Penguins

Current form: The Penguins have been playing well leading into the playoffs, but they are plagued with a few key injuries that could hurt them.

How they can win: The Penguins put together a good year after a slow-ish start. Theyre a strong puck possession team and are among the less penalized teams in the league. During the regular season, the Pens were also scoring a lot each game they averaged 2.95 goals per game, putting their offence only behind the Stars and Capitals overall.

How they can lose: Injuries. Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury suffered a concussion in early April and is out indefinitely. Defenceman Olli Maatta is listed week-to-week with a lower body injury (no word yet on how this will affect his upcoming mandatory military commitment in Finland). And Evgeni Malkin, a key component up front, was injured in mid-March and is expected to be out for 6 to 8 weeks.

MVP: Sidney Crosby. With key players missing from the lineup, the team will look to Crosby to set the tone and pace. He had a good season, but his playoffs have to be better. Also, watch out for Phil Kessel.

Player to watch: Whoever starts in goal. Backup goaltender Matt Murray was injured right before the end of the season, and there is a chance the Penguins will be without their two top starters to begin the playoffs. Not good.

Key stat: Murray might take some hope in the fact that, through the regular season, the Penguins had one of the best goals-against records in the league, averaging only 2.41 goals allowed per game.

Why should you care? Pittsburgh had a disastrous first round collapse against the Rangers in 2015. People were talking about rebuilding from the ground up. Was that talk premature?

7. New York Rangers

Current form: The Rangers put in a solid November and February on their way to a respectable finish in the competitive Metro division and the second-best record at home in the NHL, right behind division rivals the Washington Capitals. Unfortunately, captain Ryan McDonagh suffered an apparent hand injury late in the regular season, and is questionable for the start of the playoffs, which is a big loss for the Rangers on defence.

How they can win: Score first. When the Rangers score first (which they did an awful lot of this year), they very often win. The Rangers depth up front is likely one of the reasons they can do that, and one of the reasons they were in the top 10 in goals-for per game this season.

How they can lose: Lots of ways. Despite scoring often, the Rangers are in the bottom half of the league in goals per game scored against them. At even strength, the Rangers are also one of the worst puck possession teams in the NHL below even Columbus. The Rangers are also not great on the road, and of the teams to make the playoffs, have one of the worst shots-against records this year, averaging 30.5 per game.

MVP: Henrik Lundqvist. The guy is a monster, historically, in the playoffs. His GAA was about a 2.46 this season, but hes shown in the past that in post-season, that average gets cut substantially. If hes playing well, the Rangers always have a shot.

Player to watch: Rick Nash. A perennial playoff disappointment, Nash has been given yet another chance to prove he can be an effective playoff component. He was better in 2014-15 than in 2013-14 (when he managed a paltry three goals in 25 playoff games), so perhaps there is an upward trend forming.

Key stat: The Rangers are a terrible penalty killing team, ranked 26th overall in the NHL this season.

Why should you care? The last chance at a Cup conversations were already going on last year. The Rangers proved they could still compete.

6. St Louis Blues

Current form: Goaltender Jake Allen and team captain David Backes were both hit by injuries near the end of the regular season, but are expected to be back for the playoffs. The Blues have had a rough year with injuries to key players, including defenceman Alex Pietrangelo, and forwards Jaden Schwartz, Alex Steen, and Patrik Baglund. Theyve managed to remain a winning team, backed by two capable goalies in Allen and Brian Elliott. The Blues finished the season strong, with an 8-2-0 record in their last 10 games.

How they can win: This is a perennial question: the Blues have hit the playoffs looking strong in each of the last four years, each one of which has seen them bow out in fairly depressing fashion. Last year, that departure was thanks to the Minnesota Wild. As to how they can win this year? Same as every other year: play like they do in the regular season.

How they can lose: See above. The Blues usually find a way, unfortunately.

MVP: Vladimir Tarasenko. He leads the Blues in points (71 through 78 games played), and his individual Corsi rating is third in the league. Back in January, Sportsnet pointed out Tarasenko is also the NHLs premier scoring chance generator, both individually, and in the opportunities he creates for his linemates. By a large margin. At that point, Tarasenko was creating 8.9 scoring chance-generating plays per 20 minutes at even strength. The next best rate was a tie between Patrick Kane, Artemi Panarin, Evgeni Malkin, and Jason Spezza they each created 7.7 scoring chance-generating plays.

Player to watch: Whoever is in goal. Will Allen return healthy to start the post-season? Or will the starter be Brian Elliott? Whoever it is, though, at least theyll be better than Ryan Miller (or one hopes).

Key stat: This season, St Louis took 33.3% of its face-offs in the defensive zone the sixth-highest percentage in the entire league, behind teams like Buffalo and Columbus. This doesnt guarantee a rough playoff ride, but if it keeps up, it wont help.

Why should you care? For once, it might be nice to see St Louis get to the Western final.

5. Anaheim Ducks

Current form: The Ducks were an abysmal team for half the season until January, when they suddenly found a winning groove that likely saved coach Bruce Boudreau his job. From 3 January until the end of the season, Anaheim only lost 14 games.

How they can win: Be like Chicago only better this time. The Ducks are big and tough. So are the Blackhawks. The Ducks score well on the power play. So do the Blackhawks. The Ducks dont allow a lot of goals at even strength. Ditto the Blackhawks. The Ducks cruised past the Jets and Flames in last years post-season, only to lost the Western final to the Blackhawks.

How they can lose: Injuries or penalties or both. David Perron is out with a shoulder injury, and wont be back until the middle of April. Goaltender Frederik Andersen suffered a concussion and is listed as day-to-day. The Ducks also take too many penalties, averaging over 12 minutes in the slammer per game. They need to be more disciplined.

MVP: As usual its a toss-up between Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry. This duo is a terrifying tandem for opposing teams. Together this year, despite Anaheims terrible start to the season, posted 118 points. And Ryan Kesler, the second lines anchor, who was a key player for them last year, notching seven goals and six assists through Anaheims 16 playoff games.

Player to watch: David Perron has been a big part in the Ducks getting into winning form in the latter half of the season. In the 28 games he played for the Ducks between when he joined and his injury departure, Perron had 20 points, the majority of which were assists.

Key stat: Anaheim is one of the best possession teams in the league at full strength in five-on-five situations. Their Corsi puts them near the top of the league, with the likes of Pittsburgh, LA, and Dallas.

Why should you care? It would be a heck of a comeback story if the Ducks pull it off.

4. Dallas Stars

Current form: Dallas is hot-ish. They finished the season winning six of their last seven, mostly against Western rivals like the Kings and Predators. But they did lose to Anaheim. Still, Stars fans probably feel good right now.

How they can win: Dallas led the tough Central division pretty much all year. They are a deep, tough team up front (they were among the best offences all year), with a great one-two punch in goal with Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi, who split the season almost evenly and both emerged with nearly identical save percentages and GAAs.

How they can lose: Defence. While the offence was doing a lot of great things, the 2015-16 Stars defence was less great. Lets just say its perhaps the worst overall of any of the teams making the playoffs this year. If thats exploited, and the Stars arent able to out-score their opponents, there could be problems.

MVP: Jamie Benn. He is on par with both Patrick Kane and Alex Ovechkin this year in overall points and goals. Hes also in the top 10 in the league for assists, which means he makes other players around him more dangerous, too.

Player to watch: Tyler Seguin. Together with Benn, Seguin (just out of the top 10 in points totals this season) is a menace to opposing teams. As Sportsnet put itearlier this season, Benn and Seguin are very good at absolutely everything important, and are significantly above team average in all offensive categories on a team that is above average offensively.

Key stat: The Stars scored eight short-handed goals this year (the same as Chicago). It wasnt good enough to make them the best in the NHL, but close.

Why should you care? In a Western conference that has become used to the same teams winning for the past few years, Dallas is a rare new, serious, competitor in the market. Might be nice to see them shake things up, and indeed they could.

3. Chicago Blackhawks

Current form: Mixed. The Blackhawks these days should always be considered a viable playoff threat, no matter how the regular season goes. This regular season has seen them go on a 12-game winning streak, and of late, lose a few key games down the stretch to strong Western opponents like the Kings (a 5-0 loss on home ice) and two recent losses to the Stars.

How they can win: Theyre the Blackhawks, which means they just seem to find a way. One suspects if they win again this year, it will be in a similar fashion to years past: they out-work everyone.

How they can lose: Being human. The teams recent struggles put into perspective what kind of competition they will have this year. Any of their main Western rivals can beat them on any given day. Still, beating the Blackhawks on four days remains a challenge. Also, they will be without defenceman Duncan Keith for the first game of the playoffs, thanks to his recent idiotic high sticking penalty in Minnesota that resulted in a six-game suspension.

MVP: Captain Jonathan Toews. Hes the heart of this team. If hes playing well, as he has been this year the Blackhawks are a threat. Toews finished with 58 points overall, but perhaps as importantly to playoff hopes, he had one of his best face-off years, winning 58.55% of them. In the post-season, those wins are crucial.

Player to watch: Artemi Panarin has been a fantastic addition to the Chicago roster. In his rookie season, hes posted 77 points, putting him second behind team stats leader Patrick Kane on the year. Panarin is even ahead of captain Jonathan Toews. And lets not forget Andrew Ladd, who the Blackhawks brought back from Winnipeg just before the trade deadline. Hes a better face-off man than Toews.

Key stat: Chicagos goal-scoring is not actually that high at even strength (they are much better on the power play) Chicago has scored fewer goals this year than Winnipeg or Montreal. Which means of course, theyre doing good things at the back on defence and in goal. That kind of stuff wins championships.

Why should you care? Hockey hasnt seen a real dynasty team in a while. If the Blackhawks manage four cups in seven years, that might start to qualify them. They are always deceiving: they look just OK going into the playoffs, and then go far. They just know how to win.

2. Washington Capitals

Current form: This season has been all about the Washington Capitals. Comparisons to the NBAs Golden State Warriors are up for discussion, but the feeling about this team is roughly the same. They qualified for the playoffs weeks ago.

How they can win: Keep doing exactly as they are doing. The 2015-16 Capitals were the fourth-fastest team to reach 50 wins in a season. They have the second-best points-per-game average in the NHL (behind Dallas at 3.09), and they give up the fewest goals per game in the NHL. A recent scoring slumpis nothing to be worried about.

How they can lose: Pressure. The Caps have a long history of imploding in the playoffs when it looks as though they ought to go deep. This year, the pressure is on like never before. As the leading team in the league and with plenty of talent and depth, there really should be no excuses.

MVP: Alexander Ovechkin. Has any player in modern memory come under as much scrutiny as Ovi? He has a way of silencing critics, though. He just posted another 50-goal year his seventh. That puts him just behind Wayne Gretzky and Mike Bossy, and ahead of Marcel Dionne and Mario Lemieux. Since starting in the NHL, Ovechkin has scored 525 regular season goals. The Capitals have scored 2,576 goals in that same timeframe, all together. Which means Ovechkin alone accounts for just over 20% of Washingtons goals since he arrived. For comparisons sake, Sidney Crosby has notched 12.9% of Pittsburghs goals over the same time span. But Crosby has one thing Ovechkin doesnt: a Stanley Cup ring.

Player to watch: Braden Holtby. The Caps goalie has emerged this year as a premiere netminder one who tied Martin Brodeurs single-season wins record this year. Holtby has shown himself to be a solid playoff goaltender in the past. In 2012, he came from nowhere to carry the Caps as far as Game 7 of the second round, where they lost a heartbreaker to the New York Rangers (the Rangers booted the Caps from the playoffs in 2015, too).

Key stat: Through the regular season, the Caps had the third-best power play and the fourth-best penalty kill. The only team ahead of them on that combo is Anaheim.

Why should you care? Alex Ovechkin hoisting the Cup? Who doesnt want that?

1. Los Angeles Kings

Current form: This is a team whose core is still virtually the same as it was when they were winning Cups 11 players who won Cups with the Kings in 2012 and 2014 are still around.

How they can win: Use their depth. The addition this year of Milan Lucic from Boston was a terrific move; Lucic is fourth on the team in points on the year. Right behind him on that list, as evidence for the type of attack the Kings can put together, are defencemen Drew Doughty and Jake Muzzin.

How they can lose: If they have one fault, its that they take a lot of penalties, and are only successful at killing them off about 81% of the time. If an opponent can get under their skin, they might be in trouble.

MVP: Anze Kopitar. Fresh from signing an eight-year contract extension worth $80 million, Kopitar will be looking to prove hes worth it. So far this year, hes done that, with 74 points, including 25 goals and 49 assists.

Player to watch: Jonathan Quick. This guy seems to be made for the playoffs. Granted it was a few years ago now, but back in 2012, Quicks playoff save percentage was .946, and his GAA was an insane 1.41. The latter changed in his last playoff appearance the Kings gave up way more goals but his save percentage, .911, was still pretty good. But he can turn a series if it needs turning.

Key stat: The Kings are the best puck possession team in the league at even strength.

Why should you care? The Kings are the only other team in the NHL with a strong a Cup-winning record lately as the Blackhawks. At the very least, hope for another Western conference final between the two. The Kings are analytically really strong. Unless they have an unexpected, early, catastrophic collapse, they are looking very good to win it all.