Playoff hockey is coming back to New York for the fifth consecutive season. For just the second time in that frame, both the Islanders and Rangers will be a part of the sixteen teams battling it out for a Stanley Cup victory. The Cup itself has not come to the state since the Rangers won in 1994, which was also the last time the two faced-off in a postseason round. There is a chance that can happen if both teams win their first round matchup. 

The Rangers have had a much less stressful ride to where they are today. After starting the season off hot, the Blueshirts never relinquished their playoff position. For most of the second half, they were fighting with the Carolina Hurricanes and New Jersey Devils for the top three seedings of the Metropolitan Division. The Rangers didn’t win that battle, finishing third with an impressive 107 points. They will not have home ice advantage as they play a huge rival in the Devils, who fell just one point short of the division title. While the Devils had the stronger regular season, the Rangers acquired stars Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko at the trade deadline. The two have combined for four Stanley Cup wins in their career, bringing integrity to the New York lineup.

It took all 82 games for the Islanders to get where they are today. A crushing loss to the Capitals in game 81 took them to the brink of elimination, but the team was revived when the Pittsburgh Penguins shockingly lost a crucial game against the bottom-feeding Blackhawks. That allowed the Islanders to clinch when they took care of business with a 5-2 win against Montreal in their last game of the season. Even better, a loss by the Florida Panthers means that the Isles will dodge the Boston Bruins in round one and play the Hurricanes instead. While Carolina is no weak opponent, the Bruins set a league record with 65 wins this season. They are obviously the scarier team. The Islanders struggled to score down the stretch, relying on star goaltender Ilya Sorokin. Luckily, star Mat Barzal is expected to return after missing most of the playoff push in the last two months with an injury. Key defender Alex Romanov could also come back. With Barzal united with star deadline acquisition Bo Horvat, the Islanders could salvage a tough second half from Horvat and a power play that finished 31st out of 32 teams. 

If the Islanders can upset a Carolina team on the back of a monster series from Sorokin, and the Rangers can defeat an inexperienced Devils team, then the two will engage in one of the sport’s best rivalries in the postseason. Both teams are among the longest Stanley Cup droughts in the league, with the Rangers last winning in that magical 1994 season, and the Isles not having won since their dynasty ended in 1983. Boston may be the favorite, but both New York teams can be threats thanks to their elite goaltending.