This should be one of the more exciting matchups of the second round. The perpetual analytical darling Carolina Hurricanes have perhaps their best-ever chance at a Stanley Cup, but they have to get through the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning to make it happen.

Both teams have good reason to be confident after toughing out challenging first-round series against upstart opponents, and with the Hurricanes anticipating the possible departure of arguably their best defenceman this summer and the Lightning’s cap structure held together by scotch tape and doctor’s notes, neither squad is in any position to squander this chance at glory. I’ll be previewing this series using my Team Cards, powered by TopDownHockey’s stats, and telling a more detailed stylistic story with LogiqBets’ microstats.