The Montreal Canadiens attempt to erase the stinging memory of last season's Eastern Conference first-round playoff ouster when they visit the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday in the opener of a best-of-seven series. Unlike a year ago when Montreal was a prohibitive favorite over Ottawa, the Canadiens and Tampa Bay finished one point apart in the standings. Montreal needs to find a way to generate offense against the Lightning after scoring once in each of their four games.

After facing little resistance from the Columbus Blue Jackets during the regular season, the Pittsburgh Penguins look to maintain their dominance when they host their Metropolitan Division rivals in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series on Wednesday. Pittsburgh, which comfortably won the division title, outscored Columbus by a decisive 16-7 margin and trailed for only 56 seconds of the 300-minute span to win all five meetings.

The Dallas Stars had considerable success against the Anaheim Ducks during the regular season. They hope to continue the trend Wednesday as they visit the Pacific Division champions for Game 1 of their Western Conference first-round playoff series. Dallas won two of the three meetings this season, dropping a 6-3 decision at Anaheim in October before turning the tables at home a month later and posting a 2-0 shutout on the road on Feb. 1.