TAMPA Adidas Alex Galchenyuk Jersey , Fla. (AP) The top-seeded Tampa Bay Lightning are well aware that the speedy New Jersey Devils are a dangerous opponent that can’t be taken lightly in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.The underdog Devils won all three regular-season meetings between the teams.That doesn’t guarantee success when the teams begin their best-of-7 Eastern Conference series Thursday night, but it clearly has the attention of the talented and more experienced Lightning.”When you get to this time of year, teams are so tight and they’re so close,” coach Jon Cooper said. ”There are no easy outs.”Tampa Bay is back in the playoffs after a one-year hiatus, aiming for a deep run for the third time in four seasons.After reaching the 2015 Stanley Cup Finals and coming within one victory of a return trip two years ago, the Atlantic Division champions have been driven by the disappointment of narrowly missing out a postseason berth in 2017.”We’ve talked about how disappointing last year was and kind of how that fueled us, especially at the beginning of the year. We kind of played with a chip on our shoulder a little bit,” captain Steven Stamkos said.”We have a very special group this year. We have an opportunity if we play as we know we can,” Stamkos added. ”But at the same time, it’s going to be a very difficult series.”New Jersey, led by left wing Taylor Hall and red-hot goalie Keith Kincaid, won 10 of 14 games down the stretch to earn a playoff berth.Hall had 39 goals and 54 assists to pace the Devils with 93 points, and Kincaid enters the postseason on a stretch in which he’s won seven of eight games.In addition to having the league’s top-scoring offense led by Nikita Kucherov (39 goals, 61 assists, 100 points) and Stamkos (27, 59 Adidas Barrett Hayton Jersey , 86), the Lightning defense is anchored by Norris Trophy contender Victor Hedman and all-star goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, who tied for the NHL lead in wins with 44.”They’re highly skilled, (with) some good stay-at-home defensemen,” Kinkaid said. ”I think we’ve just got to play our game. It’s no different than the regular season. Get the puck down low, stick to our game plan, back check, then from great defense comes great offense.”—Some things to know about the Devils and Lightning:M-V-P: There is no one more important to the Devils than Hall. He had a career-season in getting to the playoffs for the first time since being the No. 1 overall draft pick by Edmonton in 2010. He had 39 goals, 54 assists and 93 points, all career highs. His season was highlighted when he had points in 26 straights appearances. The league does not consider it a streak because he missed three games with an injury. His confidence is sky high. In the final week of the season, he got a penalty shot against Henrik Lundqvist of the Rangers. He skated in quickly and snapped a shot into the top corner of the net.READY FOR THE CHALLENGE: Vasilevskiy, who had a 2.62 goals-against average and .920 save percentage, enters the playoffs as a No. 1 goalie for the first time. He was instrumental in the Lightning getting off to a strong start and sporting the best record in the East for most of the season. Fatigue was a factor after the All-Star break. And while Tampa Bay’s potent offense carried the team plenty of nights, Cooper is confident the 23-year-old will be on his game for the postseason.”There are the big statistics of save percentage and goals against, and Vasilevskiy was great in those. But the one thing for me, is did he win the game? Because to me if you win the game 7-6 or 2-1 Adidas Michael Grabner Jersey , you still won the game,” Cooper said. ”Naturally is it a lot more satisfying to only give up one goal … but in the end it’s all about winning. That kid reeled off 44 of them, and that’s a pretty darn high number.”SHUTDOWN LINE: Whenever the line of Stamkos, Kucherov and J.T. Miller is on the ice, expect the Devils to counter with a line that features Travis Zajac at center with Blake Coleman on the left side and Stefan Noesen on the right. In the final month of the season, John Hynes used the trio whenever he could against an opponent’s top line. It might be hard to get the matchup on the road in the best-of-7 series, but it’s almost certain that will be the matchup at home, Not only has the line shut down opponents, it contributed 11 goals, including three game winners, in a late 10-2-1 run that carried New Jersey to the playoffs.PLAYOFF EXPERIENCE: While Tampa Bay has young players such as Brayden Point, Yanni Gourde and Anthony Cirelli set to play key roles for the first time, the Lightning has 13 players from the team that reached the Stanley Cup Finals three years ago.”Experience is what you make of it. Naturally, it’s good to have gone through some of these situations before, but I look at our team in 2015, we didn’t have that much experience but we were able to get through Adidas Marian Hossa Jersey ,” Cooper said. ”What I like about our group is we have a lot of guys that have played in a Cup Final as recently as a few years ago, and I think they are all playing with that chip on their shoulder.”— EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers look awfully comfortable at home lately.McDavid had two goals and an assist, Leon Draisaitl added three assists and the resurgent Oilers beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 on Friday night.Mikko Koskinen made 31 saves and is 7-0-0 on home ice this season. Edmonton has won six straight at Rogers Place to improve to 10-4-1 at home.“You always want to make your own rink a tough building to play in,” Draisaitl said. “We have struggled with that a little bit the seasons before that. We have been really good at home of late and hopefully we can keep that going.”Alex Chiasson and Adam Larsson also scored for the Oilers (18-12-3), who have won five of six overall and are 8-1-1 in their last 10 games. They moved to 9-2-2 under new coach Ken Hitchcock.Sean Couturier was initially credited with Philadelphia’s goal before it was given to Jakub Voracek after the game. The Flyers (12-14-4) have lost three in a row and six of eight.“We weren’t playing bad hockey, just a couple of mistakes here and there and it’s in the back of the net and you’re chasing again,” captain Claude Giroux said. “The third period we played great again, but we’re just chasing every game.”Edmonton got on the board with 7½ minutes remaining in the first period when Draisaitl fed the puck in front to Chiasson, who beat goalie Anthony Stolarz for his career-high 14th goal of the season in his 27th game. Chiasson’s previous best came in 2013-14 over 79 games with Dallas.The 28-year-old Montreal native won a Stanley Cup with Washington last season, but came to the Oilers on a training camp audition.“When you win a Cup, it is a little surprising he didn’t have a deal or nothing,” McDavid said. “He came in on a PTO and worked hard and earned a job and has been having a great year. I couldn’t be happier for him. He is a fun guy to play with. He has a knack for scoring and is finding a way to get open.”The Oilers added to their lead at exactly the same point in the middle period when McDavid banked a shot from behind the net off Stolarz’s rear end for his 18th.Just more than a minute later it was 3-0 when Larsson scored his first of the season on a shot from the top of the circle following a give-and-go with Ryan Spooner.The Flyers ended Koskinen’s shutout bid midway through the third on a shot by Voracek that initially appeared to carom off Couturier into the net. Koskinen has shutouts in three of his seven home starts this season.McDavid put the game away with an empty-netter.NOTES: It was the first of two meetings between the teams this season. The Flyers won both games last season. … Stolarz got the start with two other goalies unavailable. Michal Neuvirth returned to Philadelphia for the expected birth of his child, and Brian Elliott (lower body) also headed back east for a scheduled medical appointment. … Oilers D Caleb Jones made his NHL debut. He is the younger brother of Columbus D Seth Jones.UP NEXTFlyers: Finish a five-game road trip Saturday in Vancouver.Oilers: Play at Vancouver on Sunday.