Flyers, Islanders and Bruins think this year's special

If you ask the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Islanders, this is the playoff year that history won't be repeated.

The Boston Bruins would be thrilled to hear that as they prepare to face the Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference's rivalry-filled first round.

Boston, the No. 2 seed, embarks on its 30th playoff series with the Canadiens, starting Wednesday. The Bruins have only won seven previous meetings and are determined to get past the Canadiens, who eliminated them two years ago when Boston had the East's top record.

For the third straight year, the Islanders are in the playoffs, but they haven't gotten out of the first round since 1993. They are seeded eighth for the second straight year, but think they can advance against the No. 1 Tampa Bay Lightning after taking the season series 3-1.

"I don't think we should feel overwhelmed regardless of the opponent," Islanders general manager Mike Milbury said.

The Flyers are facing a familiar foe in the Stanley Cup champion Devils. Philadelphia edged New Jersey for the Atlantic Division title when the Devils lost Sunday to Boston.

"You couldn't get a better matchup for the game of hockey," Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock said.

Instead of having the No. 3 seed and home ice against the Flyers, the Devils dropped to sixth and will open their title defense in Philadelphia on Thursday.

The teams, which have finished first or second in the Atlantic for six of the past seven seasons, met twice previously in the playoffs. The Devils won both matchups in the conference finals, including in 2000 when they rallied from a 3-1 series deficit.

"This is a team that has been our nemesis for a long time. It's our turn to take a whack at them," Hitchcock said.

The previous series is also remembered for Scott Stevens' check against Philadelphia forward Eric Lindros in Game 7 that left Lindros with his seventh career concussion and ended his Flyers career.

Stevens won't be around now, either, as he is still suffering the effects of a concussion that forced him to miss the final 43 games this season.

The other first-round series in the East has the Toronto Maple Leafs taking on the Ottawa Senators for the fourth time in five years.

Philadelphia took care of the Maple Leafs in the first round last year, and the Presidents' Cup-winning Senators reached the conference finals for the first time.

The Maple Leafs finished one point ahead of the third-place Senators in the Northeast Division to earn home-ice advantage in the series beginning Thursday.

Ed Belfour has been on quite a run -- posting shutouts in Toronto's final two regular-season games -- while Ottawa might have to rely on backup Martin Prusek due to Patrick Lalime's sprained left knee.

Belfour has taken advantage of having newly acquired defenseman Brian Leetch in front of him. Leetch spent his first 16-plus NHL seasons with the New York Rangers before being dealt before the trade deadline.

The Maple Leafs also bolstered their offense last month by adding Ron Francis -- the fourth-leading scorer in NHL history.

Ottawa countered by adding Greg de Vries, another defenseman cast off by the Rangers, and Peter Bondra -- part of the Washington Capitals' sell-off.

"Everybody spent lots of money to get beefed up for the playoffs, and the losing manager of that series is going to have a little egg on his face," Milbury said.