When the Detroit Red Wings face the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the playoffs, the narrative of the entire matchup is undoubtedly centered on former Red Wings and current Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman.

It's been five years since Yzerman made his move to Tampa Bay, and he has implemented a well-executed five-year plan that turned the Lightning into a floundering franchise into one of the league's best young teams.

"Front to back, they have a really good team," Red Wings forward Darren Helm told ESPN.com, referring to a team talent-laden at forward, seasoned on defense, and with virtually two No. 1 goalies.

Wings' captain Henrik Zetterberg agrees adding that the Lightning "play solid defense, they play good in front of their goalie, their goalie is good, and when they get their chances, they're really effective."

The numbers back that up. The Lightning are second in the Eastern Conference in controlling shot attempts at 53.1 percent, and their 5-on-5 goals for/against ratio was at 1.28 for the season, good for second in the entire league. And the Red Wings have shown they find difficulty in matching the Lightning during the regular season, losing all but one of their four games against Tampa Bay.

But as ESPN points out, there might be a different sense of urgency for Detroit this year. Pavel Datsyuk and Zetterberg are at the twilight of their careers, while coach Mike Babcock's deal expires at the end of the season. Those factors could light a fire under a team that has been constantly looking for a firm grasp at consistency.

On the flipside, the Lightning are also playing with a chip on their shoulder. "All summer it was painful," Tyler Johnson said of their winless playoffs last season. "You have such a good season, and all people want to talk about is playoffs: "What happened there?' It fuels you a little more. Now we're having another great season, but we're realizing that the playoffs are really what matters."

Game 1 between the Red Wings and the Lightning is on Thursday at 7:30 pm, check out the live stream link here.