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The top player matchups in each playoff series -- and who will win

Erik Karlsson and Brad Marchand are their teams' leading scorers, and could see a lot of each other in their first-round series. Which team has the edge? Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire

Hockey may be the ultimate team sport, but certain player-on-player matchups can help set the tone of an entire game, and the direction of an entire playoff series.

Even when an individual's success relies on the support he receives from his teammates, not to mention a few lucky bounces, closely following a key matchup can provide a key indication of how well the team is executing its strategies on the whole.

As we get set to kick off another exciting edition of the Stanley Cup playoffs, let's take a look at the numbers behind one key matchup for every series, and determine which team has the edge in each case: