Get ready for another round of Brandon Dubinsky versus Sidney Crosby.

The two centers will collide when the Columbus Blue Jackets and Pittsburgh Penguins meet in the opening round of the playoffs. The Metropolitan Division matchup was set in stone following Wednesday's contests.

The two sides met in the postseason three years ago, just the second time in franchise history the Blue Jackets made the dance after joining the NHL in 2000.

In that hard-fought six-game series, all but one game was decided by a single goal. The Blue Jackets captured a pair of victories in extra time, but the Penguins ultimately advanced.

Both squads have undergone extensive changes since: Just 15 of the 40 players who competed in Game 6 are still with their club. Each side scratched six players that night, and all 12 are out of the picture.

The changes didn't stop on the ice. Mike Sullivan's now behind the Pittsburgh bench, not Dan Bylsma, while John Tortorella has stepped in for Todd Richards as head coach in the Ohio capital. Interestingly enough, Sullivan was an assistant to Tortorella during his short tenure with the Vancouver Canucks.

Here's a look at the 15 players set to renew the budding rivalry this spring:

Forwards

The forward ranks contain the biggest crop of players returning from the 2014 affair, including Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Chris Kunitz for the Penguins. Meanwhile, five frontmen remain with the Blue Jackets: Dubinsky, captain Nick Foligno, Cam Atkinson, Boone Jenner, and Matt Calvert.

Foligno and Calvert potted the two overtime winners for the Blue Jackets in 2014. Calvert's Game 2 goal notched the first playoff win in franchise history. (Columbus made its first playoff appearance in 2009 but was swept by the Detroit Red Wings.)

Malkin was the Penguins' top-scoring forward through the series, registering three goals and four assists, while Dubinsky and the since-traded Ryan Johansen led all Blue Jackets forwards with six points.

Defense

Just five players combined come back on the blue line: Kris Letang and Olli Maatta for Pittsburgh, and Jack Johnson, Ryan Murray, and David Savard for Columbus.

In practical terms, it's a four-person list, as it was announced Wednesday that Letang will miss the next four-to-six months following a neck injury.

Johnson led Columbus rearguards in playoff scoring in 2014, coming away with seven points, while blue-liners Matt Niskanen and Paul Martin, both since departed, picked up eight points apiece for the Penguins. Maatta collected two points in six games.

Goaltenders

Each side returns a goaltender to the series, but things have changed for both of them since 2014.

Columbus' Sergei Bobrovsky is the NHL's top goalie this season, owning an NHL-best .933 save percentage and standing second to only Washington's Braden Holtby in wins. But Bobrovsky wasn't nearly as successful the last time the two sides met in the playoffs. He picked up two wins in six games alongside a .908 save rate and 3.08 goals-against average.

Penguins veteran Marc-Andre Fleury, meanwhile, is on bench duty after losing the top job to youngster Matt Murray. The 22-year-old led the Penguins to the Stanley Cup a year ago. In a pinch, Fleury offers solid support in goal. In six games against Columbus in 2014, Fleury posted a .908 save percentage and 2.81 GAA.

(Photos courtesy: Action Images)

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