The second round of the NHL Playoffs is underway, and it should be fun. Chicago and Detroit face off for the last times in the same division. Boston and the Rangers face each other in the playoffs for the first time in 40 years. The Penguins face a Senators team that just won’t go away. Los Angeles finally hosts four games in a playoff series, but against a well-rested Sharks squad coming off a sweep as the road team.

All of it makes the series pretty difficult to choose, as just one of the series had a unanimous winner as predicted by our panel. No sweeps were predicted in this round, but predictions for how many games each series will last were also quite diverse.

As before, picking the winner of a series is worth two points, while picking how may games each series will last is worth one point.

That all opens the door for some big movement in the standings after the second round, so check below for the second round picks, and come back once the round is complete for all the results.

Previous Results:

• First Round

What a first round. The only team to sweep an opponent was a #6 seed. The Bruins undertook a comeback for the ages. Pittsburgh was given a run for their money by the Islanders. All of that produced a variety of levels of success for our panel.

The Penguins, Blackhawks and Bruins were all solid choices, and the Sharks weren’t far behind. The rest of the field, difficult to pick, produced mixed results. The length of each series was also hard to choose, further widening the scoring gap between our experts.

So be sure to check the results below to see who’s in the lead, and come back Thursday for the next round’s picks. Continue reading 2013 NHL Playoffs Expert Picks: First Round Results »

The playoffs are upon us, and there are plenty of good match-ups. Boston backed into the postseason and faces Toronto, who you don’t usually see in May. The Blackhawks and Penguins easily solidified their positions. Ottawa barely avoided Pittsburgh in the first round, while Minnesota is just happy to be in, winning a tiebreaker over Columbus.

All of that mix made for some interesting choices for our expert panel. Aside from the two #1/#8 series, only Boston and Toronto had a unanimous winner in all pick sets. And whoever got the nod in their series, St Louis and Los Angeles look to be the most fun to watch, with everyone but one choosing the series to go a full seven games.

As usual, correctly guessing the winner of a series is worth two points, while guessing how many games a series will last is worth one point.

So now that everything is underway, be sure to check below for everyone’s picks, and check back for the results after the first round is complete. Continue reading 2013 NHL Playoffs Expert Picks »