2010 NHL Playoffs Expert Picks: Round 2

By John in Bruins, Featured, Now!, Opinion ⋅ April 30, 2010 at 6:39am ⋅ Post a comment

How much of a difference will Marc Savard make against the Flyers? (Boston Globe Staff Photo / Jim Davis)

After a surprising first round, the Red Wings kick off Round 2; Detroit aims to be a much tougher challenge for the Sharks than Colorado was. Thanks to Round 1, all eight seeds are represented in the second round: #1 San Jose Sharks, #2 Chicago Blackhawks, #3 Vancouver Canucks, #4 Pittburgh Penguins, #5 Detroit Red Wings, #6 Boston Bruins, #7 Philadelphia Flyers, and #8 Montreal Canadiens. That has to be history with something like that happening.

Speaking of the upstart Canadiens, of the previous eight #8 seeds to knock off the top dog, only the 2006 Edmonton Oilers even made it out of the second round. They lost to Carolina in the Stanley Cup Finals. History is not on their side, but Montreal was very effective in stifling Washington’s game.

This round, our six experts are all in agreement as to how the next round will turn out, except for Erikk, who has Vancouver over Chicago. That gives everyone else the edge they need to catch up to his lead, with extra points for guessing series length will allow everyone to try to gain the slightest extra leverage going into the Conference Finals.

As before, experts will get two points for correctly guessing a series winner, and one point for correctly guessing how many games each series will last. Not that the two points will matter much, but you can check below for the specifics of our picks:

	Name	Brian	Erikk	John	KC	Mike P	Teddy
Penguins vs Canadiens	Winner	Penguins	Penguins	Penguins	Penguins	Penguins	Penguins
	Series Length	5	6	5	5	6	6
Bruins vs Flyers	Winner	Bruins	Bruins	Bruins	Bruins	Bruins	Bruins
	Series Length	6	5	6	7	6	6
Sharks vs Red Wings	Winner	Red Wings	Red Wings	Red Wings	Red Wings	Red Wings	Red Wings
	Series Length	7	6	6	6	7	7
Blackhawks vs Canucks	Winner	Blackhawks	Canucks	Blackhawks	Blackhawks	Blackhawks	Blackhawks
	Series Length	6	7	6	7	6	5
Total	Points	12	15	13	14	13	12

…..

Round 1

	Name	Brian	Erikk	John	KC	Mike P	Teddy
Capitals vs Canadiens	Winner	Capitals	Capitals	Capitals	Capitals	Capitals	Capitals
	Series Length	5	-4-	-4-	-4-	-4-	5
Devils vs Flyers	Winner	Devils	Devils	Devils	Devils	Devils	Flyers
	Series Length	6	5	7	5	7	6
Sabres vs Bruins	Winner	Bruins	Bruins	Sabres	Bruins	Bruins	Sabres
	Series Length	7	7	7	7	7	5
Penguins vs Senators	Winner	Penguins	Penguins	Penguins	Penguins	Penguins	Penguins
	Series Length	5	6	6	6	6	6
Sharks vs Avalanche	Winner	Sharks	Sharks	Sharks	Sharks	Sharks	Sharks
	Series Length	7	5	6	6	6	-4-
Blackhawks vs Predators	Winner	Blackhawks	Blackhawks	Blackhawks	Blackhawks	Blackhawks	Blackhawks
	Series Length	5	-4-	5	6	6	5
Canucks vs Kings	Winner	Canucks	Canucks	Canucks	Kings	Kings	Canucks
	Series Length	7	6	6	7	7	5
Coyotes vs Red Wings	Winner	Red Wings	Red Wings	Red Wings	Red Wings	Red Wings	Coyotes
	Series Length	6	6	6	6	5	7
Total	Points	12	15	13	14	13	12