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With the Stanley Cup Playoffs set to start, I push out a call to all of our writers, asking for their predictions for the first round. As a group we spent hours pouring over the match-ups, injury reports, and a wide variety of stats before making these predictions, this is a task that we took very seriously.
And to prove that we don't know what we're talking about I also included a coin flip for comparison purposes. A flip coming up heads was a win for the higher ranked team, tails lower, first to four wins obviously.
Let's see what our "experts" think.
Western Conference
| DAL vs MIN | STL vs CHI | ANA vs NAS | LAK vs SJS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corey | Dallas in 6 | St. Louis in 7 | Anaheim in 6 | San Jose in 7 |
| Derek | Dallas in 6 | Chicago in 6 | Anaheim in 6 | Los Angeles in 7 |
| Jeff | Dallas in 5 | Chicago in 6 | Anaheim in 5 | San Jose in 7 |
| Matt | Dallas in 5 | Chicago in 6 | Nashville in 7 | Los Angeles in 6 |
| Ryan | Dallas in 5 | St. Louis in 6 | Anaheim in 6 | Los Angeles in 6 |
| Shona | Dallas in 5 | St. Louis in 6 | Anaheim in 6 | San Jose in 7 |
| Sunil | Dallas in 5 | St. Louis in 6 | Anaheim in 5 | Los Angeles in 7 |
| Zach | Dallas in 5 | St. Louis in 6 | Anaheim in 6 | San Jose in 7 |
| Coin | Dallas in 6 | Chicago in 4 | Anaheim in 7 | San Jose in 6 |
Expert Analysis
Jeff: I want to pick Minnesota to see Devan Dubnyk march into the second round with a level of authority, but I just can't. Dallas is just too damn good. Stars in 5.
Shona: St. Louis in 6 because I hate Chicago.
Matt: I'd like to see Nashville beat Anaheim because I'm pretty sure Corey Perry keeps human heads in his deep freeze. Preds in 7.
Derek: San Jose is still San Jose. Los Angeles in 7 (oh, and the Sharks blow a 3-1 series lead).
Eastern Conference
| FLA vs NYI | TB vs DET | WAS vs PHI | PIT vs NYR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corey | New York in 7 | Tampa in 5 | Washington in 6 | Pittsburgh in 5 |
| Derek | Florida in 7 | Detroit in 6 | Washington in 5 | New York in 7 |
| Jeff | Florida in 6 | Tampa Bay in 5 | Washington in 5 | Pittsburgh in 7 |
| Matt | Florida in 4 | Detroit in 6 | Washington in 5 | Pittsburgh in 6 |
| Ryan | Florida in 6 | Tampa Bay in 7 | Philadelphia in 6 | Pittsburgh in 5 |
| Shona | Florida in 6 | Detroit in 7 | Washington in 6 | Pittsburgh in 6 |
| Sunil | Florida in 6 | Tampa Bay in 6 | Washington in 5 | Pittsburgh in 6 |
| Zach | Florida in 7 | Tampa Bay in 7 | Washington in 5 | Pittsburgh in 6 |
| Coin | Florida in 5 | Detroit in 5 | Philadelphia in 7 | Pittsburgh in 6 |
Expert Analysis
Matt: The Barclay's Center was a New Jersey basketball team's home building first. As such, it doesn't deserve to see a New York team win. Florida in 4. No sweep til Brooklyn. It probably won't happen, I just needed an excuse to write that.
Derek: No Stamkos and Datsyuk's last playoffs as a Red Wing? Detroit in 6.
Ryan: Have the Caps been the better team over 82 games? Sure. The better team over the last two months? Probably not. I'll take the better team right now in six games. Philadelphia has to win it in six because they won't win a Game 7 in Washington.
Zach: Sidney Crosby finally decided to play some hockey this year and is leading a surging Penguins into the playoffs. This team is reminiscent of the one that won a cup in 2009. Pens in 6.