The Dobber writers weigh in on the third round of the playoffs.

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The crew is backing the Penguins, but the Western Conference Final is much more contested.

Here is the experts panel on the third round:

Consensus: PIT (13-3) and SJ (9-7)

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Some commentary from a few of the writers:

Dobber

St. Louis in 7

Do you think that after squeaking by Chicago and Dallas, St. Louis will let San Jose take them out? Not on your life. I would argue that St. Louis is a much better team than Nashville, which means the Sharks will have their hands full. I would also argue that San Jose is not a better team than Dallas – at least not by much. The Blues win this but the Sharks make it interesting.

Pittsburgh in 6

I picked the Penguins a lot over the last couple of years, and I suffered for it. Last round I decided to finally learn my lesson and pick against them. Of course, that's when they put down the best team in hockey. Lesson learned. Pittsburgh is the hottest team in the NHL since Christmas and can now wear the 'best team in hockey' crown. Kudos to the Lightning for taking it this far despite the injuries – and they were my preseason Stanley Cup pick – but the party is over.

Pudsey

That SJ PP is deadly but the the Blues depth with all four lines will be the difference here.

This one is really a flip of the coin for me as I see both teams pretty even. I do prefer Ben Bishop in the H2H of the goalies and the possibility of Stralman coming back at some point in this series is just enough to make me lean a hair in Tampa's direction.

Roos

Of course I'm going with Pittsburgh and San Jose since….thinly veiled brag…..I originally chose that as my finals match-up (if you check my SportsNet picks, I had St. Louis as part of the final four too). 

But here's the thing – I actually think Tampa Bay will give Pittsburgh a tougher test than the Caps did, as even without Stamkos the Lightning have proven they're just such a sound, playoff-tested team with great depth, plus big Ben Bishop in net who's quietly looked amazingly solid. 

Out West, I'd be more scared of St. Louis had they breezed through Nashville and the Sharks not looking so emphatically strong in their game 7 win.  Jones is still capable of a stinker in net, but so too is Elliott; and Jones has shown he's strong enough not to allow a bad game to unravel him.  More and more it's looking like this is indeed San Jose's year.

Wassel

Brent Burns with the series clincher for the Sharks and Kessel for the Pens. 

Parker

I missed the orginal round of picks and am not one to jump in late, but here is the stat pack I promised.

Just a couple notes to add. 

First, the playoff statistics are obviously small sample sizes, but they're not meaningless. Additionally, the below-average shot and Corsi numbers shouldn't surprise because these teams sat on a lot of leads — and sometime big leads — to this point.

How big of a power-play advantage does San Jose have? As long as St. Louis keeps the penalty differential close, special teams might not be as pronounced a difference as many will make it out to be. If there is an edge for San Jose, it would be their blue line, but again, St. Louis isn't a bad crew, by any stretch. I like the Blues here, and likely with another Game 7 win.

Pittsburgh's depth should present problems for Tampa Bay, especially the speed of the Pittsburgh supporting pieces. The Penguins have a marked power-play advantage, and they have all kinds of momentum. I typically fade the public, but Pittsburgh looks locked in. Going on the safe side with Tampa Bay eeking out two wins.

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Who are you backing?