The panel performed a little better in the second round, making it to .500. It guessed both Western Conference winners correctly (St. Louis, San Jose) while missing on both Eastern Conference winners (Boston, Carolina). The coin toss, though… 4 for 4! So yeah, we’ll keep that coin toss going through the rest of the playoffs. Maybe if we used that coin during Round 1, we’d all be in better shape.

With just three series to go, the panel will sadly finish below .500 for the 2019 playoffs (currently a 4-8 record). It’s been that kind of playoffs for many, though. Check out the full list of Round 1 picks and Round 2 picks.  

The panel’s lifetime overall record after the second round is 93-53.

Here are the conference final (Round 3) matchups:

Eastern Conference

Boston Bruins vs. Carolina Hurricanes

Western Conference

San Jose Sharks vs. St. Louis Blues

About the panel's picks:

Multiple respondents mentioned that they will cheer for Carolina yet believe that Boston would win. That would probably reflect the thoughts and allegiances of many other fans. The two Eastern Conference opponents might be closer than what you’d think at first glance. Since the new year, the Hurricanes and Bruins recorded nearly the same number of points (62-61 for the Canes, although the Canes also played one more game). That was good for third and fourth in the NHL over that span.

The team with the highest point total since the new year? The St. Louis Blues with 65 points. The Blues were tied with the Ottawa Senators for the fewest points at the new year, so this has been an unprecedented turnaround. However, the Sharks appear to be as deep a team as any remaining in these playoffs. Plus they will have home-ice advantage in the loud Shark Tank (SAP Center). The Sharks, by the way, finished with 52 points after the new year (eighth in the NHL).

If the panel’s prediction comes true in both series, we will have ourselves the first Joe Thornton Invitational. If this is Thornton’s last season, what a way to end his career.

For the coin toss, the team with home-ice advantage was given heads. Each team was given seven games. The coin used was a US quarter (appropriate since all the teams are US-based).

Here are our full results, with the consensus picks in the final box of the table below.

Agree? Disagree? Comments?

About the panel:

Dobber launched this website in 2005 after he was the fantasy hockey columnist for The Hockey News website, The Fantasy Sports Network, and a contributor to The Forecaster. DobberHockey has since grown into the Dobber Sports Network and has work can be found across the Internet, including on Sportsnet.

Ian Gooding is the managing editor of DobberHockey and a regular writer on the daily Ramblings beat. He has also contributed to many other sites, including Sportsnet, Today’s Slapshot, Kukla’s Korner, and fantasyhockey.com.

Mike Clifford is an associate editor of DobberHockey and contributor for Rotowire and other fantasy hockey ventures.

Cam Robinson is the managing editor at DobberProspects and, along with Ian Gooding and Mike Clifford, collaborates to Daily Ramblings. He is a regular guest on Vancouver sports talk radio.

Mario Prata is the manager of special projects and marketing for Dobber Sports. He is also a co-founder of the famous The Sports Forecaster magazine.

Eric Daoust manages our valued Frozen Pool section.

Tom Collins writes the weekly Top 10 column that can be found here every Monday.

Rick Roos authors the weekly Roos Let Loose column every Wednesday. He is the former Cage Match writer for Dobber Hockey.

Adam Daly-Frey checks out what's coming down the pipe with the Looking Ahead column every Friday.

Alex MacLean authors the salary cap column Capped, which can be found here every Thursday.

Brennan DeSouza writes the weekly line combinations column every Tuesday, and gives us the latest injury information every Wednesday.

Brayden Olafson pens the weekly prospect column The Journey that can be found here every Saturday. He has also contributed to Dobber Prospects.

Grant Campbell writes the Frozen Pool Forensics column on Fridays.

Cam Metz pens the Eastern Edge column that is published on Tuesdays.

Chris Kane writes the weekly Wild West column every Monday.

Flip Livingstone is our Saturday game picks author. He is a former NHL writer for theScore with past experience at such outlets as Postmedia, Hockey Night in Canada, and the CBC.

Michael Zacour is our Geek of the Week author and a regular contributor on the Forum.

Enjoy the playoffs, folks!