The first round saw a few unexpected results, as the panel ended up finishing 4-4 on the eight series. See the first-round picks here. The panel's lifetime record is now 154-100 when it comes to postseason predictions.

Without further ado, here are the Dobber writers' picks for the second round:

For the coin toss, heads was the higher-seeded team. The coin toss results aren't counted among the aggregate results – they are used to break potential deadlocks and embarrass any of our writers if needed.

Note that the number of games is the average number of games picked by the panel and does not factor in who will win the series.

Strong Favorites

Only one writer picked Philadelphia to upset Carolina (he will look very smart if the Flyers can pull off an upset!) The almost unanimous Carolina selection may partially be due to the fact that Game 1 had already been played before Game 7 of the Montreal/Tampa Bay series was finished (and thus the entire article could be published). The majority of writers probably would have picked the Hurricanes anyway, and the Game 1 result reinforces that they should be strong favorites. Is this the year that the current core of the Hurricanes finally reaches the Stanley Cup Final?

Too Close to Call

The panel made Montreal a slight favorite over Buffalo. Fresh off a Game 7 win, Montreal will need to quickly refocus against a slightly more well-rested Sabres squad. The Sabres and Canadiens were separated by only three points during the regular season. The Golden Knights and Ducks were also separated by only three points, although Vegas was considered more of a favorite in the Pacific Division showdown.

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.

Ian Gooding is the managing editor of DobberHockey and a regular writer on the daily Ramblings beat, also providing monthly Top 100 Roto Rankings. 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, writing the Ramblings multiple times per week. He also covers DFS for Stokastic and has also written for EP Rinkside.

Alex MacLean is an associate editor and writes the Ramblings once a week. He was previously the author of the Capped column and also contributes salary cap league rankings.

Puneet Sharma is also an associate editor who also writes the Ramblings once a week. He has covered both the Top 10 list and The Journey in the past. Puneet is also a senior writer at Dobber Prospects.

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.

Rick Roos authors the weekly Roos Let Loose column every Wednesday, covering a variety of topics. He is the former Cage Match writer for DobberHockey.

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

Michael Amato is the Goalie Post editor who provides the latest starting goalie information and writes the Goalie Ramblings. He also covers fantasy hockey for Sportsnet and has also co-hosted the Sleepers & Keepers podcast for The Hockey News. 

Chris Kane writes the Frozen Tools Forensics column on Fridays, emphasizing what he finds on Frozen Tools.

Lucas Main keeps an eye on everything Western Conference in the Wild West column every Monday. He shifts over to line combinations on Tuesdays with Lining Up.

Andrew Santillo shares salary cap league thoughts in Capped on Thursdays. He's a very busy guy, also sharing his DFS picks two days a week.

Ryan Brudner covers what you need to know about NHL betting in his weekday article Puck Picks. He has also written the Geek of the Week column, has written for GoaliePost, and has contributed goalie stats to Frozen Tools.

Stas Pupkov dives deep into advanced stats with Analytics Advantage every Thursday.

Mike Ouellet focuses on Eastern Conference teams in the Eastern Edge column. He also writes for GoaliePost.

Logan Clarkson details the key injuries you need to know about every Wednesday and Sunday in Injury Ward. He has also written for GoaliePost.

Caleb Desjardins authors our popular Top 10 column. He also checks out what’s coming down the pipe schedule-wise with the Looking Ahead column every Friday.

Victor Nuno shares his extensive prospect knowledge in The Journey every Saturday. Also known as the Fantasy Hockey Doctor, Victor is also the co-host of the Fantasy Hockey Life podcast and is an editor for DobberProspects. 

Garrett Finlay writes for GoaliePost, and he also creates videos for several DobberHockey writers.

Enjoy the playoffs, folks!