The NHL playoffs in 2020 are past the awkward but comfortable qualifying round, and we are now at the visited, 16-team tournament to which we are all accustomed. Once this time round: Instead of a bracket, the teams will be racked up after each round, so that the highest seed plays the lowest in each conference.
There’s a wealth of history in this round – on the team vs. team and player vs. player levels – and if the previous games are any indication, we are in for a special set of matches.
We’ve gathered our panel of NHL experts to hear their picks on each series in the first official round of the 2020 playoffs, along with how many games it will take to reach the result anyway.
More: Watch the full NHL postseason schedule here.
Going to:
PHI-MTL | TB-CBJ | WSH-NYI | BOS-CAR
VGK-CHI | COL-ARI | DAL-CGY | STL-VAN
Eastern Conference
Sean Allen: Canadiens in six
Ben Arledge: Flyers in six
Pierre Becquey: Flyers in sand
John Buccigross: Flyers in five
Sach Chandan: Canadiens in six
Linda Cohn: Flyers in six
Dimitri Filipovic: Flyers in five
Emily Kaplan: Flyers in six
Tim Kavanagh: Flyers in five
Don La Greca: Flyers in five
Vince Masi: Flyers in five
Victoria Matiash: Flyers in six
Barry Melrose: Flyers in five
Arda Ocal: Canadiens in sand
Greg Wyshynski: Flyers in five
Consensus pick: Flyers (12/15)
Sean Allen: Lightning in six
Ben Arledge: Lightning in six
Pierre Becquey: Lightning in five
John Buccigross: Lightning in sand
Sach Chandan: Lightning in sand
Linda Cohn: Lightning in sand
Dimitri Filipovic: Lightning in five
Emily Kaplan: Lightning in sand
Tim Kavanagh: Blue jackets in sand
Don La Greca: Lightning in six
Vince Masi: Blue jackets in sand
Victoria Matiash: Blue jackets in sand
Barry Melrose: Blue jackets in six
Arda Ocal: Blue jackets in sand
Greg Wyshynski: Lightning in sand
Consensus pick: lightning (10/15)
Sean Allen: Capitals in five
Ben Arledge: Capitals in sand
Pierre Becquey: Islanders in sand
John Buccigross: Capitals in sand
Sach Chandan: Islanders in six
Linda Cohn: Capitals in sand
Dimitri Filipovic: Capitals in sand
Emily Kaplan: Islanders in sand
Tim Kavanagh: Capitals in six
Don La Greca: Islanders in sand
Vince Masi: Capitals in six
Victoria Matiash: Capitals in six
Barry Melrose: Islanders in six
Arda Ocal: Islanders in five
Greg Wyshynski: Capitals in six
Consensus Choice: Capitals (9/15)
Sean Allen: Hurricanes in sand
Ben Arledge: Hurricanes in sand
Pierre Becquey: Browns a five
John Buccigross: Hurricanes in sand
Sach Chandan: Hurricanes in five
Linda Cohn: Hurricanes in sand
Dimitri Filipovic: Hurricanes in six
Emily Kaplan: Hurricanes in sand
Tim Kavanagh: Bruins in six
Don La Greca: Hurricanes in six
Vince Masi: Hurricanes in sand
Victoria Matiash: Hurricanes in sand
Barry Melrose: Hurricanes in sand
Arda Ocal: Hurricanes in six
Greg Wyshynski: Hurricanes in six
Consensus Picks: Hurricanes (13/15)
Western Conference
Sean Allen: Golden Knights in six
Ben Arledge: Golden Knights in five
Pierre Becquey: Golden Knights in six
John Buccigross: Golden Knights in sand
Sach Chandan: Golden Knights in five
Linda Cohn: Golden Knights in sand
Dimitri Filipovic: Golden Knights in four
Emily Kaplan: Blackhawks in sand
Tim Kavanagh: Blackhawks in sand
Don La Greca: Golden Knights in five
Vince Masi: Golden Knights in five
Victoria Matiash: Golden Knights in six
Barry Melrose: Golden Knights in six
Arda Ocal: Blackhawks in sand
Greg Wyshynski: Golden Knights in four
Consensus pick: Golden Knights (12/15)
Sean Allen: Avalanche in five
Ben Arledge: Avalanche in five
Pierre Becquey: Avalanche in five
John Buccigross: Avalanche in six
Sach Chandan: Coyotes in sand
Linda Cohn: Avalanche in six
Dimitri Filipovic: Avalanche in five
Emily Kaplan: Avalanche in six
Tim Kavanagh: Coyotes in six
Don La Greca: Avalanche in six
Vince Masi: Avalanche in five
Victoria Matiash: Avalanche in five
Barry Melrose: Avalanche in five
Arda Ocal: Coyotes in sand
Greg Wyshynski: Avalanche in six
Consensus pick: Avalanche (12/15)
Sean Allen: Stars in sand
Ben Arledge: Flames in six
Pierre Becquey: Stars in six
John Buccigross: Stars in sand
Sach Chandan: Stars in four
Linda Cohn: Flames in six
Dimitri Filipovic: Stars in sand
Emily Kaplan: Flames in sand
Tim Kavanagh: Stars in sand
Don La Greca: Stars in six
Vince Masi: Stars in sand
Victoria Matiash: Flames in six
Barry Melrose: Flames in six
Arda Ocal: Flames in six
Greg Wyshynski: Stars in sand
Consensus pick: Stars (9/15)
Sean Allen: Canucks in six
Ben Arledge: Blues in sand
Pierre Becquey: Blues in six
John Buccigross: Blues in sand
Sach Chandan: Canucks in six
Linda Cohn: Blues in sand
Dimitri Filipovic: Blues in six
Emily Kaplan: Blues in six
Tim Kavanagh: Blues in five
Don La Greca: Blues in five
Vince Masi: Blues in sand
Victoria Matiash: Blues in six
Barry Melrose: Blues in five
Arda Ocal: Canucks in sand
Greg Wyshynski: Canucks in six
Consensus Picks: Blues (11/15)
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