NHL Playoff Expert Picks & Preview: The Battle Of Canada Begins

We're into the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs now. Every day of the NHL postseason, Michel Anderson and myself, have you set with daily expert picks.

Read all of our picks or jump ahead to the game you're most interested in: 

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Rolling Records
Michel: 30-18 (+4.23 Units)
Josie: 22-24 (-0.46 Units)

Game 2: bruins vs panthers preview & pick
The Game: Boston Bruins vs Florida Panthers, 7:30 PM

Josie's Take: If one thing is for sure, the Panther's break ahead of the second round was a curse. Florida looked rusty while Boston's one-day vacay had the wheels well-oiled. Jeremy Swayman proved why he's an early Conn Smythe contender, stopping 38 of 39 shots.

What should be the most alarming for the Panthers is that the Bruins are playing cohesive hockey, with five different guys etching their names on the scoresheet. 

I'm convinced we saw the worst of Florida in the series opener. I'll give them a chance to regroup. But, by no means will it be a blowout. Plus, the underdog has covered the puckline in five straight meetings between these two.

Pick: Bruins +1.5 (-180)

See Josie's +436 three-leg parlay for tonight's matchup

Michel's Take: I knew the Panthers would struggle after a long break since eliminating the Tampa Bay Lightning. Playoff teams are an unconvincing 69-62SU since 2020 when facing a break of longer than two days.

So now that the rust is off. I'm siding with the Florida Panthers.

Florida is 19-12SU following a loss this season. Following their last three losses, Florida is 3-0 with a +13 goal differential. They also covered the -1.5 puckline in all three of those outings. On the season, Florida did a really good job at covering the puckline as favorites this year, doing so 42% of the time.

And look, in Game 1, the Panthers dominated the shot share 86-53 and won the xG battle 3.4 to 3.16. Now that they're in the flow of the series and the rust is off. I don't doubt they'll take Game 2 at home by at least two goals.

Pick: Panthers -1.5 (-180)

Game 1: oilers vs canucks preview & picks
The Game: edmonton oilers vs vancouver canucks, 10 PM

Josie's Take: McDavid is riding into the second round carrying 12 points while Draisaitl has also reached the double-digit mark and Hyman soaring with seven goals. Put that skill up against the shaky goaltending situation in Vancouver. Demko is listed week to week, DeSmith remains out. Rookie Silovs, recording a 938SV% in his three starts last series, stood tall but the Oilers are a different beast.

Pick: Oilers ML (-130)

Michel's Take: I'm riding the OVER for Game 1 of this series. In the West, OVER 6.0 goals has hit in four of five series openers so far. The series opener that didn't hit was Vancouver-Nashville and it pushed with six goals scored.

Three of the four meetings between these two Canadian rivals this season have gone OVER six goals. Heck, in the past two seasons, the total went beyond six goals five times in seven games (71%). 

And Vancouver is counting on Arturs Silovs who's played 12 career NHL games with a career 0.908SV% and who's not faced more than 37 shots. The Oilers put up 40 or more shots twice against LA and 17 times during the regular season. They're going to bury this kid with pucks and there's no way he stops enough. 

Speaking of burying Silovs in shots, spare a thought for Evander Kane's shot prop tonight. The odds for OVER 2.5 shots is a nice -125. Kane leads all Oilers for shots per 60 (in all situations) at 14.51. When he sees the puck it's going on net. And with all that rubber being launched Silovs's way I have no doubt he gets at least three tonight.

Pick: OVER 6.0 (-118)