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The best of the 2nd round of the Stanley Cup playoffs
From a four-goal performance to an OTT thriller, check out the best moments from the second round of the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs.
The second round of the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs was perhaps less shocking than the first, with two division winners (in The Vegas Golden Knights and Carolina Hurricanes) along with the Central Division’s No. 2 seed Dallas Stars and Florida Panthers continue their Cinderella run as the final teams to qualify for the postseason.
We’re into the conference finals tonight, starting with Hurricanes-Panthers.8 p.m. ET, TNT) and Friday night with the Golden Knights (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN+).
Which clubs will reach the Stanley Cup Finals? Here are the picks from the extended ESPN Hockey family:
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CAR-FLA
VJK song
Eastern Conference
Sean Allen: Panthers by six
Brian Butcher: Panthers by six
John Buccigross: Panthers by five
Ryan Callahan: Panthers in seven
Cassie Campbell-Pascal: Hurricanes in six
Sachin Chandan Panthers by six
Chris Chelios: Panthers by six
Ryan S. Clark: Storms in seven
Linda Cohn: Panthers in seven
Ray Ferraro: Hurricanes in six
Leah Hextall: Panthers by six
Emily Kaplan: Storms in seven
Tim Kavanaugh: Panthers by six
Peter Lawrence-Riddell: Hurricanes in six
Steve Levy: Panthers in seven
Vince Massey: Hurricanes in six
Victoria Matish: Hurricanes in six
Sean McDonough: Storms in seven
Mark Messer: Panthers in seven
Mike Monaco: Hurricanes in six
Arda Okal: Panthers by six
Christine Shilton: Hurricanes in six
Bob Wischusen: Storms in seven
Greg Wyszynski: Storms in seven
Consensus Prediction: Bound (12 choices each)
Oettinger: Stars can win everything
After the Stars beat the Kraken in Game 7, Jacques Oetting liked his team’s chances against the Golden Knights.
Western Conference
Sean Allen: Stars in six
Brian Butcher: Golden Knights in seven
John Buccigross: Golden Knights in seven
Ryan Callahan: Golden Knights in six
Cassie Campbell-Pascal: Golden Knights in six
Sachin Chandan Stars in seven
Chris Chelios: Golden Knights in seven
Ryan S. Clark: Golden Knights in seven
Linda Cohn: Golden Knights in seven
Ray Ferraro: Golden Knights in seven
Leah Hextall: Stars in seven
Emily Kaplan: Golden Knights in seven
Tim Kavanaugh: Stars in seven
Peter Lawrence-Riddell: Golden Knights in seven
Steve Levy: Golden Knights in seven
Vince Massey: Golden Knights in seven
Victoria Matish: Golden Knights in seven
Mark Messer: Golden Knights in seven
Mike Monaco: Golden Knights in seven
Arda Okal: Stars in six
Christine Shilton: Golden Knights in seven
Bob Wischusen: Stars in seven
Greg Wyszynski: Stars in six
Consensus Prediction: Golden Knights (16 of 23 picks)