By Jonathan Lee
The second round of the NHL playoffs features an interesting quirk thanks to re-seeding. Each seed is represented once one through eight. AccuScore did very well in the opening round picking the series even with all the upheaval in both conferences. The computer correctly gave tremendous value to three of the four upsets.
Every pick for each game can be found on the NHL expert picks page. Not yet a member of AccuScore? Join now and use coupon code "April2012" to get 25% off an annual membership and get every pick for the Stanley Cup playoffs, the NBA playoffs, European soccer, baseball, and college football and the NBA.
The first round highlights:
All round 1 value picks: 4-4, 50% +115
Picked Nashville at 56.5% despite being 49.5% underdog
Picked Los Angeles at 43% despite being a heavy 35% underdog
Picked Washington at 45% despite being a heavy 33.4% underdog
This round of the postseason features a 1 vs. 7, 5 vs. 6, 2 vs. 7, and 3 vs. 4. Below are the AccuScore simulations for each series with both the favored team and the team that represents the best value compared to the betting line.
|
SERIES
|
LINE
|
LINE%
|
ACC%
|
|
St. Louis
|
-166
|
60.9%
|
55.3%
|
|
Los Angeles
|
150
|
39.1%
|
44.7%
|
FAVORED: St. Louis
VALUE: Los Angeles
|
SERIES
|
LINE
|
LINE%
|
ACC%
|
|
Nashville
|
-158
|
59.8%
|
60.9%
|
|
Phoenix
|
143
|
40.2%
|
39.1%
|
FAVORED: Nashville
VALUE: Nashville
|
SERIES
|
LINE
|
LINE%
|
ACC%
|
|
New York
|
-190
|
64.0%
|
59.2%
|
|
Washington
|
171
|
36.0%
|
40.8%
|
FAVORED: New York
VALUE: Washington
|
SERIES
|
LINE
|
LINE%
|
ACC%
|
|
Philadelphia
|
-170
|
61.4%
|
52.7%
|
|
New Jersey
|
153
|
38.6%
|
47.3%
|
FAVORED: Philadelphia
VALUE: New Jersey
The largest value is New Jersey being only slight underdogs in the series at 47.3 percent, but are priced at 38.6 percent. Nashville is the only team to be both the AccuScore favorite, and be a betting value.
