On Wednesday night, the Anaheim Ducks will host the Nashville Predators in the final game of Round 1 (the game will be broadcast on Sportsnet at 10 p.m. ET).
The Ducks have seen their last three seasons end with a Game 7 loss at home after blowing a 3-2 series lead and will be hoping not to do the same for the fourth consecutive year.
The Predators will be looking to win just their third playoff series in franchise history.
Here are some Game 7 numbers worth mentioning.
0 – The amount of Game 7s the Predators have played in. Wednesday night’s will be the first in the 18-year-old franchise’s history.
.586 – The all-time winning percentage of of the home team (95-67) in Game 7s.
.741 – The all-time winning percentage of the team that scores first (120-42).
.808 – The career Game 7 save percentage for Anaheim starter Frederik Andersen, to go along with a 5.29 goals-against average. If Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau is tempted to give 22-year-old John Gibson the nod, he’ll have to overlook an even worse stat line: the .778 save percentage and a 10.89 goals-against average Gibson accrued in a brutal start against the Los Angeles Kings in 2014.
Neither of Nashville’s Pekka Rinne or Carter Hutton has played in a Game 7 before.
1 – Mike Ribeiro has won one Game 7 in his career, and is the only Predator to have done so. The rest of his teammates are a combined 0-8.
2 – Kevin Bieksa is 2-1 in Game 7s in his career, giving him the most wins of any Anaheim player. The rest of his teammates are a combined 5-30.
3 – The largest deficit that’s ever been overcome in a Game 7. The 2012-13 Boston Bruins are the most recent team to come back from down three goals when they erased a 4-1 Toronto lead to eliminate the Maple Leafs in overtime. The hero from that game, Patrice Bergeron, was confronted by Steve Dangle ahead of this season.
Before then, the Bruins were the most recent team to blow a three-goal Game 7 lead, falling to the Philadelphia Flyers in 2010.
4 – The most career Game 7 points of any player (Corey Perry) coming into Wednesday night’s contest. Perry has three goals and one assist in five Game 7s. No one on the Predators has ever registered a point in a Game 7.
5 – Predators bench boss Peter Laviolette has coached five Game 7s, winning his last four. His only loss was with the New York Islanders against the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2002.
7 – Boudreau has coached seven Game 7s, but hasn’t been nearly as successful. His 1-6 record includes five straight defeats in which his teams have been outscored 22-10. Boudreau’s only win came with the Washington Capitals against the New York Rangers in 2009.
7 – Anaheim has played in seven Game 7s, and has a 2-5 record, including four straight losses. Their last Game 7 win was a 3-0 shutout of the Calgary Flames in 2006.
40 – The amount of Game 7s that have gone to overtime. Home and road teams have split the wins at 20 apiece. The last Game 7 to go to overtime was in Round 2 of last year’s playoffs. Derek Stepan scored the winner as the Rangers overcame a 3-1 series deficit to eliminate the Capitals.
While neither of these two teams have been in an overtime Game 7, Boudreau was on the losing end of one in 2008. Joffrey Lupul scored the winner as the Flyers upset the Capitals in their first-round series.
40 – This is also the amount of Game 7s the NHL has seen since 2009, more than any other series length. Six- five- and four-game series have occurred 35, 24 and 14 times respectively.
162 – The amount of Game 7s that have been played in the NHL’s entire history.
