Not quite sure if there is anything more exciting in sports than the opening-round of the NHL’s Stanley Cup playoffs: the franchise-altering sweeps, the out-of-nowhere heroes, the crushing defeats that could haunt a man until death.
We sketch the picture of 2013’s indelible first round through a series of telling stats.
17 games of 2013’s Round 1 decided in overtime (36.2% of all the round’s contests), a new NHL record
16 games in Round 1 decided in overtime in 2012, a short-lived NHL record
17 years since all of the Original Six teams qualified for the playoffs, a streak broken this season
41 years since both the New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia Flyers missed the postseason, as they did this season
19 years since all four major Philadelphia sports teams missed the playoffs
3 Swedish sports legends to whom Henrik Lundqvist pays tribute on his new playoff mask:
My new playoff bucket. My salute to 3 Swedish sport legends..#Borg #Stenmark #Johansson Hope you guys like it. twitter.com/HLundqvist30/s…
— Henrik Lundqvist (@HLundqvist30) April 29, 2013
3 cuts in Patrick Kane’s playoff mullet
2 cuts in Brandon Saad’s similar ‘do: “I’ve got to earn my stripes,” the rookie said
https://twitter.com/mikegiordano19/status/331741613640540161
77 postseason games played by the Penguins’ Bruce Orpik before he scored a goal
106 consecutive games total Orpik had gone scoreless before he potted the series-clincher in overtime
60% face-offs won by the Boston Bruins in their series versus the Maple Leafs
61 number of the Habs’ Raphael Diaz, and Sens coach Paul MacLean’s (disrespectful?) name for Diaz
6 of the Bruins’ last seven playoff series that have been pushed to a seventh game
6 games, of six played, in the Kings-Blues series decided by a single goal
5:01 total duration, in minutes and seconds, that one team in the Blues-Kings series held a lead greater than one goal (1.2% of the time)
31:37 ice time, per game, averaged by Minnesota Wild defenceman Ryan Suter, almost three minutes more than the playoffs’ second-most-used player, Zdeno Chara
30 seconds, the length of Coach MacLean’s timeout that irked Habs coach Michel Therrien
$29.10 price of a “Paulrus” onesie
236 penalty minutes racked up by the Sens and Habs in Game 3, not a playoff record
32 goals scored in the regular season by Rocket Richard Trophy winner Alex Ovechkin
1 goal scored by Ovechkin in the Capitals’ seven-game series loss to the Rangers
4 goals scored by Phil Kessel in the Leafs-Bruins series
0 goals scored by Tyler Seguin and Dougie Hamilton in the Leafs-Bruins series
0 penalty minutes registered by the San Jose Sharks’ Raffi Torres, consensus villain of the 2012 playoffs
0 members of the media that showed up to cover the AHL’s Toronto Marlies on the day of the Maple Leafs’ first home playoff game in nine years
https://twitter.com/dallaseakins/status/331451031814803457
40 goals allowed by Marc-Andre Fleury in his last 10 playoff games
4 million dollars the Penguins offered Tomas Vokoun to become Fleury’s backup for two years
34 years since two goalies from one team both recorded shutouts in the same series, as Fleury and Vokoun did
4 of the last five winners of a Ducks-Red Wings playoff series that went on to win the Cup (good news, Wings fans)
4 NHL record for most Game 7 overtime victories, now co-held by the Bruins and Red Wings
4 assists registered by Zdeno Chara in one game, the most ever by a Boston Bruins defenceman
3 players in NHL history to tie a Game 7 then win that same Game 7 in overtime with consecutive goals, an exclusive club joined by Boston’s Patrice Bergeron
3 months since Josh Harding, who is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, started a game; a Niklas Backstrom injury during warmups thrust him into emergency action in Game 1
2 goalies in the Sens-Habs series that lost a tooth
2 games Roberto Luongo started, and lost, for the Canucks in the 2012 playoffs
2 games Luongo started, and lost, for the Canucks in the 2013 playoffs
4 games, at least, Luongo should’ve started in the 2013 playoffs (hindsight advantage)
13-0 margin by which the Senators outscored the Habs in the third period and overtime of their five-game series, the largest disparity ever
2 seed of the Anaheim Ducks and Montreal Canadiens, both of whom were upset by 7 seeds
2-7 split, the easiest split in bowling to convert
2-7 Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask’s new and improved record in series-clinching games
1 Rangers team to win a Game 7 on the road, thanks to back-to-back shutouts in games 6 and 7 by Henrik Lundqvist
1 team in history to rebound from a three-goal deficit in the third period of a Game 7 to claim the series, the 2013 Boston Bruins
100% chance Leafs Nation will keep dreaming the drought will end…