Get ready for tonight’s do-or-die affair between the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning with this Game 7 stats primer, courtesy of our friends at NHL.com.
It’s an in-depth look at each team’s Game 7 records, with some fascinating stats ahead of what’s sure to be a thrilling game.
Enjoy!
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– Henrik Lundqvist is one of seven Rangers players with six career Game 7 victories (also Dan Girardi, Carl Hagelin, Ryan McDonagh, Dominic Moore, Derek Stepan and Martin St. Louis). His active six-game winning streak in Game 7s is an NHL record for goaltenders, as is his feat of allowing one or fewer goals in each of those contests and career 0.97 goals-against average (minimum 3 GP). At 6-1 overall, Lundqvist is tied with Martin Brodeur and Patrick Roy for the most Game 7 victories by any goaltender in NHL history.
– The Lightning boast a 4-1 all-time record in Game 7s; all five of those contests have been decided by one goal OR two goals following an empty-net tally. The Lightning’s lone loss in a Game 7 came during their last appearance in the Eastern Conference Final, in 2011 at BOS (1-0 L).
– Ben Bishop stopped all 31 shots he faced in the Lightning’s series-clinching win over the Red Wings in the First Round. In doing so, he became the first goaltender to record a shutout in his first career Game 7 appearance since Carey Price (25 SV) did so for the Canadiens in the 2008 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals vs. BOS.
– Seven of the Rangers’ 12 playoff series since 2009 have required a Game 7. They also have won each of their last 10 postseason games when facing elimination at home (dating to Game 4 of the 2008 CSF vs. PIT) – an NHL record in that scenario.
– This marks the third time the Lightning have played multiple Game 7s in one playoff year – and the third time they have contested one in the Conference Finals (in three all-time appearances). They also did so in 2004 (CF vs. PHI and F vs. CGY) and in 2011 (CQF at PIT and CF at BOS).
– The Rangers have a combined 90 games of Game 7 experience; the Lightning have a combined 52 games of Game 7 experience.
– Five players have competed in seven career Game 7s, tops among participating players: Rangers teammates Dan Girardi (6-1), Henrik Lundqvist (6-1), Dominic Moore (6-1) and Martin St. Louis (6-1) and Lightning forward Valtteri Filppula (4-3).
– Filppula also paces all participating players with 1-5—6 in Game 7s.
– Eleven Rangers players have never suffered a Game 7 loss: Carl Hagelin, Ryan McDonagh and Derek Stepan (6-0); Chris Kreider (5-0); Derick Brassard and Rick Nash (4-0); Kevin Klein and Mats Zuccarello (3-0); and Jesper Fast, Kevin Hayes andJ.T. Miller (1-0).
– Twelve Lightning players have never suffered a Game 7 loss, including nine who made their Game 7 debuts in the Round 1: Anton Stralman (6-0); Brian Boyle (5-0); Matt Carle (4-0); and Ben Bishop, Tyler Johnson, Alex Killorn, Nikita Kucherov, Vladislav Namestnikov, Nikita Nesterov, Ondrej Palat, Cedric Paquette and Andrej Sustr (1-0).
– Stralman accumulated five of his Game 7 victories with the Rangers from 2012-14, while Boyle earned four such wins with the Rangers in that span.
– Alain Vigneault (NYR) will be coaching his seventh career Game 7 (5-1), while Jon Cooper (TBL) will be making his second such appearance behind the bench (1-0).
Game 7 trends (via Elias Sports Bureau)
– Home teams are 94-65 (.591) in 159 all-time Game 7s in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, including a 3-0 record this year (NYR: 1-0, TBL: 1-0).
– The club that scores first is 117-42 (.736) in Game 7s in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, including a 2-1 clip this year. The lone loss was in the second round, when the Rangers overcame a 1-0 deficit to eliminate the Capitals.
– Forty Game 7s in Stanley Cup Playoffs history have required overtime (40-of-159, 25.2%). Home and road teams both have 20 wins in those contests. The Rangers are 2-2 in four all-time Game 7s that have gone to overtime (2-0 at home, 0-2 on the road); the Lightning have never required overtime in any of their Game 7 appearances.
Did you know? The Conference Finals feature the fourth and fifth Game 7s of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs. There have been 17 Game 7s since the start of the 2013 postseason (44 total series), the most frequently occurring series length in that span (7 Games: 17, 6 Games: 13, 5 Games: 9, 4 Games: 5).
Eastern Conference final: By the numbers
Games Played: 6
Overtime Games: 1 (NYR: 0-1, TBL: 1-0)
Total Goals: 40 (NYR: 21, TBL: 19)
Goals Per Game: 6.67
Total Playing Time: 363:33
Total Time Tied: 137:42 (37.9%)
Total Time NYR Has Led: 134:13 (36.9%)
Total Time TBL Has Led: 91:38 (25.2%)
Power-Play Totals: 14-for-44, 31.8% (NYR: 7-for-22, TBL: 7-for-22)
