The first round ended and the drama on and off the ice heated up with what brewed during the 2013 NHL Playoffs. Like every other NHL Playoffs in the years past the drama flared but this season have some interesting facts, drama and heated feuds. Along with finding out the Maple Leafs first round exit will haunt Joffrey Lupul until he dies.
The NHL put out a press release with some interesting tidbits about the first round and here are just a few of the highlights:
- The first-round of the playoffs produced 17 overtime games, a new record (topping 16 from the 2012 postseason).
- Late game-tying goals abounded. During the season, a team tied things up in the last minute of a contest in one out of about 42 games. In the first-round, that happened one out of (approximately) every nine games.
- Games were close. Teams were either tied or separated by a single goal during 78.3 percent of game time and 28 out of the 47 games ended up being won by a single goal (59.8 percent).
- Falling behind 2-0 in a series apparently isn’t a death sentence. Coming into 2013, teams that were down 2-0 went just 43-280 (a winning percentage of 13.3) in all best-of-seven series, yet the New York Rangers and Los Angeles Kings managed that feat.
- Did you think it was odd that Marc-Andre Fleury and Tomas Vokoun recorded shutouts for the same team in the same series (without requiring an injury)? The Pittsburgh Penguins’ puck-stopping pair were the first duo to do so in 34 years; Billy Smith and Chico Resch did it for the 1979 New York Islanders.
That is just a few of the brain teasing facts and stats of the first round series. Will we see chart topping stats from the second round? Well, from what we have seen thus far the answer would be yes.
