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First-round facts: Late drama abounds

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When the Boston Bruins improbably sent Game 7 against the Toronto Maple Leafs into overtime on Monday, they made history for the first-round of the 2013 playoffs.

The NHL put out a press release on Tuesday with some interesting tidbits. Here are some 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.

So, there’s a quick rundown of some of the most interesting stats from those eight first-round series. Let’s hope for more record-breaking fun in the semifinals.