A 50-game First Round filled with overtime, upsets, thrilling finishes and unexpected standout performances concluded Monday. The first 15 days of the two-month journey that is the Stanley Cup Playoffs saw:
* A team overcome a 3-1 series deficit to eliminate the team with the best regular-season record in NHL history
* A second-year franchise dethrone the reigning Stanley Cup champions to win its first-ever playoff series
* Seven of eight teams advance after facing a series deficit (tied for the most ever)
* An average of 6.2 goals-per-game, trailing only 2022 (6.6) as the highest-scoring first round in the past 28 years
TOTAL GAMES PLAYED
* For a second straight year there were at least 50 games played in the opening round. Overall, the 2023 First Round (50) is one of four in Stanley Cup Playoffs history with 50+ games, following the 2022 First Round (51), 1991 Division Semifinals (51) and 1992 Division Semifinals (54).
SERIES LENGTH
* For the second straight year and fifth time in NHL history, a Stanley Cup Playoffs round had at least seven series requiring 6+ games. The 2023 First Round (7) joined a list that already included the 1991 Division Semifinals (8), 1992 Division Semifinals (8), 2010 Conference Quarterfinals (7) and 2022 First Round (7). This marked the third time in five years that the First Round had at least three Game 7s.
ROAD WARRIORS
* Road teams went 31-19 to set an NHL record for most wins by the visitors in any round, besting the previous mark set during the 2012 Conference Quarterfinals (30-18) – a postseason in which a record-setting 47 road wins were claimed overall.
* All 16 teams had at least one road victory, marking the second time in the NHL’s expansion era (since 1967-68) that all playoff teams claimed at least one victory as visitors (also 2012).
* Six of eight series were clinched via a road victory, tied for the second-highest single-round total in Stanley Cup Playoffs history behind the 1980 Preliminary Round (7) and 2010 Conference Quarterfinals (7).
OVERTIME GAMES
* A total of 14 overtime games were played, the ninth round in Stanley Cup Playoffs history with as many. All eight series had at least one OT game, the fourth time that has occurred (also 2001, 2013 & 2017).
* Road teams went 11-3 in overtime, tied with the 2017 First Round (11-7) for the second most OT wins by road clubs in NHL history behind the 2012 Conference Quarterfinals (12-4).
CALL IT A COMEBACK
* Seven of eight advancing teams faced a series deficit in the First Round, tied for the most in one round in NHL history (also 7 in 2010 Conference Quarterfinals). Carolina is the only outlier.
* Florida became the second team to overcome a 3-1 series deficit to eliminate the Presidents’ Trophy winner (since 1985-86), following the Canadiens versus the Capitals in the 2010 Conference Quarterfinals.
* The Panthers (trailed 3-1) and Devils (trailed 2-0) combined for the 12th instance in NHL history of multiple clubs overcoming a multi-game series deficit to advance in the same round. Three of those instances have come under the Wild Card format (also 2 in 2019 R1 and 3 in 2014 R1).
* The First Round saw 19 comeback wins, including eight won by a team that trailed in the third period. Two teams staged a three-goal comeback win – on consecutive days (just the third time that has occurred in playoff history) – and a total of four contests featured a tying goal in the final minute of regulation (one shy of the most through 50 games in any postseason; 5 in 2013).
CHANGING OF THE GUARD
* For the fifth time in the NHL’s expansion era (since 1967-68), the previous finalists for the Stanley Cup (COL & TBL) and the League’s No. 1 team from the regular season (BOS) were eliminated in the opening round. The other years were 1971, 2006, 2012 and 2019.
* Seattle became the first franchise in NHL history to claim its first-ever series win against the reigning Stanley Cup champion.
* Toronto claimed its series win in 19 years, ending what was the longest active drought in the NHL.
* The eight remaining teams have won a combined zero of the past 16 Stanley Cup championships. The last winner was Carolina – one of five remaining clubs with at least one title. The Maple Leafs (13x; last: 1967), Oilers (5x; last: 1990), Devils (3x; last: 2003), Hurricanes (2006) and Stars (1999) have combined for 23 Stanley Cup wins all-time, including 10 in 54 seasons so far in the expansion era (since 1967-68). The Panthers (28th season), Golden Knights (sixth season) and Kraken (second season) are all in search of their first Cup.
TWO WILD CARD TEAMS ADVANCE
* Wild Card races went down to the final days of the 2022-23 season and now two of those clubs have advanced to the Second Round (Florida: Wild Card 2 in East; Seattle: Wild Card 1 in West). This is the fourth time in eight postseasons with the Wild Card format that at least one of those clubs has staged an upset, after 2014 (1), 2015 (1), 2016 (2), 2017 (2) and 2019 (4). Overall, Wild Card teams are 12-20 in the opening round since 2014.
BUSTED BRACKETS
* Nearly one million brackets were submitted in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs Bracket Challenge presented by GEICO, up 5% from last year, making this one of the most successful years in its 10-year history. Gen Z and Millennials accounted for 42% and 33% of users, respectively. Fans created more than 95,000 leagues (+87% YOY) and the top-performing league was created by an NHL partner: the “Beat Gretzky TNT League” was the top-performing league, with 10% of all Bracket Challenge users joining – up 80% in fan participation from its 2022 debut.
* Two of the eight clubs that advanced were selected to be Stanley Cup champions on fewer than 1.0% of brackets (FLA: 0.5%, 16th, and Seattle: 0.9%, t-13th).
* Four “perfect brackets” remain in the NHL League after the First Round. Overall, 284 brackets in the NHL League picked all eight teams that reached the Second Round, but only four also got the bonus points for picking series lengths.
A SELECTION OF #NHLSTATS STANDOUTS
* Roope Hintz led the First Round with 12 points, the most by a Stars player in one round and one shy of the single-series franchise record. He has never finished higher than 40th in NHL scoring during the regular season.
* Leon Draisaitl was on the ice for each of Edmonton’s first 14 goals of the postseason, the longest such stretch from the start of a playoff year since the NHL began tracking players on ice in 1959-60.
* Evan Bouchard of the Oilers tied the NHL record for most power-play points by a defenseman in a playoff series (8).
* Two captains scored series-clinching goals: Vegas’ Mark Stone and Toronto’s John Tavares. Stone’s goal gave Vegas its eighth series win since entering the NHL in 2017-18, second among all teams in that span behind Tampa Bay (13).
* Rangers forward Chris Kreider and Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho each set new franchise records for career playoff goals.
* Brandon Montour scored five goals in Florida’s upset of Boston, the most in one series by a defenseman in 20 years.
* Akira Schmid, who made his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut in Game 3 and earned all four Devils wins in the First Round, became the fifth rookie in NHL history to record a Game 7 shutout.
* The two Wild Card clubs headed for the Second Round advanced thanks in large part to timely contributions on the offensive front: Matthew Tkachuk (team-leading 11 points) and Carter Verhaeghe (second series-clinching goal in as many years) helped the Panthers rally, while Oliver Bjorkstrand (2-0—2 in 2-1 Game 7 victory) and Tye Kartye (goal in NHL debut during Game 5) were difference makers for the Kraken.
