USAToday Sports Images

RECORD-SETTING OVERTIME NUMBERS HIGHLIGHT FIRST ROUND
The First Round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs featured 18 overtime games in 42 contests (42.9%), a record for any round in the history of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The previous record of 17 overtime contests, established in the 2013 opening round, was set in 47 games (36.2%). There were 20 overtime games in the entire 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs (91 GP).

Three days saw every game extend past regulation, including April 17 when all four contests went into overtime – the third time in Stanley Cup Playoffs history that four games required overtime on the same day (also April 11, 1980 and April 10, 1985).

The Presidents’ Trophy-winning Capitals and No. 2 Wild Card Maple Leafs played past regulation five times in the opening round, matching the single-series NHL postseason record set in the 1951 Stanley Cup Final (Games 1-5, 4-1 TOR W vs. MTL) and equaled in the 2012 Western Conference Quarterfinals (Games 1-5, 4-2 PHX W vs. CHI).
Three of eight series were decided by an overtime goal, scored by St. Louis’ Magnus Paajarvi, Ottawa’s Clarke MacArthur and Washington’s Marcus Johansson. There only were two such goals in the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The record for a single postseason is six, set in 1993 and matched in 1999.

Nine of the 12 games in the Capitals-Maple Leafs (5) and Senators-Bruins (4) series required overtime. Only two other rounds in the history of the Stanley Cup Playoffs have featured two series with at least four overtime games – all within the past six years: the 2012 Conference Quarterfinals (Coyotes-Blackhawks: 5, Capitals-Bruins: 4) and 2014 First Round (Wild-Avalanche: 4, Blackhawks-Blues: 4).  Seventeen saw the winning team overcome a deficit of at least one goal, including nine that overcame a multi-goal deficit. Clubs also rallied from a third-period deficit (of any margin) to win eight times.

Montreal and New York were tied or separated by one goal for 96.5% of the total playing time (379:10 of 392:56), the most of any series. Three other series either were tied or at a one-goal margin for more than 80% of total playing time: Ottawa-Boston (90.9%, 367:47 of 404:31), St. Louis-Minnesota (89.1%, 291:45 of 327:30) and Washington-Toronto (83.5%, 339:12 of 406:20).  Overall, the eight First Round series were tied or within one goal for 80.7% of total playing time (2,199:48 of 2,724:18).

Teams that won Game 1 of their series went 6-2 in the First Round, with only the Senators and Oilers advancing after dropping the opening contest. Overall, teams that win the first game in a best-of-seven Stanley Cup Playoffs series hold an all-time series record of 453-207 (68.6%).

* Information provided via NHL Press Release