Hockey

NHL playoffs: By the numbers

Here's a look at a lightning-fast first round of the NHL playoffs, and a glance ahead to the second, through a few key digits.

Recapping the first round, looking ahead to the second through some key digits

Edmonton's Connor McDavid needed only two seasons to earn his first playoff series victory, matching the pace set by Wayne Gretzky. (Codie McLachlan/Getty Images)

The first round of the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs passed by in a flash — 12 days to be exact.

Not one of the eight series extended to a seventh and deciding game, and only four reached Game 6, but that didn't take away from the drama that produced heroes like Cam Talbot, Zack Kassian, Clarke MacArthur and Erik Karlsson.

Here's a look at the first round, and a glance ahead to the second, through a few key numbers.

1 — Coach from Canada's World Cup coaching staff last September who advanced to the second round. That would be Washington Capitals bench boss Barry Trotz. Mike Babcock (Toronto), Joel Quenneville (Chicago) and Claude Julien (Montreal) were first-round losers. Carolina Hurricanes head coach Bill Peters did not make the playoffs.

1 — Coach from the four teams who made mid-season changes behind the bench (Florida, N.Y. Islanders, Boston, St. Louis) who has a spot in the second round. Mike Yeo of the Blues upset his former team, the Minnesota Wild.

2 — Off-season coaching changes that yielded first-round victories (Anaheim's Randy Carlyle and Ottawa's Guy Boucher).

2 — Pro seasons needed by Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid to celebrate a playoff series win. Wayne Gretzky won his first series in his second season, but it took Bobby Orr and Sidney Crosby three. Mario Lemieux needed five.

2 — Goalies remaining who have won a Stanley Cup. Both reside on the same team: Marc-Andre Fleury and Matt Murray of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

2 — Career playoff game-winning goals for Ottawa's Clarke MacArthur. Both were scored at TD Garden in Boston. The first came in Game 5 of the 2013 first round while MacArthur was with Toronto, and the second was on Sunday, the series clincher against the Bruins.

Ottawa's Clarke MacArthur, centre, played the hero with the series-winning OT goal against Boston. (Michael Dwyer/Associated Press)

2 — Stanley Cup rings among Ottawa players and coaches. Associate coach Marc Crawford got one with Colorado in 1996, and forward Chris Kelly won one with Boston in 2011.

3 — Stanley Cup rings among Edmonton players and coaches, with head coach Todd McLellan (Detroit, 2008), assistant coach Jay Woodcroft (Detroit, 2008) and Milan Lucic (Boston, 2011) having won championships.

3 — Oilers rookies who have scored series-clinching goals. Anton Slepyshev turned the trick against the San Jose Sharks on Saturday to match Jaroslav Pouzar (1993 vs. Chicago) and Josef Beranek (1992 vs. Los Angeles).

3 — Times Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin will have met in the playoffs with their respective teams, Pittsburgh and Washington, set to clash in the second round. Crosby won each of the previous encounters, in 2016 and 2009, and went on to win the Stanley Cup both times.

Alex Ovechkin, right, hopes the third time is a charm when it comes to playoff clashes with Sidney Crosby. (Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press)

4 — Franchises (the Maple Leafs, Florida Panthers, Columbus Blue Jackets and Winnipeg Jets/Atlanta Thrashers) that haven't won a playoff series since the 2004-05 lockout-cancelled season.

4 — Goals in four consecutive playoff games for 19-year-old Maple Leafs rookie Auston Matthews, who became the second teenager in NHL history to do so. The first was Toronto's Wendel Clark in 1986.

4 — Times in seven playoffs the Chicago Blackhawks have been eliminated in the first round since their 2010 Stanley Cup championship. They, of course, also won titles in 2013 and 2015.

18 — First-round games (out of 42) that required overtime, a record for any round in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The old mark of 17 was set in the first round in 2013.

28 — Games in the first round that were decided by one goal. Only the first round of the 2012 playoffs had more one-goal games at 32 of 48.

52 — Career points in 65 playoff games for Ottawa's Derick Brassard.

60 — Career Stanley Cup playoff games in eight years for P.K. Subban when he suits up for the Nashville Predators in their second-round opener against the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday.

P.K. Subban helped Nasvhille to a stunning sweep of Chicago in his first playoffs as a Predator. (Mark Humphrey/The Associated Press)

50 — Years since the Maple Leafs last won the Stanley Cup. The anniversary officially is a week from Tuesday, on May 2, when Toronto defeated Montreal in 1967.

17 — Different teams (Montreal, Boston, Philadelphia, Islanders, Edmonton, Calgary, Pittsburgh, Rangers, New Jersey, Colorado, Detroit, Dallas, Tampa Bay, Carolina, Anaheim, Chicago, Los Angeles) that have won a Stanley Cup since 1967.

7 — More teams (St. Louis, Buffalo, Vancouver, Florida, Washington, Ottawa, San Jose) that have made it to the final since 1967, which the Leafs haven't done.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tim has covered the hockey landscape and other sports in Canada for three decades for CBC Sports, the Globe and Mail and Toronto Sun. He has been to three Winter Olympics, 11 Stanley Cups, a world championship as well as 17 world junior championships, 13 Memorial Cups and 13 University Cups. The native of Waterloo, Ont., always has his eye out for an underdog story.