The first round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs is in the books. After 44 games, we finally learned that there would be a new Stanley Cup champion, as the Vegas Golden Knights’ title defense ended in Game 7 at the hands of the Dallas Stars.
We learned a few things during the first round, including historic performances from several players chasing their first titles. Here are 15 fascinating statistics from the Stanley Cup playoffs opening round.
Related: 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Predictions for each second-round series
50 goals (Steven Stamkos)
Lost in the shuffle of many of the first 44 postseason games was Steven Stamkos’ 50th playoff goal, which made him only the 67th player to reach the milestone. In what could be his last home game in a Lightning sweater, the captain scored two goals in Game 4 to help secure a 6-3 win against the Florida Panthers, with his 50th goal coming midway through the third period.
.964 save percentage (Joseph Woll)
The Maple Leafs fell behind 3-1 in their best-of-7 series against the Boston Bruins before asking rookie netminder Joseph Woll to come in and try to save the series. In Game 4, he relieved Ilya Samsonov and made five saves. While earning back-to-back wins in Games 5 and 6, he made 49 saves on 51 shots for a .961 save percentage. However, an injury kept him out of Game 7 and the Maple Leafs were eliminated in a 2-1 overtime loss. Woll leads all goalies with a .963 save percentage in the playoffs.
28 – Goals (Colorado Avalanche)
The Colorado Avalanche didn’t waste many opportunities to rack up the score against the Winnipeg Jets in their first-round matchup, averaging 5.6 goals a game, best by any team in the playoffs. Surprisingly, they lost Game 1 by a 7-6 score before winning the next four by 5-2, 6-2, 5-1, and 6-3 to finish the series with 28 goals.
26 – First Career Playoff Goals
In the opening round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, 26 players scored their first postseason goal, including Noah Hanifin (pictured above), Pius Suter, Kiefer Sherwood, Jack Roslovic, Matt Rempe, Mike Reilly, Casey Mittelstadt, Niko Mikkola, Connor McMichael, Jake McCabe, Kyle MacLean, Steven Lorentz, Blake Lizotte, Hendrix Lapierre, Dakota Joshua, Mark Jankowski, Dylan Holloway, David Gustafsson, Trent Frederic, Martin Fehérváry, Luke Evangelista, Jack Drury, Alexandre Carrier, John Beecher, and Michael Anderson.
22-22 home and away records
Teams battle all season for home-ice advantage in the Stanley Cup playoffs. However, in the first round, it didn’t matter where teams played as the home and road teams split the 44 games at 22-22. Only the New York Rangers (2-0), Florida Panthers (3-0), and Carolina Hurricanes (3-0) remain undefeated on home ice.
20 penalty minutes (Pierre-Luc Dubois)
Pierre Luc-Dubois was part of a blockbuster trade last summer, leaving the Jets and joining the Los Angeles Kings. Immediately after the trade, his new team inked him to an eight-year deal worth $68 million. He finished with his worst production in a full-length season (40 points) and scored a single goal in the opening round against the Edmonton Oilers. Moreover, he led all skaters with 20 penalty minutes in the first round.
12 – Points (Connor McDavid)
Connor McDavid finished the regular season with 132 points while guiding the Oilers to the second-best record in the Pacific Division. As the fourth player to ever record 100 assists in a single season, he continued his dominance in the playoffs, registering 12 points in five games against the Kings. He currently leads the NHL in points thanks to his 11 assists.
7 – Goals (Zach Hyman and Valeri Nichuskin)
Oilers forward Zach Hyman wrapped up the regular season with an impressive 54 goals and continued his scoring spree in the playoffs. In just five games against the Kings, he notched seven more goals, including a thrilling hat trick in Game 1. Meanwhile, Avalanche forward Valeri Nichushkin also made his mark, scoring seven goals in their opening-round series against the Jets and securing a hat trick in Game 4.
7 – Overtime Games
Seven games went to overtime in the first round, with six decided in the first extra period. Only the the New York Ialdners required double OT to win Game 4 against the Hurricanes 3-2. Down 3-0 in the series, the Islanders fought off elimination for another day with a win thanks to Mathew Barzal. In Florida, Carter Verhaeghe (pictured) netted his fifth career overtime goal in Game 2 against the Lightning, moving him into a tie for third place on the all-time list.
5.23 goals-against average (Connor Hellebuyck)
Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck won the William M. Jennings Trophy (along with Laurent Brossoit) for giving up the fewest goals in the regular season. He finished with a 2.39 goals-against average, surrendering 142 goals in 60 games. However, after being named a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, Hellebuyck allowed 24 goals in five playoff games against the Avalanche, for a brutal 5.23 goals-against average.
4 Game Sweep (New York Rangers)
Out of the eight series in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, only the Presidents’ Trophy winners, the Rangers, were able to secure a sweep, defeating the Washington Capitals in four consecutive games. The Rangers outscored the wild-card Capitals 15-7 in the series and trailed just 3:41.
2 Game 7s (Toronto vs. Boston and Vegas vs. Dallas)
The Bruins jumped out to a 3-1 series lead, only to have the Maple Leafs rally back to force Game 7 at TD Garden, where the home team won 2-1 on David Pastrnak’s goal in overtime. Meanwhile, after jumping out to a 2-0 series lead, the defending Stanley Cup champion Golden Knights lost on the road to the Dallas Stars 2-1 in Game 7.
1 Shutout (Arturs Silovs)
The opening round of the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs featured 44 games, and only Vancouver Canucks rookie Arturs Silovs was able to pitch a shutout, doing so on the road in Game 6 against the Nashville Predators. He made 28 saves for the first shutout in his NHL career.
1 Game 7 overtime winner (David Pastrnak)
Bruins superstar David Pastrnak became the 49th player in NHL history to score a Game 7 overtime winner when he beat Maple Leafs goalie Ilya Samsonov at 1:54 of the first extra period on May 4. Pastrnak is the eighth Bruins player to achieve the feat, joining former teammate Patrice Bergeron, the last player to score a Game 7 overtime winner, against the Maple Leafs in 2013.
0 Goals (Alex Ovechkin)
Alex Ovechkin has scored 853 goals in his career, including 72 more in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. However, for the first time in his career, the Capitals superstar didn’t score a single goal in a playoff series in the first-round sweep at the hands of the Rangers.