Oilers vs. Panthers Game 1 – Pregame Stats, Facts & Notes – Hockey Writers – NHL News
The Edmonton Oilers visit the Florida Panthers for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final tonight. Edmonton is trying to win its first Stanley Cup since 1990 and become the first non-American club to win since 1993, while Florida is trying to win its first championship in their history. Before the festivities, let’s take a look at some stats, facts, and notes for this tournament.
In 81 games this postseason, 72 of them (88.9 percent) have been one-goal games or decided by one goal without scoring a goal. With 81 contests in a playoff season, that’s the highest number of games decided this way. With 43 games decided by exactly one goal, that’s the most since 2017, which had 50 in the same 81-game span.
Of all ice time logged this postseason, 43.2 percent of it has been in a tied game. This is the second highest percentage of games tied since the expansion season began in 1967-68, only behind 2021 (44.9 percent).
Related: Proposed Lineup for Oilers vs Panthers – Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals
During the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, there have been 39 returning bowlers. In postseason history, only 1999 (42) and 1991 (41) have more wins coming back than 81 contests.
As road teams hold a 44-37 record in these contests (54.3 percent winning rate), tied with the 2023 and 1987 postseasons for the most road wins at 81 in history—only 2012 had more with 45 . The most ever recorded in a single playoff game is 47, so another record could be on the line in this series.
When it comes to some series-specific numbers, Sergei Bobrovsky would become the oldest netminder (35 years, 262 days) to win a game in the Stanley Cup Final since Martin Brodeur did it in 2012. The former is hunting for his first Stanley Cup championship. career, while the latter already has three at that point.
Both Matthew Tkachuk of the Panthers and Zach Hyman of the Oilers have scored in Game 1 of the entire series to this point. Only Tomas Hertl, Johan Franzen, and Petr Sykora have done this in all four series they played in.
With 31 points in the playoffs already, Connor McDavid is tied with Hockey Hall of Famers Mark Recchi and Mark Messier for the fifth-highest point total entering the Stanley Cup Finals. The players who have recorded the most appearances in the finals are Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.
If McDavid can record another assist in the playoffs, he would tie Nikita Kucherov’s 27-assist mark for the most playoff season among players still playing. If Hyman can score another goal, he can match Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin’s 15-goal mark for the most among active players. If Evan Bouchard can’t get another assist in the playoffs, he’ll join Cale Makar’s 21 assists for the most playoff assists by an active defenseman.
Related: 2024 Stanley Cup Final Hub
In Stanley Cup Final history, home teams have a 73-31-1 record in Game 1s, including a three-game winning streak since 2021. In all three of those cases, the winner went on to hoist the Stanley Cup. .
Of the 105 games in Stanley Cup Final history, 20 have gone to overtime. In the past 10 seasons, this has happened twice—both in 2022 and in 2014. In such games, the home teams have an 8-11-1 record.
There have been comeback victories in 41 of the 105 games played in the Stanley Cup Finals. Nine of these wins were by multiple goals, and two of them were by three goals. The strange thing is that one of those three goals came back against the Oilers the last time they were in the Final.
Stats and facts courtesy of NHL PR
