The increased offense from the highest-scoring NHL regular-season in 11 years carried over into the opening round of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs, with an average of 5.9 goals per game (255 goals in 43 GP). That's up 20 percent from the 2017 First Round (4.9 G/GP; 205 G in 42 GP).
In the past 22 years, only four opening rounds featured as many goals per game.
Seven of the eight remaining teams ranked among the top 10 in goals scored during the regular season.
Additionally, all eight clubs reached the 100-point mark in 2017-18, marking the first time that the remaining eight playoff teams each hit triple-digits in points during the regular season.
First-time winners
Three teams that were not part of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs (of the seven new clubs that reached the postseason) will play in the second round. They include the expansion Vegas Golden Knights and the Winnipeg Jets -- who each recorded their first series win. The Tampa Bay Lightning also are in the second round after not reaching the playoffs last year.
The Golden Knights became the third team from the NHL, NBA and MLB to complete a four-game sweep to win their first playoff series -- and the first to do so in their inaugural season. Only three other NHL teams won a playoff series in their inaugural season, all against other clubs also in their first season (Toronto Arenas in 1918; St. Louis Blues and Minnesota North Stars in 1968).
The Golden Knights' sweep was not only the first of its kind for a professional team in its inaugural season, but also a rare feat for any club in the Stanley Cup Playoffs during the past 10 years. Only 12.6 percent of series since 2009 have ended in four-game sweeps.
This marks the sixth time in the expansion era (since 1967-68) that two NHL clubs have recorded their first series win in the same postseason.
The Jets and Golden Knights will face the Nashville Predators and San Jose Sharks, respectively, in the second round, marking the third time since the introduction of conferences in 1974-75 that the final four teams in either conference all will be chasing their first Stanley Cup. The other instances came in 1984 when the Edmonton Oilers emerged from the Clarence Campbell Conference (outlasting the Blues, Calgary Flames and North Stars), and 2012 when the Los Angeles Kings came out of the Western Conference (outlasting the Blues, Phoenix Coyotes and Predators). Each went on to win the Stanley Cup.
Three-peat dream alive
After finishing second in playoff scoring in 2017, two-time reigning Stanley Cup champion and Conn Smythe Trophy winner Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins shared the League lead with 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in the first round. Crosby found the scoresheet in five of six games, including four multipoint efforts that made him the fourth player in NHL history to have multiple points in at least 60 playoff games.
Teammate Jake Guentzel also had 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in six games, highlighted by a historic four-goal, five-point performance in the series-clinching game. He has 34 points (19 goals, 15 assists) in 31 playoff games.
Crosby and Guentzel became the fourth set of teammates in Stanley Cup Playoffs history to each record 13 or more points in the same series.
High 5s
Game 6 of the Penguins' series against the Philadelphia Flyers marked the first time that players from opposing teams each had five points in a Stanley Cup Playoff game, with Philadelphia's Sean Couturier (three goals, two assists) matching Guentzel (four goals, one assist) while playing with a torn MCL in his right knee.
Boston Bruins forward David Pastrnak also had 13 points (five goals, eight assists) in the opening round, including three goals and three assists in Game 2 of the Bruins' series against the Toronto Maple Leafs to match the NHL record for most points by a player through his team's first two games of a postseason (nine). Pastrnak, 21, became the youngest player in the NHL to have six points in a playoff game, besting a mark set by Edmonton's Wayne Gretzky at age 22 in Game 3 of the 1983 Division Finals.
The first round closed with a thrilling Game 7 between the Bruins and Maple Leafs that included five goals in the first period and four tying goals. It matched the Edmonton Oilers' 7-4 win against the Calgary Flames in the 1984 Smythe Division Final as the third-highest scoring Game 7 on record, behind only the Minnesota North Stars' 9-4 win against the Los Angeles Kings in the 1968 NHL Quarterfinals (13 goals) and the New York Rangers' 8-4 win against the New Jersey Devils in the 1992 Patrick Division Semifinal (12).
Boston also became the first team to overcome three deficits of at least one goal to win a Game 7 in regulation; five years ago, the Bruins became the first team in NHL history to overcome a three-goal, third-period hole to win in a Game 7 (also against the Maple Leafs).
Boston center Patrice Bergeron had three points in each of those games; on Wednesday, he became the 11th player in NHL history with at least nine points in Game 7s.
Rivalry brewing
The Predators-Jets series pits two of the most colorful crowds against one another as Nashville's gold-clad fans and Winnipeg's whiteout go head to head, a growing theme across the NHL as fanbases in nearly every market rally together to support their team's push for the Stanley Cup.
The raucous crowd and star-studded national anthems that helped cement Bridgestone Arena as one of the toughest road rinks in the NHL during the Predators' run to the 2017 Stanley Cup Final returned in the opening round. Not to be outdone by their Central Division foes, the Jets faithful hit the streets in Winnipeg by the tens of thousands, including a reported 15,000 lining four city blocks for the series-clinching win against the Minnesota Wild on Friday.
First round is fan magnet
As of April 19, 21.5 million Americans watched all or some of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs, marking the best opening-round viewership across the networks of NBCUniversal in four years. In Canada, through nights 1-13 of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs, 19.1 million Canadians (53 percent of the population) have watched all or some part of the postseason (across Sportsnet and CBC).
In-arena excitement is also reaching more people than ever before, highlighted by the story of 6-year-old Keelan Moxley who became a social media star after video of Capitals forward Brett Connolly's repeated attempts to toss her a puck prior to Game 2 went viral. The video, which has been viewed more than 9.6 million times on Twitter (a record for the NHL on the platform) and earned 12.4 million video streams on Facebook (third-highest ever for the NHL), led to Keelan receiving an invite back for an unforgettable experience at Game 5.
The 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs also marked the unveil of a new video series in which the legendary rapper Snoop Dogg explains the rules and traditions of hockey with the flair and charisma that only he can bring. To date, the video series has generated more than 17.2 million views and streams across the NHL channels on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
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