The Edmonton Oilers visit the Florida Panthers for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final tonight. Edmonton is trying to win their first Stanley Cup since 1990 and be the first non-American club to win since 1993, while Florida is trying to win their first championship in their history. Before the festivities, let’s take a look at some stats, facts, and notes for this showdown.
Out of the 81 games in this postseason, 72 of them (88.9 percent) have either been a one-goal game or decided by one goal without empty-net tallies tacked on. Through 81 contests in a playoff season, that is the highest amount of games decided in this manner. With 43 games being decided by exactly one goal, that is the most recorded since 2017, which had 50 through the same 81-game time frame.
Of the total ice time logged in this postseason, 43.2 percent of it has been when a game is tied. This is the second-highest tied-game percentage since the expansion era began in 1967-68, only behind 2021 (44.9 percent).
Related: Projected Lineups for the Oilers vs Panthers – Game 1 Stanley Cup Final
During the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, there have been 39 comeback victories. In the history of the postseason, only 1999 (42) and 1991 (41) have had more come-from-behind wins through 81 contests.
With road teams holding a 44-37 record in these playoffs (54.3 percent win rate), that is tied with the 2023 and 1987 postseasons for the most road wins through 81 contests in history—only 2012 had more with 45. The most ever recorded in a single playoff is 47, so some history could be on the line this series.
Getting to some series-specific numbers, Sergei Bobrovsky can be 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 the first Stanley Cup championship of his career, while the latter already had three to that point.
Both Matthew Tkachuk of the Panthers and Zach Hyman of the Oilers have scored in Game 1 of every series they have played in at this point. Only Tomas Hertl, Johan Franzen, and Petr Sykora have ever done this in all four series they have played in.
With 31 points in the playoffs already, Connor McDavid is tied with Hockey Hall of Fame forwards Mark Recchi and Mark Messier for the fifth-highest point total entering a Stanley Cup Final. The only players who have ever recorded more entering a Final are Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.
If McDavid can record one more assist in these playoffs, he can tie Nikita Kucherov’s 27-assist mark for the most in a playoff season recorded among active players. If Hyman can score one more goal, he’d match Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin’s 15-goal mark that stands as the most among active players. If Evan Bouchard can notch one more assist in these playoffs, he would tie Cale Makar’s 21-assist total for the most single-playoff assists by an active defender.
Related: 2024 Stanley Cup Final Hub
In the history of the Stanley Cup Final, home teams have a record of 73-31-1 in Game 1, including a three-game winning streak since 2021. In all three of those instances, the winner went on to hoist the Stanley Cup.
Of the 105 Game 1s in the history of the Stanley Cup Final, 20 of them have needed overtime. In the last 10 seasons, this has happened twice—both in 2022 and 2014. In such games, home teams have an 8-11-1 record.
There has been a comeback victory in 41 of the 105 Game 1 matchups in the Stanley Cup Final. Nine of these victories were multi-goal comebacks, while two of them were three-goal comebacks. Ironically, one of those three-goal comebacks was made against the Oilers the last time they were in the Final.
Stats and facts courtesy of NHL PR