The Chicago Blackhawks clinched their opening round series on Saturday night with a 4-3 road win over the Nashville Predators. Here’s a look at the eight best Chicago Blackhawks stats from the opening round.
.@PredsNHL Thanks for an unbelievable series!
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) April 26, 2015
1. Multi-Goal Rallies
In both Game 1 (3-goal deficit) and Game 6 (2-goal deficit), the Chicago Blackhawks trailed by multiple goals at one point in the game, but rallied to win. The last time the franchise rallied from a multi-goal deficit twice in the same series was a series 1992 against the Edmonton Oilers in which they rallied from two two-goal deficits to win the series.
Per Elias, Chicago rallied from a multi-goal deficit to clinch the series in Game 6. This was the first time they’ve done that since May 23, 2010 in a series against the San Jose Sharks. They won that game 4-2.
Did You Know: @NHLBlackhawks winning multiple games in a single series in which they trailed by two or more goals… pic.twitter.com/dNK6O27b2q
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) April 26, 2015
Also, it was the first time the team overcame a three-goal deficit to win since 1991.
Via Elias: @NHLBlackhawks overcame 3-goal deficit to win in the playoffs for 1st time since April 8, 1991. #NSHvsCHI pic.twitter.com/hxnO38Kw4O
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) April 16, 2015
2. Seabrook Rising
Brent Seabrook grabbed an overtime winner in Game 4, where he was on the ice for 33:30 in a game that went to triple OT. That’s his third career overtime goal in the playoffs, moving him into second all-time for the Blackhawks, right behind teammate Patrick Kane.
3. Triple OT Vets
Speaking of Game 4, the Blackhawks have been involved in the last three triple overtime games in the NHL. Game 4 of this series (3-2 W), June 12, 2013 against Boston (4-3 W), and April 17, 2014 against St. Louis (4-3 L). The franchise is 5-3-1 all-time in games with at least three overtime periods. The tie came in 1930.
The Blackhawks aren’t just triple overtime vets, but overtime vets. They’ve had at least one overtime game in 12 straight playoff series dating back to the 2010 Western Conference Final. That’s tied for the longest active streak in the NHL.
Overall, the franchise has played in 95 postseason overtime games. That’s fifth most in NHL history.
4. Captain Serious & the Multi-point Game
With three multi-point games against the Predators, Jonathan Toews now has 24 career multi-point playoff games. Since 2009 (when he made his playoff debut), only Sidney Crosby (30), Evgeni Malkin (28, but 0 points this year), and Patrick Kane (27) have more multi-point playoff games.
5. Captain Serious Selke
Toews was nominated for the Selke Trophy again this year, as were Anze Kopitar and Patrice Bergeron. It’s the second year in a row that this trio were the three finalists. Unlike last year, when all three were in the playoffs (and won at least one round), Toews is the only finalist in the playoffs this year.
6. Darling Darling
Chicago bounced between Corey Crawford and rookie Scott Darling in net in the first round. Darling opened his playoff career with an impressive 83:03 shutout streak. That’s the longest shutout streak in franchise history to start a playoff career.
A big part of that shutout streak was when Darling came into Game 1 in relief of Crawford and stopped all 42 shots he faced over the course of 67:44 in a game that went into overtime. According to Elias, that’s a NHL record for the longest shutout stretch in a relief appearance by a goaltender. The previous record was 56:00, held by Curtis Joseph. He hit that mark playing for the Calgary Flames in 2008 when he came into the game in relief of Miikka Kiprusoff.
Darling was also the first Blackhawks rookie goalie to win his playoff debut since Ed Belfour did in 1990 against the Minnesota North Stars.
Need to be even more impressed by Darling’s performance? Here’s one more note on his Game 1 relief appearance:
.@SDarling_33 (@NHLBlackhawks) is 1st rookie to make 42+SV in playoff debut since J. Theodore (56SV, 04/24/97 w/ MTL) pic.twitter.com/5rMXEB4oAo
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) April 16, 2015
7. And Crawford Too
With three games played in Round 1, Crawford moved from tied for 44th all-time in playoff games played by a goaltender to tied for 42nd with 59 games. He’s tied with Greg Millen (1978-92) and Reggie Lemelin (1978-1993).
He ranks sixth among active goaltenders behind Marc-Andre Fleury, Henrik Lundqvist, Jonathan Quick, Roberto Luongo, and Antti Niemi.
8. How’s Your Bracket?
75% of entries for #NHLBracketChallenge powered by Samsung picked CHI to win #NSHvsCHI, including 36.2% who selected them to win in 6 games.
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) April 26, 2015
More From This Series
Thanks to the NHL and team PR Twitter accounts, as well as Elias Sports Bureau for some of the statistics.