NHL Playoff Overtime: Exciting And Nerve Wracking
At the end of NHL Stanley Cup Playoff action on Monday, April 24th, there had already been ten games during Round 1 which have gone to overtime. If you’ve been following the Vegas Golden Knights, or playoff hockey in general, then you know how exciting, exhilarating, and nerve wracking “sudden death” overtime can be.
I did a Google search to find out what the record was for NHL Playoff games going to overtime in one season. The record is 28 overtime games through four rounds of playoff action. It has happened twice; first in 1993 when the Montréal Canadiens won their 24th championship, and 22nd Stanley Cup. (They won two championships before 1927 when only NHL teams competed for that prize). Incidentally, 1993 was the last time a team from Canada won the Stanley Cup. Could this be the year the Edmonton Oilers, Toronto Maple Leafs, or Winnipeg Jets reverse that trend? As a die-hard Vegas Golden Knights fan, I certainly hope not.
According to Records.NHL.com, the second time there were 28 playoff games which went to overtime was in 2020. That was the year the COVID-19 pandemic cut the regular season short. The NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs were delayed until August 2020, and the playoff format was expanded two 12 teams per conference instead of the usual 8 teams per conference. So, even though 28 “playoff” games went to overtime that year, there were five rounds of playoffs instead of four. We’ll put an asterisk on that year.
So, we’ve experienced 10 overtime playoff games so far, and the first round isn’t even over yet. Here’s another interesting stat concerning this year’s overtime playoff action: the visiting team has scored the winning goal in extra time in seven of those ten OT thrillers.
Game on!
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Larry Martino is the long-time Afternoon Drive personality on 96.3 KKLZ. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of Larry Martino and not necessarily those of Beasley Media Group, LLC.
Vegas Golden Knights Regular Season Team Leaders
The Vegas Golden Knights secured the NHL’s Pacific Division Championship with a 3-1 victory in the final game of the regular season against the Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle on Thursday night. Vegas also claims the number one seed in the Western Conference playoffs, set to begin on Monday, April 17th.
The Golden Knights never trailed in this game, although they were outshot 31-19. Goaltender Laurent Brossoit made several incredible saves throughout the game in order to keep the Kraken from scoring in the final two periods.
Reilly Smith scored his 26th goal of the season in the first period by deflecting a Seattle pass off of his skate and through the Kraken’s goalie’s pads to put Vegas in the lead in the first period. Seattle’s Jaden Schwartz would tie the score at one a little over six minutes later with a one-timer over Brossoit’s shoulder. In the second, Alec Martinez went hard to the net during a delayed penalty against the Kraken, got a hold of a rebound off of Seattle goalie Philip Grubauer, and snuck it home to put the Golden Knights back in the lead.
The score would remain 2-1 until the final minute of the game. The Kraken pulled their goalie and Vegas’ Chandler Stephenson deflected a Seattle pass all the way down the ice and into the empty net to secure the victory and the Pacific Division crown.
There is still some question as to whether the Dallas Stars or Colorado Avalanche will win the Central Division title, as Colorado has one more game to play against Nashville on Friday night. But, by virtue of Thursday’s victory in Seattle, the Vegas Golden Knights know that they will be playing the eighth seeded Winnipeg Jets in the first round of the NHL Playoffs. The first two games will be played at T-Mobile Arena here in Las Vegas on Tuesday, April 18th, and Thursday, April 20th.
Now that the 2022-2023 regular season has been completed, let’s check the stats and see which Golden Knights led the team to the top spot in the Western Conference in points, goals, assists, plus/minus, penalty minutes, power play goals, short-handed goals, and for the goalies; goals against average and save percentage. Scroll through all of the team leaders below.
Larry Martino has been the afternoon drive personality on 96.3 KKLZ since 2007. He is also Music Director and Assistant Program Director. He’s been a professional radio broadcaster since 1980, serving as on-air talent, Program Director, and Music Director during his career. As a content creator for 96.3 KKLZ, Larry specializes in writing articles about music, recording artists, movies, food/restaurants, and hockey.