A winner-take-all weekend produced back-to-back Game 7s, each with a historic comeback – first Mikko Rantanen scored the only third-period hat trick in Game 7 history and less than 24 hours later Cole Perfetti followed that up with the latest tying goal in Game 7 history – to bring a dramatic close to the First Round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, which was packed with storylines from start to finish.

* Back-to-back multi-goal, third-period comeback wins in Game 7s capped a First Round that featured 47 games (including 12 overtime contests and 83% that were “close games”), no sweeps, 14 tying goals in the final 10 minutes of regulation, 6.5 goals per game (the second-highest scoring opening round in the past 30 years), and 45% of contests featuring a comeback win.

* Each of the past two Stanley Cup champions are still standing, but the eight remaining clubs have combined for only 10 of 56 championships in the NHL’s expansion era (since 1967-68) with only the Oilers winning multiple Cups in that span.

* Two historic Game 7s capped a First Round that featured 47 total games, tied for the third most in an opening round in the past decade behind 2022 (51 GP) and 2023 (50 GP). The Stars – who produced the fourth multi-goal, third period comeback win in a Game 7 in NHL history – and the Jets – who became the fourth team in Stanley Cup Playoffs history to overcome a multi-goal deficit in the final two minutes to win (en route to a double overtime victory) – combined to produce just the second postseason in NHL history in which multiple teams erased a multi-goal deficit to win a Game 7 (also Carolina and San Jose on consecutive nights in the 2019 First Round).

* For the second straight year, at least 80% of games in the First Round were “close games”, with 83% of contests decided by one goal or multiple goals following at least one empty-netter (39 of 47 GP). That is tied with 2017 for the third-highest such percentage in the opening round since it became a best-of-seven in 1987, behind 2024 (89%; 39 of 44 GP) and 2021 (84%; 38 of 45 GP).
* There were 22 tying or go-ahead goals scored in the final 10 minutes of regulation (14 tying, 8 go-ahead), tied for the most ever in any round in Stanley Cup Playoffs history (also 22 in 1989 DSF). The only playoff year with as many such goals at this stage (through 47 GP) also is 1989, when there were 23 in the first 47 contests spanning the first two rounds.

Five of the eight First Round series required at least six games, including all four in the Western Conference and no sweeps. It marked the fourth time that four series in one conference were deadlocked through Game 4s (all tied 2-2) in one round, alongside the 2010 Conference Quarterfinals (West), 1997 Conference Quarterfinals (West) and 1991 Division Semifinals (Prince of Wales).

There’s nothing like overtime in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and fans were treated to it for a week straight during the 2025 First Round, which overall delivered 12 overtime games – including three multi-OT affairs, including two that ended in series-clinching goals. That puts the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs four shy of matching the total from last year (16 in 88 GP) and ties 10th place all-time for both overtime games in any playoff round and through 47 games played in a postseason.

The 2025 First Round averaged 6.5 goals per game, the second-highest total in any opening round in the past 30 years behind 1995 (6.8). That included two weeks straight of at least one team scoring five or more goals (14 days from April 19 – May 2) – a first in Stanley Cup Playoffs history from the start of a postseason or otherwise.

* Stars forward Mikko Rantanen (5-7—12 in 7 GP) and Kyle Connor (4-8—12 in 7 GP) led all players in scoring during the First Round and did so thanks to four- and three-point outings in Game 7, respectively. The seven players with a double-digit point total tied the fifth most in any opening round in Stanley Cup Playoffs history behind only 1988 (11), 1992 (9), 2023 (9) and 2022 (8).

* Reigning playoff MVP Connor McDavid (2-9—11 in 6 GP) became the third player in NHL history with 10+ points in a series at least eight times (also Wayne Gretzky: 21x & Mark Messier: 8x). Edmonton was the only team to overcome a multi-game series deficit to advance, and in the process became the second team in NHL history to record four straight comeback wins after trailing 2-0 in a best-of-seven series – following a feat first achieved by their next opponent, the Golden Knights just four years ago (2021 R2 vs. COL). The Oilers became the fifth team in NHL history to eliminate the same opponent in four straight years.

* The Jets, Oilers and Maple Leafs – who ousted the Senators for the fifth time in as many postseason meetings – each advanced to the Second Round, with Edmonton doing so after it outlasted Los Angeles in a six-game series that featured 51 combined goals. The 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs are the first under the current format in which three Canadian teams won at least one series and represent the first time since 2004 that three clubs from Canada are in the second round.

Alex Ovechkin’s season-to-remember continued into the First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs after the 39-year-old collected 4-1—5 in five games, which included his first-ever overtime goal in the postseason (Game 1). He became the third player, age 39 or older, in NHL history with four or more goals in a single series alongside Teemu Selanne (6 in 2011 CQF) and Nicklas Lidstrom (4 in 2011 CSF).

* The Hurricanes surged into the Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and did so with a series win for the seventh consecutive postseason dating to the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Carolina opened a playoff year with a 2-0 lead in a best-of-seven for a fifth straight year, but the club’s resilience was on full display in a series-clinching Game 5 win after the club erased 3-0 and 4-3 deficits en route to a double-overtime victory. The Hurricanes have accounted for each of the NHL’s past two instances of a team overcoming a deficit multiple times to win a series-clinching game (also Game 5 of 2023 R2).