#NHLPeachy #NHLStats Pack: 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers – Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Montreal Canadiens @NHL
NHL STATS & INFORMATION NOTES
2020 STANLEY CUP QUALIFIERS: PITTSBURGH PENGUINS (5) VS. MONTREAL CANADIENS (12)
#NHLSTATS: PITTSBURGH PENGUINS
* The Penguins recorded at least 40 wins in a season for the 13th time in 15 seasons since 2005-06 – the lone exceptions being Sidney Crosby’s rookie campaign (2005-06) and 2012-13 (36 W in 48 GP). The Sharks (also 13) are the only other team with as many 40-win campaigns over that span.
* Pittsburgh has posted seven consecutive 40-win seasons, a franchise first (previous best: 6, 2006-07 to 2011-12) and tied for the longest active run in the NHL – Boston, Tampa Bay and St. Louis also extended to seven in 2019-20. Only seven teams in League history have posted a longer such run.
* Crosby finished third in team scoring (16-31—47 in 41 GP), averaging at least one point per game for the 15th consecutive season (his entire career to date). He joined Wayne Gretzky (19 from 1979-80 to 1997-98) and Mario Lemieux (15 from 1984-85 to 2002-03) as the third player in NHL history to average at least one point per game through each of his first 15 NHL seasons.
* Crosby is looking to become the seventh player in NHL history to captain one franchise to four or more Stanley Cups. Jean Beliveau (5x w/ MTL), George Armstrong (4x w/ TOR), Yvan Cournoyer (4x w/ MTL), Denis Potvin (4x w/ NYI) and Gretzky (4x w/ EDM) are the only captains to do so.
* Crosby has 66-120—186 in 164 career playoff games, two points back of tying Doug Gilmour and Joe Sakic for the eighth-most career points during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
* Crosby has a career points-per-game rate of 1.13 during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, tied for eighth in NHL history (min. 50 GP). Under the same conditions, Crosby and Evgeni Malkin (1.04) are the only active players averaging at least a point per game in the postseason. Dropping the games played minimum to 25 adds another Penguins forward to that list: Jake Guentzel (1.14).
* The Penguins roster features three players – Crosby, Malkin and Patrick Marleau – who rank among the top four for career playoff points among active NHL players.
* Marleau leads active players in career playoff goals (72), one back of tying Dino Ciccarelli (73) for 13th place in NHL history. Penguins legends Lemieux (76) and Jaromir Jagr (78) rank 12th and 11th, respectively, while a Canadiens great sits in 10th place (Jean Beliveau: 79).
* Marleau, who ranks fifth all-time with 1,723 games played during the regular-season, is in search of his first Stanley Cup. He can join Ray Bourque (1,612 GP) and Dave Andreychuk (1,597 GP) as the third player to win his first Stanley Cup after skating in 1,500 or more regular-season games.
* Marleau leads active NHL players in career playoff games played (191). The only player to skate as many postseason games without winning a Cup is Bourque, who hoisted the trophy for the only time after his 214th and final playoff contest in 2001.
#NHLSTATS: MONTREAL CANADIENS
* The Canadiens last won the Stanley Cup in 1993. During that postseason, Montreal established an NHL record for most overtime wins in a single playoff year, highlighted by three such victories in the Final against Los Angeles (Games 2, 3 and 4).
* Captain Shea Weber ranks among the top 10 in playoff goals among active defensemen (14). His 0.22 goals per game played in the playoffs paces active defensemen (min. 25 GP), with Pittsburgh’s Jack Johnson (0.19) tied for fourth on that list.
* Carey Price has 25 career wins in the Stanley Cup Playoffs to rank sixth in franchise history. His five career playoff shutouts trail only Jacques Plante (10), Ken Dryden (10) and George Hainsworth (6) in Montreal’s NHL history.
* Tomas Tatar led the Canadiens in goals (22; tied), assists (39) and points (61) in 2019-20, reaching the 20-goal mark for the sixth consecutive season. His last playoff appearance came in 2018 when he played in eight games during the Golden Knights’ historic run to the Stanley Cup Final (2 GP in each round).
* While Pittsburgh leads all resuming clubs in combined postseason games of experience (1,208 GP), Montreal (400 GP) enters with the third-fewest, ahead of only Columbus (383 GP) and Calgary (343 GP).
* Among players to appear in at least one regular-season game for the Canadiens in 2019-20, Weber leads the club with 65 games played in the postseason.
NOTABLE CONNECTIONS
Some notable connections between the Penguins and Canadiens:
* Sidney Crosby (PIT), Shea Weber (MTL) and Carey Price (MTL) won gold together at the 2014 Olympics and reunited to help Canada win the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
* Weber also accomplished a memorable feat with Pittsburgh’s Patric Hornqvist as teammates with the Predators – they helped Nashville earn its first playoff series victory, in 2011 against Anaheim.
BEST-OF-5 PLAYOFF SERIES
* The Canadiens have competed in 14 best-of-five series during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, holding a 6-7 series record – the only non-result was the 1919 Stanley Cup Final, which was canceled due to the influenza epidemic.
* The Penguins have lost all of their three best-of-five series during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, reaching a fifth and final game in each of those matchups (1980, 1981 and 1982). Additionally, Game 5 of the 1981 Preliminary Round (vs. STL) and 1982 Division Semifinals (vs. NYI) both required overtime to decide a winner.
