Over at our general hockey blog, From The Rink, Mike Chen paged through the last several Game 7s, hoping to find a few trends as we prepare for a perhaps-historic one of those games between the Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins on Friday night.
By The Numbers: A History Of Post-Lockout Game 7s
His conclusion? Since the lockout, there have been no trends when it comes to Game 7s.
What does this tell us? Not much, huh? Home teams and road teams have equally won and lost. About half the games saw lead changes. The notion of winning Game 6 carrying momentum into Game 7 means next to nothing, as more Game 6 losers took the series than Game 7 winners.
It’ll be interesting to see if these numbers -- which basically sees things fall 50/50 -- continue to trend this way over the next five years. I do think it’s important to differentiate between the pre- and post-lockout era, as the defensive styles of play, along with the amount of clutching and grabbing going on, make a significant difference in lead changes, scoring chances, and overall flow of the game.
Head over to FTR for a full breakdown each Game 7 since the lockout, including the three that have already taken place this year.
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