Why Do I Love NHL Statistics So Much?

I don't know why.. but I just do!

So, when a friend and former co-worker commented today, over e-mail, that he believed the Ottawa Senators had never won a Game 2 in a playoff series, I smelled a rat. The stat that Boneman and I'd been hearing was slightly different: Ottawa had never won a Game 2 after winning Game 1, in a series. Or, as Boneman would tell you, the Sens had never managed to go up 2-0 in the playoffs. And yet here was this Sens fan in Ottawa claiming that the stat was more incredible, namely that the modern day Sens had never won a Game 2. It didn't smell right to me, and so I just had to do some digging.

I went to a frequent source of NHL info for me, hockeydb.com and started poking around. I know that site is particularly handy for seasonal final standings (going back to 1918) and playoff series results, over the same period. I started with 1995/96, since I figured that's around the time Ottawa started making annual trips to the post-season. That particular year they finished with 41 points in 82 games, so there was no need to check the playoff results. But the following year, the Sens had improved to a respectable 77 pts, which actually got them into the playoffs at a time when 8 out of 13 teams would qualify in the Eastern Conference.

When I started looking into the series results that year, there was Ottawa playing Buffalo in the first round. Here's what was shown:

" Apr 17 Ottawa Senators 1- 3 at Buffalo Sabres
Apr 19 Ottawa Senators 3- 1 at Buffalo Sabres
Apr 21 Buffalo Sabres 3- 2 at Ottawa Senators
Apr 23 Buffalo Sabres 0- 1 at Ottawa Senators 00:02:34 OT
Apr 25 Ottawa Senators 4- 1 at Buffalo Sabres
Apr 27 Buffalo Sabres 3- 0 at Ottawa Senators
Apr 29 Ottawa Senators 2- 3 at Buffalo Sabres 00:05:24 OT

Buffalo Sabres win series 4 games to 3"

Now, this would appear to indicate that Buffalo won Game 1 by a 3-1 score, and then Ottawa returned the favour in Game 2, also 3-1. Assuming this data is correct, there, on my first playoff series review, was Ottawa winning a Game 2. Of equal interest was the fact that, while they won Game 2, they hadn't won Game 1, meaning that the stat Boneman and I were hearing - Ottawa had never won a Game 2 after winning Game 1 - was still intact.

Now that I'd come this far, I figured I'd finish the search. Moving forward, year by year, I saw that Ottawa had won another Game 2, this time in 2002, when they beat the Flyers 3-0, after losing Game 1 by a 1-0 score in O/T. So once again, no 2-0 lead in the series, but a clear Game 2 victory. The following year, they won Game 2 against the Islanders (3-0 again) after losing the series opener (by another 3-0 mark).

And that was the complete list of Game 2 victories by the Sens: 3 of them, all coming after dropping the series opener to their opponent. Clearly the friend in Ottawa had been hoodwinked completely, and just didn't bother to look into it. Which is hardly surprising, but as I say: I love NHL stats, so I felt obliged to track this one down!

(And yes, this is exactly the sort of thing Boneman and I talk about all the time! For nearly twenty years now...)