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Stanley Cup Final by the numbers

Tuesday, 06.11.2013 / 7:29 PM / Blackhawks vs Bruins - 2013 Stanley Cup Final

By John Kreiser - NHL.com Columnist

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Stanley Cup Final by the numbers
NHL.com's John Kreiser takes a numerical look at the 2013 Stanley Cup Final between the Chicago Blackhawks and Boston Bruins.

Sixteen teams began the quest for the Stanley Cup in late April. Just two – the Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks -- remain.

Both teams are trying to build on recent successes as they prepare for the opener of the Stanley Cup Final. The Bruins ended a 39-year championship drought in 2011 by rallying to beat the Vancouver Canucks in a seven-game Final. They succeeded the Blackhawks, who ended a 49-year drought in 2010 by beating the Philadelphia Flyers in six games.

Both are coming into the Final off dynamic performances in their conference finals. The Bruins swept the top-seeded Pittsburgh Penguins 4-0, wrapping up the Eastern Conference Final with a 1-0 victory in Game 4. Patrick Kane, whose overtime goal gave the Blackhawks the Cup three years ago, eliminated the Los Angeles Kings by completing a hat trick with another OT winner that gave Chicago a 4-3 victory and a five-game triumph in the Western Conference Final.

A few days off should leave both teams fresh when they take the ice at United Center for Game 1 on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET, NBC, CBC, RDS).

Here's a look at some of the key numbers and figures as we get ready to determine a champion:

0 -- Previous meetings between the Bruins and Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup Final. Though the Bruins entered the NHL in 1924 and the Blackhawks arrived two years later, they've never taken the ice together for the Final. The Blackhawks and New York Rangers are the only Original Six teams that have yet to meet in the Stanley Cup Final.

1 -- Goals this spring by Chicago captain Jonathan Toews, on 51 shots. In 2009 and 2010, the two previous postseasons in which the Blackhawks have gone past the first round, Toews scored seven times in each.

2 -- Playoff goals scored by Boston's Jaromir Jagr against the Blackhawks -- the only goals scored by a player on either of this year's Final teams against the other. Jagr was part of the Pittsburgh Penguins' Cup-winning teams in 1991 and '92; both of those clubs beat Boston in the conference finals.

3 -- Power-play goals allowed by the Blackhawks this spring, in 59 chances. Chicago did not allow a power-play goal to the Minnesota Wild in the first round, surrendered one to the Detroit Red Wings in the second round and gave up two to the Los Angeles Kings in the Western Conference Final.

4 -- Stanley Cups won by the Blackhawks, though only two have come since 1938. This is Chicago's 12th trip to the Final. The Bruins have won six titles, the most recent in 2011, in 18 trips to the title round.

5 -- Most consecutive Stanley Cups won by one team. The Montreal Canadiens won five in a row from 1956-60. Since expansion, only the 1976-79 Canadiens and the 1980-83 New York Islanders have won as many as four in a row.

6 -- Previous Stanley Cup Playoff series between the Bruins and Blackhawks. Boston has won five -- including all three of the series that were best-of-7. The teams haven't met in the postseason since Boston's 4-0 sweep in the 1978 Quarterfinals, and Chicago's lone victory came in a best-of-3 preliminary-round series in 1975.

7 -- Series losses by the Bruins in the Final to the Montreal Canadiens in as many meetings -- accounting for more than half of Boston's 12 final-round losses. The Blackhawks aren't sorry that Montreal is watching this series on TV either -- they've dropped all five meetings with the Canadiens in the Final.

8 -- Meetings between the Bruins and Blackhawks in the past nine years. The Bruins have won six of the eight games and lost one of the other two in a shootout. Chicago's only regulation victory was a 5-2 victory at Boston on Jan. 7, 2010.

9 -- Seconds needed to score the fastest overtime goal in the history of the Stanley Cup Final. Brian Skrudland of the Montreal Canadiens did it against the Calgary Flames in Game 2 of the 1986 Final. His goal is two seconds faster than the one Alexandre Burrows of the Vancouver Canucks scored against Boston to win Game 2 of the Final two years ago.

10 -- Most consecutive seasons in the Final. The Montreal Canadiens advanced to the championship round in every season from 1951-60. Bernie Geoffrion, Doug Harvey and Tom Johnson were on all 10 of those teams; Bert Olmstead played on the first eight and then opposed his former team while playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1959 and '60.

15 -- Years since a team has repeated as Stanley Cup champion. The Detroit Red Wings won in 1997 and again in '98. The Dallas Stars (1999) and New Jersey Devils (2001) lost in the Final the year after capturing the Cup.

19 -- Most consecutive playoff series won. The New York Islanders won 16 during their run of four consecutive championships from 1980-83, then won three more to return to the Final in 1984 before losing to the Edmonton Oilers in the Final.

21 -- Points this spring by Boston center David Krejci. Not only does he lead the scoring race in this year's postseason, but he's already put up more points than any player in last year's playoffs. Krejci topped all players in scoring with 25 points when the Bruins won the Cup in 2011.

24 -- Overtime games in this spring's playoffs. At least one game in each of the first 14 series has gone past regulation, a first in playoff history. Home teams have won 18 of the 24, including all seven since the start of the conference semifinals. The Bruins have won four of their five overtime games; the Blackhawks are 3-1.

56 -- Victories for the home team in this year's first 80 playoff games, a .700 winning percentage. The record for most wins by home teams in one playoff year is 57, set in 1991 when there were 92 games. Even if the home teams lost all seven games in this series, they'd have a .644 winning percentage, the best since the playoffs went to a best-of-7 format for all series in 1987.

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