Most productive player
He missed a month due to health issues, recharged his energy and with Connor McDavid injured, German big man Leon Draisaitl literally dragged Edmonton on his back in their series against the Ducks. Draisaitl scored in all six games against Anaheim and added seven assists to his three goals. What's more, he scored two points on four occasions in the round.
He tallied a total of seven points with an even number of players on the ice, fired 13 times and was the Oilers' busiest forward after McDavid with an average of 22 minutes and 50 seconds. Still, it wasn't enough as Edmonton went down 4-2 in the series.
"I'm frustrated, we're not going in the right direction right now," Draisaitl said of the Canadian organisation after the elimination. "We took a step back, and we need to get back on the right track," he continued.
Maybe the team management could look around for a proper number one goalie... Edmonton conceded 20 goals in their first four games against the Ducks, a performance the club hasn't put up in 44 years.
Best goaltender
Frederik Andersen didn't have a regular season quite to his liking for Carolina. He was outplayed by rookie prodigy Brandon Bussi, who stepped in for multiple games and had an incredible 31-6-2 record to boot. Plus, the Dane has traditionally been plagued by injuries...
However, in the playoffs, experience is the key, and the 36-year-old goalie has plenty of it. That's why he was trusted in the series against Ottawa, in which he repaid in spades.
Only two players scored in four games for the Senators (Drake Batherson scored three goals and Dylan Cozens scored two), and Andersen finished the series with a 95.5% save success rate and one clean sheet. He stopped a total of 105 shots.
Carolina also became the first team since 2009 not to drop a game in the entire series. The last time it was done was by Detroit against Columbus.
Moment of the round
Buffalo were one of the competition's stalwarts for years, and the reason was clear - waiting for the knockout stage. The last time the Sabres made it to the Stanley Cup playoffs before the current run was in 2011. Back then, Thomas Vanek led the club in scoring, current San Jose general manager Mike Grier was on the ice, and Lindy Ruff led the team.
The latter is one of the links to the story. After Buffalo, he also managed Dallas, the New York Rangers, the New Jersey Devils and was there for Canada's Olympic gold medal run before returning to the Sabres in 2024 and helping Buffalo celebrate a playoff win 5,746 days since their last one. That was when they beat Boston 4-3 in the opening game.
"There's a huge hunger to win, we don't want to miss this opportunity," star forward Tage Thompson, who scored two goals and assisted five in the series and was the team's top scorer with 26 shots, told NHL.com.
The American forward's words reflected something that the data has confirmed all year long. From the first day of January until the start of the playoffs, there was no better team in the NHL than the Sabres, who notched 63 points in 43 games.
Now - that is, after the club won its first series since 2007 - it's clear that Buffalo aren't just making up numbers and are daring to reach the Stanley Cup finals. They haven't ever won the Cup since joining the league in 1970, and the last time they made the finals was way back in 1999.
Number of the round
This time, the magic number is seven, for two reasons. The first is linked to Russian superstar and elite forward Nikita Kucherov, who scored six points (1+5) in his series against Montreal, but couldn't score in the crucial seventh game, as Tampa Bay lost 2-1 to go out.
And the number seven is important for another reason related to Tampa and their rivals, the Florida Panthers. For the first time in seven years, there will be no Florida team in the Stanley Cup finals!
Social media highlights
Philadelphia's series with Pittsburgh was tied by defenseman Cam York with an overtime goal in Game 6. It was the first career playoff score for the American defenseman, and he proved that he was full of emotion by happily flicking his stick into the stands.
"I hope everyone's OK; I definitely don't want a lawsuit," he joked with a smile at the press conference just a few dozen minutes after he shot past Arturs Silovs to send the Flyers into the second round.
Fortunately for him, everyone was indeed cool with it, and the California native's stick took on a life of its own, so to speak. York loved the stick, and fan Jack Brode, who grabbed it in the stands, brought it back to him and traded it for another signed stick and jersey.
Pic of the round
Round 1 of the playoffs has tended to be very physical in recent years, as evidenced by this duel on the glass during Minnesota's series with Dallas.
Although Matt Duchene (right) seemingly won the battle, the Stars veteran eventually fell out of the playoffs with his side, despite being the team's most productive player with nine points (2+7) in six games.
