“Special teams don’t matter in the playoffs.” That’s a common sentiment you hear heading into the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs every year. The refs will swallow their whistles, only calling the most obvious penalties and, even then, letting them occasionally slide.
So fans were probably surprised to see a total of seven penalties called in Game 1 between the Nashville Predators and the Dallas Stars, followed by nine in Game 2. The series ended up having 37 power plays, 22 for Dallas and 15 for the Predators.
That’s a lot of 5-on-4 time (and occasionally 5-on-3) across six games.