In best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1163, on Saturday 12 May 2012, the New York Rangers host the Washington Capitals in Game 7 of their 2012 NHL Quarterfinals series. In the immediately preceding round – the 2012 NHL Preliminary round – the New York Rangers hosted and defeated the Ottawa Senators in Game 7 of series 1155, while the Washington Capitals visited and defeated the defending NHL champion Boston Bruins in Game 7 of series 1156. So it is that the New York Rangers could not have fresher memories of how to win a Game 7 at home, and the Washington Capitals could not have fresher memories of how to win a Game 7 on the road.

This Rangers-Capitals Game 7 begs the question of how teams hosting a Game 7 (New York) fare upon having hosted and won Game 7 in the immediately preceding round (in the same playoff season), and how visiting teams in Game 7 (Washington) fare upon having won Game 7 on the road in the immediately preceding round (again, in the same playoff season). A review of best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series results from 1905 through 2011, inclusive, reveals the following results:

1) In the NHL, teams which won Game 7 at home in the immediately preceding round had a 7-6 (.538) Game 7 at home, while teams which won Game 7 on the road in the immediately preceding round had a 3-7 (.300) Game 7 record on the road. The New York Rangers themselves are among the home winners in this group, having won series 665 Game 7 at home (the 1994 NHL Finals over the Vancouver Canucks) after having won series 663 Game 7 at home (in the 1994 NHL Semifinals over the New Jersey Devils). The Washington Capitals, by contrast, have never previously played a Game 7 on the road after winning a Game 7 on the road in the immediately preceding round in the same playoff season.

2) In the NBA, teams which won Game 7 at home in the immediately preceding round had a 10-1 (.909) Game 7 at home, while teams which won Game 7 on the road in the immediately preceding round had a 0-2 (.000) Game 7 record on the road. The only home team to lose in this situation has been the Boston Celtics, in series 1080 to the Orlando Magic in the 2009 NBA Quarterfinals; Boston, however, also accounts for the first three of the ten home team Game 7 victories in this situation.

3) In MLB, no team has won Game 7 at home in the immediately preceding round and then hosted a Game 7 in the current round, while teams which won Game 7 on the road in the immediately preceding round had a 0-1 (.000) Game 7 record on the road [the Atlanta Braves, in series 600 (the 1991 MLB Finals) to the Twins in Minnesota].

Only once before has the home team, having hosted and won a Game 7 in the immediately preceding round, hosted a Game 7 against a visitor which won its own Game 7 on the road in the immediately preceding round. In series 884, the Vancouver Canucks hosted Game 7 against the Minnesota Wild in the 2003 NHL Quarterfinals round. Minnesota prevailed once again on road ice, capping a comeback from a 3-games-1 deficit against Vancouver. Ironically, in the immediately preceding series for both teams, Minnesota also capped a comeback from a 3-games-1 deficit with a road Game 7 win (in Colorado over the Avalanche, in series 879 in the 2003 NHL Preliminary round), and Vancouver also capped a comeback from a 3-games-1 deficit with a home Game 7 win (over the St. Louis Blues in series 880, also in the 2003 NHL Preliminary round). Spent from consecutive road Game 7 victories to cap comebacks from 3-games-1 deficits, the Minnesota Wild would then set a best-of-7 NHL playoff series record for fewest goals in the series – one – against the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in series 886, in the 2003 NHL Semifinals.

11 May 2012