The year of the underdog?
All four division winners were defeated by wild-card teams in the first round of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, busting brackets across the globe. It's the first time in league history that every division winner has been eliminated in the opening round. In fact, only three of the top 10 teams in the league remain in the hunt for the Cup.
NHL teams by overall league rank eliminated in Round 1:
— James Mirtle (@mirtle) April 25, 2019
1st, 2nd, 4th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 16th
Boston, Isles and Sharks only top 10 teams left.
The Atlantic's Tampa Bay Lightning were swept in four games at the hands of the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Pacific's Calgary Flames were the next victims, falling in five games to the Colorado Avalanche, followed by the Central's Nashville Predators losing in six to the Dallas Stars. And on Wednesday, the Metropolitan winners and defending Stanley Cup-champion Washington Capitals lost in a double-overtime Game 7 thriller to the Carolina Hurricanes.
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