Early exits for the Boston Bruins and Milwaukee Bucks surely sting the Boston and Milwaukee faithful. But history says that even as No. 1 seeds, they were unlikely to reach their respective finals.
By the numbers: The National Football League is the only major North American sports league whose top-seeded teams have reached the championship round at a better-than-50% clip over the last 20 completed seasons.
The New Jersey Devils beat the New York Rangers, 4-0, in Game 7 on Monday night in Newark, N.J., to win the Battle of the Hudson and secure their first National Hockey League playoff series victory since 2012.
Between the lines: Prudential Center, home of the Devils, and Madison Square Garden, home of the Rangers, are separated by just 11 miles. That made this series special, as teams in such close proximity rarely go head-to-head in the playoffs.
259 picks and a record 43 trades later, the 2023 National Football League draft is in the books.
Notes:
SEC is king: For the 17th consecutive year, the SEC led all conferences with 62 players drafted, followed by the Big Ten (54), ACC (32), Big 12 (30) and Pac-12 (27). SEC programs Alabama and Georgia also tied for the lead among all schools with 10 drafted players each.
The Boston Bruins tore through the National Hockey League this season, notching a record 65 wins. But when the playoffs arrived, they could manage only three.
Driving the news: The Florida Panthers beat the Bruins, 4-3 (OT), in Sunday's Game 7, stunning a Boston crowd that had spent the past six months witnessing history.
