Just one year after winning their first ever championship, the Florida Panthers roared back to the Stanley Cup Finals and took home their second. To claim the trophy, the Panthers had to go through the same team they beat the first time: the Edmonton Oilers. This thrilling rematch saw three of the first four games decided in overtime with the two teams even at 2-2 heading into game 5, but Florida decisively claimed the final two games behind the efforts of Conn Smythe Trophy recipient Sam Bennett.

Despite their postseason dominance, the Florida Panthers were not among the nine teams that finished with over 100 points in the regular season. The Winnipeg Jets led the way with 116 points, good for the 1 seed in the Western Conference. Over in the Eastern Conference, the Washington Capitals finished with 111 points and the 1 seed. Other league leaders include the Maple Leafs (108 points) and the Golden Knights (110 points) who both led their divisions.

Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl scored the most goals in the league at 52, a sizeable lead over William Nylander of the Toronto Maple Leafs who finished with 45. Six other players finished with more than 40 goals, among them Brayden Point and Jake Guentzel of the 3 seed Tampa Bay Lightning, with 42 and 41 respectively. Nikita Kucherov of Tampa Bay followed up his 100-assist season with 84 this season, tied with Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon for the league lead.

The Lightning scored 294 goals – the most in the league this season. Winnipeg finished with the best defense in the league for the second year in a row, allowing only 191 goals, largely due to the efforts of Hart Memorial Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck. Hellebuyck finished first in GAA (2.01), record (47- 12-3), shutouts (8) and was second in save percentage (.925). This remarkable performance earned him his second straight Vezina Trophy, beating out Darcy Kuemper of the Los Angeles Kings (2.02 GAA) and Andrei Vasilevskiy of Tampa Bay (2.18 GAA).

Individual standout performances can be found in the six players to reach the 100 point barrier: Kucherov (121), MacKinnon (116), Draisaitl (106), Boston’s David Pastrnak (106), Toronto’s Mitch Marner (102) and Edmonton’s Connor McDavid (100).

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