Ranking the top 5 NHL team seasons of the decade
The Chicago Blackhawks, Los Angeles Kings, and Pittsburgh Penguins all won multiple championships over the last 10 years, but which NHL squad put together the best single-season during that span?
We'll be revealing our cumulative all-decade team power rankings Wednesday, but in the meantime, here are the five best NHL team campaigns of the 2010s, as voted on by theScore's hockey staff:
5. Boston Bruins, 2010-11
Harry How / Getty Images Sport / GettyRegular-season record: 46-25-11
Playoff losses: 9
Tim Thomas, who produced one of the best individual seasons of the decade, led the deep and versatile Bruins, a team that secured a championship with an impressive mix of experience and youth.
Thomas, who turned 37 in April 2011, posted a ridiculous .938 regular-season save percentage, and he somehow improved on it with a .940 mark across 25 postseason games that spring. The eccentric netminder was a no-brainer for the Conn Smythe Trophy.
Zdeno Chara, who celebrated his 34th birthday in March 2011, was also instrumental to this squad's success while helping to establish the team as a defensive juggernaut. Throw in blossoming two-way stalwarts Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, plus Milan Lucic at his gritty, goal-scoring peak, and it's easy to see why this club was so successful.
4. Kings, 2013-14
Dave Sandford / National Hockey League / GettyRegular-season record: 46-28-8
Playoff losses: 10
If there was any doubt about Los Angeles being a true powerhouse after winning the Stanley Cup as the No. 8 seed two years beforehand, this championship club put those thoughts to rest.
Like the aforementioned Bruins, defensive domination defined these Kings, with the squad ranking first in goals against. While this Los Angeles team was much worse offensively than the rest of the clubs on this list, it possessed just enough scoring to put away more dynamic opponents, and its defensive prowess was unmatched in 2013-14.
Alec Martinez's title-clinching double-overtime winner was a dramatic moment, but the Kings prevailing in that Stanley Cup Final felt inevitable. They dispatched the New York Rangers in five contests after winning three seven-game series during the previous rounds, including overcoming a 3-0 series deficit to eliminate the San Jose Sharks in the first round.
3. Penguins, 2015-16
Bruce Bennett / Getty Images Sport / GettyRegular-season record: 48-26-8
Playoff losses: 8
After leading Pittsburgh to a title seven years prior, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin did it again for the first of consecutive championships. Despite posting two fewer wins than the 2016-17 team, these Penguins were better defensively.
This squad was more balanced, ranking third in regular-season goals for per game and sixth in goals against (compared to one year later when it ranked first and 17th, respectively). The team was also healthier with Kris Letang in tow, unlike 2016-17 when the star blue-liner missed half the regular season and the entire postseason.
Rookie goaltender Matt Murray burst onto the scene with a .930 save percentage in 13 regular-season games in 2015-16. He then supplanted Marc-Andre Fleury as the club's starter with a .923 save percentage across 21 playoff contests that spring, helping Pittsburgh restore its status as the league's most complete squad.
2. Blackhawks, 2012-13
Bruce Bennett / Getty Images Sport / GettyRegular-season record: 36-7-5
Playoff losses: 7
Chicago won its second title of the decade, doing it in a lockout year. Even in an abbreviated regular season, the team still posted one of the most dominant campaigns of the 2010s, winning an astounding 75% of its regular-season contests, and 70% of its playoff games.
The team went 21-0-3 to begin the year, putting together the longest point streak to start a season, and the second-longest streak without a regulation loss in NHL history. The run actually amounted to 30 games dating back to the 2011-12 regular season. Chicago continued to be a force the rest of the way in 2012-13, ranking second in goals per game and first in goals against.
This edition of the Blackhawks is also the most recent Presidents' Trophy winner to hoist the Cup, an accomplishment that remains impressive despite the shortened schedule.
1. Blackhawks, 2009-10
Bruce Bennett / Getty Images Sport / GettyRegular-season record: 52-22-8
Playoff losses: 6
This Blackhawks squad was absolutely loaded with talent, with all the team's stars in their primes. It delivered in spades, posting the most victories in a campaign among Cup winners in the decade.
With 21-year-old superstars Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews anchoring the team, along with a Norris Trophy season from Duncan Keith, and key contributions from Patrick Sharp, Marian Hossa, and Dustin Byfuglien, this was the Blackhawks in all their glory before salary-cap casualties piled up. The team's average age was 26.6, tying the 2008-09 Penguins as the youngest champs since '98-99.
Kane's awkward game-winner to clinch the Cup didn't diminish what this club achieved during the season, as the first NHL title of the decade and Chicago's first of three in a six-year span capped off the best team season in the 2010s.
Just missed the cut- Penguins, 2016-17: Pittsburgh became the first club to repeat as champions since the Detroit Red Wings in 1997 and '98.
- Kings, 2011-12: Los Angeles' first Stanley Cup-winning squad wasn't as good as the one that won it two years later, but only three championship-winning teams since 1927 boast a better save percentage than this Kings club.
- Tampa Bay Lightning, 2018-19: The Bolts' historically dominant regular season is still worth recognizing despite their first-round face-plant.
- Vancouver Canucks, 2010-11: The stacked Cup finalists came within a game of winning it all after posting the league's best record in the regular season.
- Capitals 2017-18: Only the 2009-10 Blackhawks and 2016-17 Penguins won more games than this Washington team among Cup champs in the decade.
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