2020-21 NHL Season Recap

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presents a
Shut Up And JAM! Sports Section Article
2020-21

Season Recap

Headline Highlights

New divisional realignment including the removal of conferences and an all-Canadien grouping
Regular season begins in January after many months of uncertainty surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic
The next wave of 25-and-younger superstars (headlined by Edmonton’s Connor McDavid and Toronto’s Auston Matthews) appear poised to take the league over from the current incumbency of veterans
Excitement builds for the expansion Seattle franchise which is primed to begin play in 2021-22
Longtime Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara jumps ship to the rival Washington Capitals after 14 seasons
Sidney Crosby, arguably his generation’s best player, is honored during his 1000th game played
Vegas and Colorado finish the truncated season tied with the most points atop the standings
Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov dazzles during his rookie campaign earning the Calder Memorial Trophy
The franchise with the richest history in the NHL, the Montreal Canadiens, return to prominence in the Stanley Cup Final after an unlikely postseason run
Tampa Bay Lightning successfully defend the cup becoming the first team to repeat as champions since the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2015-2017

Regular Season Standings

* = playoff participant

EAST DIVISION

Team	Points W/L/OL
	77* 37-16-3
	77* 36-15-5
	73* 33-16-7
	71* 32-17-7
	60 27-23-6
	58 25-23-8
	45 19-30-7
	37 15-34-7

CENTRAL DIVISION

Team	Points W/L/OL
	80* 36-12-8
	79* 37-14-5
	75* 36-17-3
	64* 31-23-2
	60 23-19-14
	55 24-25-7
	48 19-27-10
	48 18-26-12

NORTH DIVISION

Team	Points W/L/OL
	77* 35-14-7
	72* 35-19-2
	63* 30-23-3
	59* 24-21-11
	55 26-27-3
	51 23-28-5
	50 23-29-4

WEST DIVISION

Team	Points W/L/OL
	82* 39-13-4
	82* 40-14-2
	75* 35-16-5
	63* 27-20-9
	54 24-26-6
	49 21-28-7
	49 21-28-7
	43 17-30-9

Notable League Leaders

GOALS

Auston Matthews (C)

41

ASSISTS

Connor McDavid (C)

72

POINTS

Connor McDavid (C)

105

PLUS/MINUS

Mikko Rantanen (W)

+30

WINS

Andrei Vasilevskiy (G)

31

SAVE PERCENTAGE

Alex Nedeljkovic (G)

.932

GOALS AGAINST AVERAGE

Alex Nedeljkovic (G)

1.90

SHUTOUTS

Semyon Varlamov (G)

8

Philipp Grubauer (G)

8

Award Winners

HART MEMORIAL TROPHY
(REGULAR SEASON MVP)

Connor McDavid (C)

33 goals
72 assists
105 points
+21 plus/minus

JAMES NORRIS MEMORIAL TROPHY
(BEST DEFENSEMAN)

Adam Fox (D)

5 goals
42 assists
47 points
+19 plus/minus

FRANK J. SELKE TROPHY
(BEST DEFENSIVE FORWARD)

Aleksander Barkov (C)

26 goals
32 assists
58 points
+12 plus/minus

VEZINA TROPHY
(BEST GOALTENDER)

Marc-Andre Fleury (G)

26-10 wins/losses
.928 save percentage
1.98 goals against average
6 shutouts

CALDER MEMORIAL TROPHY
(BEST ROOKIE)

Kirill Kaprizov (W)

27 goals
24 assists
51 points
+10 plus/minus

Playoff Results

EAST BRACKET
1ST ROUND

1ST ROUND SERIES
EAST BRACKET
(best of 7)

Game 1 @Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena (ot.)	3	4
Game 2 @Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena	2	1
Game 3 @Islanders Nassau Coliseum	4	5
Game 4 @Islanders Nassau Coliseum	4	1
Game 5 @Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena (2 ot.)	2	3
Game 6 @Islanders Nassau Coliseum	5	3

win series 4-2

KEY PERFORMER

Ilya Sorokin (G)

4-0 wins/losses
.943 save percentage

1ST ROUND SERIES
EAST BRACKET
(best of 7)

Game 1 @Washington Capital One Arena (ot.)	3	2
Game 2 @Washington Capital One Arena (ot.)	3	4
Game 3 @Boston TD Garden (2 ot.)	3	2
Game 4 @Boston TD Garden	4	1
Game 5 @Washington Capital One Arena	1	3

win series 4-1

KEY PERFORMER

David Pastrnak (W)

2 goals
4 assists
6 points
+2 plus/minus

CENTRAL BRACKET
1ST ROUND

1ST ROUND SERIES
CENTRAL BRACKET
(best of 7)

Game 1 @Carolina PNC Arena	5	2
Game 2 @Carolina PNC Arena	3	0
Game 3 @Nashville Bridgestone Arena (2 ot.)	5	4
Game 4 @Nashville Bridgestone Arena (2 ot.)	4	3
Game 5 @Carolina PNC Arena (ot.)	3	2
Game 6 @Nashville Bridgestone Arena (ot.)	3	4

win series 4-2

KEY PERFORMER

Sebastian Aho (W)

5 goals
2 assists
7 points
+4 plus/minus

1ST ROUND SERIES
CENTRAL BRACKET
(best of 7)

Game 1 @Florida BB & T Center	4	5
Game 2 @Florida BB & T Center	1	3
Game 3 @Tampa Bay Amalie Arena (ot.)	5	6
Game 4 @Tampa Bay Amalie Arena	6	2
Game 5 @Florida BB & T Center	4	1
Game 6 @Tampa Bay Amalie Arena	4	0

win series 4-2

KEY PERFORMER

Nikita Kucherov (W)

3 goals
8 assists
11 points
+2 plus/minus

NORTH BRACKET
1ST ROUND

1ST ROUND SERIES
NORTH BRACKET
(best of 7)

Game 1 @Toronto Scotiabank Arena	1	2
Game 2 @Toronto Scotiabank Arena	5	1
Game 3 @Montreal Bell Centre	1	2
Game 4 @Montreal Bell Centre	0	4
Game 5 @Toronto Scotiabank Arena (ot.)	3	4
Game 6 @Montreal Bell Centre (ot.)	3	2
Game 7 @Toronto Scotiabank Arena	1	3

win series 4-3

KEY PERFORMER

Tyler Toffoli (C)

2 goals
3 assists
5 points
-3 plus/minus

1ST ROUND SERIES
NORTH BRACKET
(best of 7)

Game 1 @Edmonton Rogers Place	1	4
Game 2 @Edmonton Rogers Place (ot.)	0	1
Game 3 @Winnipeg Bell MTS Place (ot.)	5	4
Game 4 @Winnipeg Bell MTS Place (3 ot.)	4	3

win series 4-0

KEY PERFORMER

Connor Hellebuyck (G)

4-0 wins/losses
.950 save percentage
1 shutout

WEST BRACKET
1ST ROUND

1ST ROUND SERIES
WEST BRACKET
(best of 7)

Game 1 @Colorado Ball Arena	4	1
Game 2 @Colorado Ball Arena	6	3
Game 3 @St. Louis Enterprise Center	1	5
Game 4 @St. Louis Enterprise Center	2	5

win series 4-0

KEY PERFORMER

Nathan Mackinnon (C)

6 goals
3 assists
9 points
+6 plus/minus

1ST ROUND SERIES
WEST BRACKET
(best of 7)

Game 1 @Vegas T-Mobile Arena (ot.)	0	1
Game 2 @Vegas T-Mobile Arena	3	1
Game 3 @Minnesota Xcel Energy Center	2	5
Game 4 @Minnesota Xcel Energy Center	0	4
Game 5 @Vegas T-Mobile Arena	2	4
Game 6 @Minnesota Xcel Energy Center	3	0
Game 7 @Vegas T-Mobile Arena	6	2

win series 4-3

KEY PERFORMER

Marc-Andre Fleury (G)

4-3 wins/losses
.931 save percentage
1 shutout

EAST BRACKET
2ND ROUND

2ND ROUND SERIES
EAST BRACKET
(best of 7)

Game 1 @Boston TD Garden	5	2
Game 2 @Boston TD Garden (ot.)	3	4
Game 3 @Islanders Nassau Coliseum (ot.)	1	2
Game 4 @Islanders Nassau Coliseum	4	1
Game 5 @Boston TD Garden	4	5
Game 6 @Islanders Nassau Coliseum	6	2

win series 4-2

KEY PERFORMER

Semyon Varlamov (G)

4-1 wins/losses
.934 save percentage

CENTRAL BRACKET
2ND ROUND

2ND ROUND SERIES
CENTRAL BRACKET
(best of 7)

Game 1 @Carolina PNC Arena	1	2
Game 2 @Carolina PNC Arena	1	2
Game 3 @Tampa Bay Amalie Arena (ot.)	2	3
Game 4 @Tampa Bay Amalie Arena	6	4
Game 5 @Carolina PNC Arena	0	2

win series 4-1

KEY PERFORMER

Andrei Vasilevskiy (G)

4-1 wins/losses
.940 save percentage
1 shutout

NORTH BRACKET
2ND ROUND

2ND ROUND SERIES
NORTH BRACKET
(best of 7)

Game 1 @Winnipeg Bell MTS Place	3	5
Game 2 @Winnipeg Bell MTS Place	0	1
Game 3 @Montreal Bell Centre	5	1
Game 4 @Montreal Bell Centre (ot.)	3	2

win series 4-0

KEY PERFORMER

Carey Price (G)

4-0 wins/losses
.942 save percentage
1 shutout

WEST BRACKET
2ND ROUND

2ND ROUND SERIES
WEST BRACKET
(best of 7)

Game 1 @Colorado Ball Arena	7	1
Game 2 @Colorado Ball Arena (ot.)	3	2
Game 3 @Vegas T-Mobile Arena	3	2
Game 4 @Vegas T-Mobile Arena	5	1
Game 5 @Colorado Ball Arena (ot.)	2	3
Game 6 @Vegas T-Mobile Arena	6	3

win series 4-2

KEY PERFORMER

Jonathan Marchessault (C)

5 goals
2 assists
7 points
+3 plus/minus

STANLEY CUP
SEMIFINAL BRACKET
(re-seeded)

3RD ROUND SERIES
SEMIFINAL BRACKET
(best of 7)

Game 1 @Vegas T-Mobile Arena	4	1
Game 2 @Vegas T-Mobile Arena	2	3
Game 3 @Montreal Bell Centre (ot.)	3	2
Game 4 @Montreal Bell Centre (ot.)	1	2
Game 5 @Vegas T-Mobile Arena	1	4
Game 6 @Montreal Bell Centre (ot.)	3	2

win series 4-2

KEY PERFORMER

Cole Caufield (W)

4 goals
1 assists
5 points
0 plus/minus

3RD ROUND SERIES
SEMIFINAL BRACKET
(best of 7)

Game 1 @Tampa Bay Amalie Arena	1	2
Game 2 @Tampa Bay Amalie Arena	4	2
Game 3 @Islanders Nassau Coliseum	1	2
Game 4 @Islanders Nassau Coliseum	3	2
Game 5 @Tampa Bay Amalie Arena	8	0
Game 6 @Islanders Nassau Coliseum (ot.)	3	2
Game 7 @Tampa Bay Amalie Arena	1	0

win series 4-3

KEY PERFORMER

Brayden Point (C)

6 goals
2 assists
8 points
+4 plus/minus

STANLEY CUP
FINAL SERIES
(best of 7)

Game 1 @Tampa Bay Amalie Arena	5	1
Game 2 @Tampa Bay Amalie Arena	3	1
Game 3 @Montreal Bell Centre	3	6
Game 4 @Montreal Bell Centre (ot.)	3	2
Game 5 @Tampa Bay Amalie Arena	1	0

2020-21 STANLEY CUP CHAMPION

CONN SMYTHE TROPHY
(PLAYOFF MVP)

Andrei Vasilevskiy (G)

16-7 wins/losses
.937 save percentage
1.90 goals against average
5 shutouts

Favorite Team Spotlight

W/L/OL: 21-28-7 (6th in WEST DIVISION)
Offensive Ranking: 27th
Defensive Ranking: 11th

Drafted talented 6-4 center Quinton Byfield #2 overall
Stalwart goaltender Jonathan Quick begins the season in sort of a transitional stage after multiple injuries take their toll
Franchise cornerstone Anze Kopitar is celebrated after reaching 1,000 points for his career
Rookie defenseman Mikey Anderson emerges with an impressive campaign establishing himself as a top linemate to go along with the always dependable Drew Doughty
A final sad stamp on this forgettable season saw surfer-looking center Jeff Carter getting traded away to Pittsburgh after a successful 10-year stint