Ranking every NHL team’s worst postseason based on goal differential

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What was your favorite team’s worst postseason?

Probably this one, at least for now. Nobody has fun in the playoffs, at least until they’re over.

But let’s try to find a more objective answer. We could just point to any time your team was swept in the first round, since going four-and-out is about as bad as it comes. But if we did that, we wouldn’t be able to use every team. (Yes, that was a stealth trivia question: Name every team that’s never been swept in a first-round best-of-seven. Answer down below.)

So instead, let’s go with the team stat that a reader recently asked me about: playoff goal differential.

I haven’t run it by Dom’s supercomputer quite yet, but I’m going to work from the assumption that scoring goals is good and giving up goals is bad, and giving up way more than you score is a sign that things haven’t gone great. So today, let’s find each team’s single worst postseason by goal differential, and dig up those miserable memories.

For added fun, we’ll do this in order from the “best” total to the absolute worst. And here’s a mini-spoiler to get your mind working: The single worst postseason in NHL history, in terms of goal differential, featured a team that won a round.

We’ll work our way down to the worst of the worst of playoff history, which means we start with … oh, for crying out loud.

Vegas Golden Knights -0

Seriously, forget these guys. Their worst goals-differential series, at least until this year, was last year’s loss to the Stars, which still saw them finish even. I hope the Wild win 15-0 on Thursday.

Seattle Kraken -1

Much better. The Kraken join the negative club despite winning a round in 2023 — their only playoff run in history so far — and stretching the Stars to seven games before bowing out in Round 2. Thanks, Seattle, we all appreciate your effort to fit in, unlike some teams we could mention.

OK, on to the older franchises, and a surprise for the least-bad of the bunch.

Buffalo Sabres -8

Huh. I guess the good news is they haven’t had a negative postseason in 14 years. (Tumbleweed blows by.) Anyway, our answer here comes from 1984, when the Sabres were swept by the Nordiques in three games, getting outscored by 8 in the process. That season was best remembered for Tom Barrasso winning the Calder and Vezina Trophies as a teenager, but his magic ran out in the playoffs when he posted an .864 save percentage. In fairness, that was still better than backup Bob Sauve, who chipped in with a tidy .643. The 1980s, man.

Now we start finding some ties:

Florida Panthers -9

The mark here comes from the 2022 team that won the Presidents’ Trophy and then outlasted the Capitals in Round 1. That was the end of the good times, as they managed only three goals while being swept by the Lightning. That was enough of a disaster to cost Jack Adams finalist Andrew Brunette his job, leading the way to Paul Maurice and some slightly more successful postseasons to come.

Edmonton Oilers -9

The Oilers have spent most of their franchise history either handing out the damage or missing the playoffs entirely. In fact, they’ve only had a single postseason with a mark worse than -6. That one came in 2003, when they were -9 in a six-game loss to the Stars. Fun fact: Georges Laraque was tied for the team lead in scoring in that series, but only tied for 10th on the team in PIM. You know what they say about crushers becoming rushers, Georges.

Pittsburgh Penguins -9

The Penguins have never hit double-digits, instead settling for -9 performances in both 1979 and 1982. The latter is actually a relatively well-known series, coming in a first-round best-of-five against the Islanders. The Penguins were big underdogs and certainly looked that part while dropping the first two games by a combined score of 15-3, but then stayed alive by winning Game 3 in OT and followed that with a Game 4 win to even the series. The deciding game went to overtime before John Tonelli won it for New York, ending a series that was the only one during the Islanders’ 19-round win streak in which they ever faced elimination.

Colorado Avalanche -9

The Avalanche themselves have never hit double digits, with their worst total coming in at -9 back in 2006. But the Nordiques managed to go -12 back in 1982 while making it all the way to the conference finals. The secret there was winning two tight series and then running into those same Islanders we just met, who swept them easily.

Washington Capitals -9

We could get them to -10 if we count the weird round robin games from 2020, but I think the 2000 Caps are closer to what we want here. That team lost in five to the Penguins, and while four of the five games were one-goal affairs, the 7-0 opener tilted things just a bit.

Dallas Stars -9

The franchise has never hit double digits, even if we count back to the Minnesota North Stars days. They came close in 2004, when Dallas lost in five to the Avalanche, including a 5-1 final in the last game that put them into the team record books. That series is probably best remembered for making Colorado fans briefly feel like the David Aebischer playoff era would be OK. It would not.

Minnesota Wild -10

The bad news is that coming into this year, the Wild have never had a postseason in which they had a positive goal differential. Not one. And yes, that includes the 2003 trip to the conference finals, in which they ended up even.

The good news, such as it is, would be that they’ve never had a truly awful run either, at least by today’s measurement. Their worst came back in 2013, when they were -10 while losing to the powerhouse Blackhawks.

Ottawa Senators -11

Thankfully, this one doesn’t come against the Leafs. Instead, it’s from the extremely weird 2007-08 team, which followed a trip to the final with a 29-10-4 start, fired their coach a month later, barely made the playoffs, and then were swept aside by the Penguins, outscored 16-5 along the way.

Montreal Canadiens -11

This is the first and thankfully only team we’ll run into with a bunch of seasons tied for worst, three of them relatively recent. Their first -11 run came in 1997, when they were thumped by the Devils in what was definitely the worst thing that happened to them that season. They then tied that mark three times in five years, going -11 in 2009, 2010 and 2013. And yes, that 2010 year saw them go to the conference finals, where their differential took a beating when they were shut out three times by the Flyers.

Columbus Blue Jackets -11

Can’t get blown out too badly in the playoffs if you rarely even make it that far, he said, imitating the pointing-at-brain GIF. Or at least you’d think so, until you remember their very first postseason back in 2009, which ended quickly in an ugly sweep against the Red Wings.

New Jersey Devils -11

We only have to go back to 2023 for the Devils, and it’s kind of a weird one. They won the first round against the Rangers in seven despite being outscored 10-2 in the first two games. That run ended against the Hurricanes in Round 2, a series that saw Carolina outscore them 24-13 despite the Devils winning their only game of the series by an 8-4 final.

Fair warning: There’s a big log jam at -12 incoming …

Anaheim Ducks -12

This one only goes back a few years, as the Ducks were swept by the Sharks in 2018 while being outscored 16 to 4. Most of the heavy-lifting here comes in Game 3, an 8-1 blowout loss. That was enough to get the Ducks to -12, narrowly beating their -11 performance in another opening-round sweep, this one to the 1999 Red Wings.

Boston Bruins -12

The Bruins have hit -12 twice, both in the Original Six era. The 1954 Bruins were swept in the first round by the Habs in a series that included an 8-1 blowout, while the 1951 team lost to the Leafs in a six-game series that featured a tie. (Yes, you could have those. Back then, thanks to curfew, there was such a thing as too much overtime.)

If you want a more modern entry, you could find a -11 run in 1991 that got them to the conference finals before they ran into Mario Lemieux and the Penguins. And the 2020 run was a -10 if you count the weird round robin games, which again, you should not.

Carolina Hurricanes -12

I assumed we’d end up reaching back to the Hartford days for this one, but we don’t need to. While the Whalers had a -10 run in 1980, that can’t match the Hurricanes’ 2001 opening-round loss to the Devils. Somewhat surprisingly, the series didn’t feature any true blowouts. But three of the Hurricanes’ four losses came by four goals, while their only two wins were by one. They’d get a rematch with the Devils in 2002 to kick off a run that went slightly better.

Nashville Predators -12

We’ve got a pair of postseasons to choose from here, with both the 2016 and 2022 squads arriving at the -12 mark in very different ways. The 2016 team won a round and went the distance in the second, but a 5-0 Game 7 loss to the Sharks set the mark. The 2022 team took the express lane, getting there in an ugly four-game sweep at the hands of the Avalanche.

Utah Hockey Club -12

Utah has never made the playoffs, at least if we take the league’s word that they’re a brand-new team with no previous history. But if we consider them to be the successors to the Coyotes and early Jets, then we can pick the -11 that the Coyotes had in the 2020 bubble, or the -12 that the Jets had in 1992 against the Canucks. That latter one was quite the nightmare; the Jets outscored Vancouver 12-8 in the first four games before losing the last three by a combined score of 21-5.

Vancouver Canucks -13

The Canucks have had five seasons in the negative double-digits, and one of those blew me away. We’ll get to it in a second.

But first, the winner here comes from the 2003 playoffs. That year saw the Canucks beat the Blues in the first round, outlasting them in a seven-game series despite being outscored 29-21, including a 6-0 blowout in the opener. They rode the momentum from that unlikely -8 win into a second-round matchup with the Wild, and took a 3-1 series lead on the strength of one-goal wins. Then they collapsed, losing the last three games of the series by a combined score of 16-5. That brought their postseason total to -13.

That’s a lot for a team that won a round, but it’s not the run that shocked me. Instead, that would be a run hockey fans would remember well: 2011, which saw the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Canucks fall one game short of winning it all. That Vancouver team somehow finished the playoffs at -11 despite winning three rounds. Sure, the 8-1 loss to the Bruins in Game 3 drove a bunch of that, but still — how do you win 15 playoff games and still finish -11 on the year? The Vancouver Canucks playoff run experience, truly magical.

So, has a team ever won a Cup with a negative differential? We’ll get there in a minute. But first …

Winnipeg Jets -13

Sorry, Jets fans, this one’s still fresh. It only goes back to last year’s loss to the Avalanche, who outscored the Jets 28-15 over the course of a five-game series win. Don’t worry, I’m sure all those goals against were a fluke and Connor Hellebuyck is dominating this year’s playoffs.

Tampa Bay Lightning, -13

The Lightning had the foresight to use their first impression to set the bar nice and low, making their playoff debut in 1996 and immediately getting smoked by the Flyers. It was actually a six-game series, one which featured a pair of Lightning OT wins. But the other four games saw Philadelphia outscore them 19-6, including a 7-3 opener and a 6-1 final game.

Los Angeles Kings -13

Somewhat surprisingly, this one doesn’t come from the old 1980s Smythe Division days when the Kings would get smoked by the Oilers most years. Instead, it’s from the team’s second season in the league, as the 1969 Kings snuck by the Seals in seven before getting wrecked by Jacques Plante and the Blues. They lost that one in four straight, outscored 16-5 along the way.

Philadelphia Flyers -14

I was hoping this would be that 2011 madhouse against the Penguins, but alas, that one was only a -9. Instead, we bookend the Broad Street Bullies era with a pair of -14s, one in a 1969 sweep against the Blues and the other in 1979. That one started off well, with an preliminary round win over the Canucks and a Game 1 win over the Rangers. But New York had a slight edge the rest of the way, to the tune of a 26-5 total score over four straight wins.

New York Rangers -15

We’re heading all the way back to 1956 for this one, and a five-game loss to the Habs dynasty. The Rangers lost the first game 7-1 and the final 7-0. The good news is they were only a -2 in the three games in between, so … small victories, right?

Detroit Red Wings -15

I’m guessing the question here for Detroit fans is whether the worst would come in the 1970s or the mid-80s. It’s the latter, as the 1985 Wings managed the impressive feat of going -15 in a playoff “run” that only lasted three games. It came against the Hawks, who beat them by finals of 9-5, 6-1 and then 8-2. Shout out to backup goalie Corrado Micalef, who contributed a .667 save percentage to the cause. Two out of three ain’t bad! No, really, for an 1980s goalie, it wasn’t bad.

OK, time for a weirdly large gap as we make our way to the worst of the worst …

Calgary Flames -19

This one’s not especially close. It’s the 1983 run that saw the Flames beat the Jets in a close best-of-five in the opening round before running into the Oilers juggernaut in Round 2. They were outscored 36-13, including losses of 10-2 in Game 3 and 9-1 in the fifth and final game.

Chicago Blackhawks -19

The franchise has been around forever, and some of it has been rough. The worst came in 1946, when the Hawks ran into Rocket Richard and the Canadiens in the opening round. They were outscored 26-7, offering little help to 34-year-old goalie (and classic weird second-team all-star) Mike Karakas. The good news is that they held Richard to just four goals and six points. But Toe Blake and Elmer Lach both hit double digits.

In modern history, you could find a -14 in a 1997 series against the Avs that included a 7-0 loss. For the cap-era squad, it’s a relatively respectable -10 in their 2017 sweep to the Predators.

Toronto Maple Leafs -19

You might expect one of the Ballard era years to show up here, and the Leafs did have an ugly -16 in 1981 along with a -12 in 1988. But the worst of the worst came back in 1969 in a four-game sweep to the Bruins that, let’s just say, did not start well for Toronto. You think the modern Leafs have trouble in Boston? This team dropped the first two games there by a combined score of 17-0. That includes a Game 1 loss by a 10-0 final, which is tied for the second-biggest blowout in playoff history and yet better remembered for being the game in which this happened.

And since we’re piling on the Leafs, we should use this space to answer that question about whether any team has won a Cup with a negative goal differential. Yes, but only once — the 1945 Leafs, who managed to finish the postseason -6 after mixing a bunch of close games in with a 10-3 loss to the Habs in Round 1 that pushed them into minus territory.

New York Islanders -19

No contest here. They’ve only had one double-digit postseason in their history, but it was a doozy. The 1994 team suffered one of the worst sweeps in history, outscored 22-3 while being shut out twice. Islanders fans, if you’re lucky enough not to remember this one, don’t ask who it was against. And definitely don’t ask how the rest of that team’s run went.

St. Louis Blues -20

The early Blues were the weirdest expansion team ever — sorry Vegas — going to the final three straight years and then getting their doors kicked in each time, occasionally ending things with an overrated photo op. By 1972, the league had adjusted the playoff format, but it didn’t save the Blues from getting worked over by the Bruins yet again. Boston won the first three games of the sweep by a combined 23-5 before easing up for a comparatively competitive 5-3 win in the last game.

Still, -20 is pretty awful. But it’s not all that close to rock bottom, which is where we’ve finally arrived …

San Jose Sharks -27

And yes, they won a round.

First of all, this is 1995, which isn’t to be confused with the 1994 team that upset the Red Wings before narrowly losing to the Leafs. This edition upset the Flames in the first round, winning Game 7 in double OT to capture the series despite being outscored 35-26. That set the stage for a rematch with the Wings, which … did not go great. Detroit got its revenge by sweeping the Sharks, outscoring them 24-6 along the way.

Still, a -27 is wild. Think of it this way: There were eight different teams that missed the playoffs this year with a better goals differential over the full season than the Sharks had in a playoff run in which they won a round. The 1990s NHL was something else, kids.

And if you stuck around this long and/or your CTRL+F skills are solid, here’s the answer to that trivia question from the intro. Teams that have never been swept in a seven-game series in the opening round include the expected newbies  — Seattle, Vegas and Utah (but only if we don’t count the Coyotes) — plus the Avalanche, Sabres, Stars and Devils. The Hurricanes have also never had it happen, although the Whalers did once.

(Top photo of Colorado’s Valeri Nichushkin scoring on Connor Hellebuyck in Game 1 of the first round of the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs: David Lipnowski / Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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