Best NHL Regular Season Records Through 60 games

Q: Which NHL team has the best record through 60 games?<

The 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens and 1979-80 Philadelphia Flyers tie for the best all-time record through 60 games. They each went 43-7-10 in the first 60 games. The 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens had a better goal differential through 60 games, +150 vs +80.

Q: Which NHL team had the best start through 60 games but still missed the playoffs?

The 1969-70 Montreal Canadiens started the season 31-16-13, but failed to make the playoffs. Since 2000, 4 separate teams started the season with a 34-22-4 record and didn't make the playoffs. The most recent example was the 2017-18 Dallas Stars.

Q: How did the best NHL teams through 60 games perform in the playoffs?

Starting in 1947, of the 79 teams that each season had the best record or tied for the best record through 60 games, 100% of them went on to make the playoffs, and 38.0% of them won the Stanley Cup. The most recent 5 teams that had the best record through 60 games and went on to win the Stanley Cup are The 2021-22 Colorado Avalanche, the 2019-20 Tampa Bay Lightning, the 2007-08 Detroit Red Wings, the 2005-06 Carolina Hurricanes and the 2001-02 Detroit Red Wings.

Which NHL team has the best record through 60 games?<

The 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens and 1979-80 Philadelphia Flyers tie for the best all-time record through 60 games. They each went 43-7-10 in the first 60 games. The 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens had a better goal differential through 60 games, +150 vs +80.

All-Time Best NHL Starts Through:

Best NHL Start Through 60 Games

	Team	Year	Record	Goal Differential	Final Record	Final Result
1	Montreal Canadiens	1977	43-7-10	+150	60-8-12	Won Final
	Philadelphia Flyers	1980	41-5-14	+80	48-12-20	Lost Final
3	Montreal Canadiens	1978	43-8-9	+122	59-10-11	Won Final
	Boston Bruins	1972	43-8-9	+115	54-13-11	Won Final
5	Boston Bruins	2023	47-8-5	+97	65-12-5	Lost First Round
	Detroit Red Wings	1996	45-11-4	+94	62-13-7	Lost Conf Finals
7	Boston Bruins	1971	43-10-7	+138	57-14-7	Lost Conf Semi
	Montreal Canadiens	1976	42-9-9	+120	58-11-11	Won Final
9	Montreal Canadiens	1979	42-10-8	+115	52-17-11	Won Final
	Boston Bruins	1974	42-10-8	+111	52-17-9	Lost Final
11	Montreal Canadiens	1973	39-8-13	+112	52-10-16	Won Final
12	Edmonton Oilers	1985	42-12-6	+103	49-20-11	Won Final
	Calgary Flames	1989	41-11-8	+92	54-17-9	Won Final
	Tampa Bay Lightning	2019	45-11-4	+77	62-16-4	Lost First Round
	Washington Capitals	2016	45-11-4	+61	56-18-8	Lost Conf Semi
16	New York Rangers	1972	39-11-10	+122	48-17-13	Lost Final
	New York Islanders	1979	39-11-10	+114	51-15-14	Lost Conf Finals
	Philadelphia Flyers	1976	38-10-12	+98	51-13-16	Lost Final
	Edmonton Oilers	1986	41-13-6	+76	56-17-7	Lost Conf Semi
	Boston Bruins	1976	39-11-10	+68	48-15-17	Lost Conf Finals
	Detroit Red Wings	2002	41-11-6-2	+60	51-17-10-4	Won Final
	Dallas Stars	1999	39-11-10	+56	51-19-12	Won Final
23	Edmonton Oilers	1984	41-14-5	+83	57-18-5	Won Final
24	Montreal Canadiens	1975	35-9-16	+119	47-14-19	Lost Conf Finals
	New York Islanders	1982	40-14-6	+96	54-16-10	Won Final
	Boston Bruins	1978	39-13-8	+87	51-18-11	Lost Final
	Montreal Canadiens	1956	38-12-10	+83	45-15-10	Won Final
	Boston Bruins	1983	39-13-8	+81	50-20-10	Lost Conf Finals
	Buffalo Sabres	1975	37-11-12	+81	49-16-15	Lost Final
30	New York Islanders	1978	37-12-11	+106	48-17-15	Lost Conf Semi
	Montreal Canadiens	1958	38-13-9	+90	43-17-10	Won Final
	New York Rangers	1973	40-15-5	+90	47-23-8	Lost Conf Finals
	Philadelphia Flyers	1983	39-14-7	+86	49-23-8	Lost First Round
	Dallas Stars	1998	38-13-9	+66	49-22-11	Lost Conf Finals
	Detroit Red Wings	1952	37-12-11	+61	44-14-12	Won Final
36	Montreal Canadiens	1982	35-11-14	+108	46-17-17	Lost First Round
	Philadelphia Flyers	1977	36-12-12	+79	48-16-16	Lost Conf Finals
	Philadelphia Flyers	1986	40-16-4	+76	53-23-4	Lost First Round
	Chicago Black Hawks	1971	39-15-6	+74	49-20-9	Lost Final
	Colorado Avalanche	1997	38-14-8	+65	49-24-9	Lost Conf Finals
	St. Louis Blues	2000	39-15-6	+65	51-19-11-1	Lost First Round
	Colorado Avalanche	2022	42-13-5	+63	56-19-7	Won Final
	Montreal Canadiens	1989	39-15-6	+59	53-18-9	Lost Final
	San Jose Sharks	2009	42-9-9	+58	53-18-11	Lost First Round
	Carolina Hurricanes	2006	42-14-4	+45	52-22-8	Won Final
46	Edmonton Oilers	1982	36-13-11	+88	48-17-15	Lost First Round
	Montreal Canadiens	1962	35-12-13	+85	42-14-14	Lost Conf Finals
	Buffalo Sabres	1978	35-12-13	+73	44-19-17	Lost Conf Semi
	Chicago Black Hawks	1972	38-15-7	+72	46-17-15	Lost Conf Finals
	Montreal Canadiens	1960	36-13-11	+71	40-18-12	Won Final
	Detroit Red Wings	1951	35-12-13	+66	44-13-13	Lost Conf Finals
	Colorado Avalanche	2001	37-12-9-2	+53	52-16-10-4	Won Final

Which NHL team had the best start through 60 games but still missed the playoffs?