The 7-Eleven Power Rankings: Predators hunger for more

Going back to the previous two playoffs, the Predators have won eight straight first-round games. They won all four last year against Chicago and the final two in 2016 (a 4-3 defeat of Anaheim).

For the 10th time in team history the Bruins reached the 50-win mark, more than any other team. They also had three players with at least 30 goals and 30 assists this season – tops in the league.

A franchise-high 113 points and a league-high 54 wins were impressive, but it was a 4-0 win over Boston that allowed the Lightning to finish first in both their division and conference.

In their long and storied history, the 105 points this season were the most the Maple Leafs have ever earned, and Frederik Andersen won a team-record 38 games.

Alex Ovechkin fell one shy of the 50-goal mark, but will take home the Rocket Richard Trophy anyway for the seventh time in his career. Nobody else has won it more than twice.

There are so many superlatives from their inaugural season, but let’s just say they’re the first North American expansion team from the four major sports to finish in the top five in the league.

Wins in their final two games earned the Pens their third straight 100-point season. Since Sidney Crosby’s second season (2006-07), the fewest points they’ve had in a full season is 98.

The Ducks will be happy to start the playoffs at home, where they were 10-1-0 since March 2. But they did lose both home games this season to San Jose, the team they face in Round 1.

The good news for the Wild is that they made the playoffs for the sixth straight year behind Eric Staal’s surprising 42 goals. The bad news is that they have to play Winnipeg.

No team had a better stretch run than the Blue Jackets in their successful effort to make the playoffs. Before losing the final game of the season, they went 13-1-2 since March 4.

They’re not the Golden Knights, but the Sharks have still been a very successful franchise, making the playoffs for the 13th time in the last 14 years and reaching the Cup final in 2016.

The Flyers, the fourth team in NHL history to have a winless streak of 10-plus games during a season and still make the playoffs, poured it on down the stretch, going 7-1-3 since March 17.

The Kings fired their defensive-style coach Darryl Sutter last year, but still allowed the fewest goals in the league under John Stevens. However, they scored 38 more goals than last season.

Before losing a nothing game to end the season, the Devils went on a 10-2-1 run to earn a playoff spot. Also impressive is Taylor Hall’s 93 points, 41 more than any other New Jersey player.

The Avalanche, who really miss Semyon Varlamov, have allowed five goals in each of their first two games. They allowed five goals in regulation just twice in their final 22 regular-season games.

Five straight wins, including Sunday’s victory over the Bruins to deny Boston the Eastern Conference title, still wasn’t enough for the Panthers, who fell just short of a playoff spot.

A valiant effort to get back in the playoff race was spoiled when they won just one of their final six, most notably coming up short in their winner-take-all season finale, a 5-2 loss to Colorado.

The Stars won their final game of the season, finishing just three points behind the final playoff spot. But it was their failure on the road (two wins in their last 13) that cost them dearly this season.

When they’re handing out the blame for this season, they can omit Cam Ward, who despite backup status to begin the year posted a 23-14-4 record, compared to 13-21-7 for Scott Darling.

Not a lot to be happy about in Edmonton, apart from the fact that Connor McDavid won the scoring championship for the second year in a row with 41 goals and 108 points.

The two biggest positives for the Coyotes this season were Clayton Keller’s franchise rookie scoring record, and Antti Raanta in net, who posted a .930 save percentage and 2.24 GAA.

Mark Jankowski scored four goals in a meaningless season finale. The seven goals the Flames scored in that game compare to the 10 in total they scored in their previous nine games.

Mercifully, it’s over. After last season’s 109 points, most in the West and third-best in the league, the Blackhawks, without Corey Crawford for much of the year, dropped 33 points to 76.

Two wins in their final nine games did little for the Rangers except ensure they’d stay below the .500 mark for the first time since 2003-04 and get coach Alain Vigneault fired.

The Sedins went out in style, with Daniel scoring the overtime winner and Henrik assisting in the last home game of their careers. They are 1-2 in all-time Vancouver scoring by a wide margin.

The Canadiens managed a 32-point drop from last season’s 103 points for their lowest point percentage since 2000-01. Apart from that season, it’s their worst since 1947-48.

Since the trade deadline the Red Wings compiled a record of 4-13-3, worst in the NHL. The 72 points they earned on the season were their lowest in a full season since they had 70 in 1989-90.

Just two wins in their final 12 games for the Senators, averaging 1.7 goals for and 4.1 against. Their 67 points represented a whopping 31-point decrease from last season.

The Sabres lost when they needed to, including their final four games, to ensure they had the NHL’s worst record and the best chance of selecting Rasmus Dahlin in the draft.