The 1990–91 NHL season was the 74th regular season of the National Hockey League. Twenty-one teams each played 80 games. The Stanley Cup winners were the Pittsburgh Penguins, who won the best of seven series 4–2 against the Minnesota North Stars. The North Stars defeated the Edmonton Oilers to become the first Norris Division team to appear in the Stanley Cup Finals since all the teams were moved around in 1981. The championship was the first in Penguins history. A record high 92 playoff games were held, and for the first time since the 1973 playoffs, no team was beat in four games in a playoff series.

This was the last NHL season to end in the month of May.

Regular season

Final standings 
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points

Scoring leaders 

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes

Stanley Cup playoffs 

Note: All dates in 1991

Playoff bracket

Division semi-finals

Wales Conference

Campbell Conference

Division Finals

Conference Finals

Finals

NHL Awards

All-Star teams

First games 
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1990–91 (listed with their first team, stars(*) mark start in playoffs):

 Robert Reichel, Calgary Flames
 Dominik Hasek, Chicago Blackhawks
 Keith Primeau, Detroit Red Wings
 Mike Sillinger, Detroit Red Wings
 Sergei Fedorov, Detroit Red Wings
 Bobby Holik, Hartford Whalers
 Geoff Sanderson, Hartford Whalers
 John LeClair, Montreal Canadiens
 Patrice Brisebois, Montreal Canadiens
 Sean Hill*, Montreal Canadiens
 Doug Weight*, New York Rangers
 Tony Amonte*, New York Rangers
 Mike Ricci, Philadelphia Flyers
 Jaromir Jagr, Pittsburgh Penguins
 Mats Sundin, Quebec Nordiques
 Owen Nolan, Quebec Nordiques
 Petr Nedved, Vancouver Canucks
 Dmitri Khristich, Washington Capitals
 Peter Bondra, Washington Capitals
 Kris Draper, Winnipeg Jets

Last games 
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1990–91 (listed with their last team):
 Gord Kluzak, Boston Bruins
 Tony McKegney, Chicago Blackhawks
 Glen Hanlon, Detroit Red Wings
 Don Maloney, New York Islanders
 Lindy Ruff, New York Rangers
 Pete Peeters, Philadelphia Flyers
 Guy Lafleur, Quebec Nordiques
 Harold Snepsts, St. Louis Blues
 Paul MacLean, St. Louis Blues
 Rick Meagher, St. Louis Blues
 Stan Smyl, Vancouver Canucks
 Joel Quenneville, Washington Capitals

1991 Trading Deadline 
 Trading Deadline: MARCH 5, 1991
 March 4, 1991: Ron Francis, Grant Jennings and Ulf Samuelsson traded from Hartford to Pittsburgh for John Cullen, Jeff Parker and Zarley Zalapski.
 March 5, 1991: Allan Bester traded from Toronto to Detroit for Detroit's 6th round pick in 1991 Entry Draft.
 March 5, 1991: Geoff Courtnall, Robert Dirk, Sergio Momesso, Cliff Ronning and future considerations traded from St. Louis to Vancouver for Dan Quinn and Garth Butcher.
 March 5, 1991: Mark Hunter traded from Calgary to Hartford for Carey Wilson.
 March 5, 1991: Mark Pederson traded from Montreal to Philadelphia for Philadelphia's 2nd round pick in 1991 Entry Draft and future considerations.
 March 5, 1991: Keith Osborne traded from St. Louis to Toronto for Darren Veitch and future considerations.
 March 5, 1991: Ken Priestlay traded from Buffalo to Pittsburgh for Tony Tanti.
 March 5, 1991: Dana Murzyn traded from Calgary to Vancouver for Ron Stern, Kevan Guy and future considerations.
 March 5, 1991: Kim Issel traded from Edmonton to Pittsburgh for Brad Aitken.
 March 5, 1991: Steve Weeks traded from Vancouver to Buffalo for future considerations.
 March 5, 1991: Marc Bureau traded from Calgary to Minnesota for Minnesota's 3rd round choice in 1991 Entry Draft.
 March 5, 1991: Joey Kocur and Per Djoos traded from Detroit to NY Rangers for Kevin Miller, Jim Cummins and Dennis Vial.
 March 5, 1991: Bobby Reynolds traded from Toronto to Washington for Robert Mendel.
 March 5, 1991: Mike McNeill and Ryan McGill traded from Chicago to Quebec for Paul Gillis and Daniel Vincelette.
 March 5, 1991: Ilkka Sinisalo traded from Minnesota to Los Angeles for Los Angeles' 8th round choice in 1991 Entry Draft.

References

Other websites
 Hockey Database
 http://nhl.com/