In the 1996–97 season, Fedorov played before the preseason started in August and September for Russia at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey. Later in the NHL season, he was a member of the Red Wings' first Stanley Cup championship team since 1955, leading the team playoff scoring with 20 points in 20 games, including 8 goals. He led the Stanley Cup Finals in points and in goals for a second time. Goaltender Mike Vernon won the Conn Smythe Trophy, "but many hockey insiders believe that Sergei deserved that honor". During the regular season, Fedorov had achieved the rare feat of scoring five goals in a single game, as he registered all of Detroit's goals in a 5–4 overtime win against the Washington Capitals on December 26, 1996. It was also the first time in NHL history that a player completed a quintet of goals in overtime, a feat since equaled only by the Rangers' Mika Zibanejad on March 5, 2020, also against the Capitals.