The Ducks are 4-0-1 in their last five games, vaulting themselves into a playoff spot — third place in the Pacific Division — for the first time this season.
Meanwhile in the East, the Panthers set a franchise record by winning their ninth consecutive game while the Canadiens received a big boost in getting back Brendan Gallagher, who helped his team cruise past the Bruins in the 2016 Winter Classic.
Check in with CSNChicago.com for updated rankings every Monday throughout the 2015-16 campaign. Here's where we're at so far: Preseason rankings | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11 | Week 12
| Rank | Team |
Last Week | Record/Comment |
| 1 | 1 |
28-7-3, 59 points: Braden Holtby is 16-0-2 in his last 18 decisions, the longest such streak by a goaltender since Roberto Luongo's 21-game run of 16-0-5 with Vancouver in 2010-11. |
|
| 2 | 2 |
28-9-4, 60 points: Patrick Sharp has six goals and six assists during a career-high nine-game point streak, and has matched last year's goal total (16) in 27 fewer games. |
|
| 3 | 3 |
25-11-2, 52 points: Jonathan Quick recorded his 40th career shutout on Monday, tying John Vanbiesbrouck and Frank Brimsek for most all-time by an American-born goaltender. |
|
| 4 | 5 |
23-12-4, 50 points: The Panthers set a franchise record by winning their ninth consecutive game, and they'll look to continue that as they prepare for a six-game road trip. |
|
| 5 | 6 |
23-13-4, 50 points: Corey Crawford has four shutouts in his last 10 starts. His career-high for most shutouts in a single season entering this year was four. |
|
| 6 | 7 |
22-13-5, 49 points: First Jaroslav Halak, now Johnny Boychuk is expected to miss 4-6 weeks with an upper-body injury. How will the Islanders respond? |
|
| 7 | 4 |
23-14-4, 50 points: The Blues kicked off the week by stealing a game from Nashville in overtime, but followed that up with a 3-1 loss to Minnesota and a 4-1 loss to Toronto. |
|
| 8 | 10 |
20-11-7, 47 points: The Wild are 9-1-1 when Thomas Vanek scores a goal this year. He has just two goals in his last 16 games. |
|
| 9 | 15 |
22-15-3, 47 points: The Canadiens received a big boost in getting back Brendan Gallagher, who scored a goal and an assist in his return to help his team cruise past the Bruins in the 2016 Winter Classic. |
|
| 10 | 8 |
19-13-7, 45 points: The Red Wings snapped a three-game losing streak with a 4-3 win over Buffalo, but were outshot by 12 in that contest. |
|
| 11 | 9 |
20-13-4, 44 points: After a showdown with the Capitals on Tuesday, the Bruins will play their next five games on the road, where they are 11-3-2 this season. |
|
| 12 | 12 |
19-16-4, 42 points: As if Steven Stamkos' contract negotiations (or lack thereof) isn't causing enough distraction, the Lightning's top prospect Jonathan Drouin publicly requested a trade out of Tampa Bay. |
|
| 13 | 14 |
19-13-7, 45 points: With Saturday's win over Carolina, Pekka Rinne secured a win on the road for the first time since Nov. 5. |
|
| 14 | 17 |
20-14-5, 45 points: Despite being outshot by a combined 20, the Devils have won their last three games, which includes a shutout win over Ottawa and an overtime victory over Dallas. |
|
| 15 | 13 |
21-14-4, 46 points: Kevin Hayes has been a healthy scratch in the Rangers' last two contests, which is disappointing considering the breakout year he had a season ago. |
|
| 16 | 25 |
16-15-7, 39 points: The Ducks are 4-0-1 in their last five games, and have vaulted into a playoff spot — third place in the Pacific Division — for the first time this season. Here they come? |
|
| 17 | 21 |
19-15-4, 42 points: Sidney Crosby has five goals and five assists in his last seven games, including back-to-back game-winning goals against the Red Wings and Islanders. |
|
| 18 | 11 |
18-15-6, 42 points: The Senators have allowed a total of 10 goals in their last three games, which includes a 7-3 loss to Boston and back-to-back 3-0 losses to New Jersey and Chicago. |
|
| 19 | 19 |
16-17-6, 38 points: Jeff Skinner has one goal in his last eight games. He had nine goals in six games prior to that. |
|
| 20 | 16 |
18-17-2, 38 points: The Sharks keep flirting around .500, but they could stick there all season long and still be in playoff contention in the Pacific Division. |
|
| 21 | 20 |
18-18-2, 38 points: Johnny Gaudreau was named the NHL's first star of December after scoring a league-leading 12 goals and 18 points in 13 games during the month. |
|
| 22 | 18 | 15-15-7, 37 points: The Flyers went 0-3-0 during their three-game road trip on the West coast, and were outshot by 27. | |
| 23 | 24 | 18-16-4, 40 points: The Coyotes have picked up at least a point in six of their last seven games. Shane Doan was named the NHL's third star of the week, recording his second career hat trick in a win over Chicago. | |
| 24 | 22 |
15-15-9, 39 points: The Canucks are 2-1-0 in their first three games of a seven-game homestand, which will be followed by a six-game road trip. |
|
| 25 | 23 |
18-19-2, 38 points: Bryan Little registered three assists in a 4-1 win over Detroit on Tuesday, and now has 11 multi-point game of the season. He's quietly having a career year. |
|
| 26 | 26 |
18-18-3, 39 points: The Avalanche are 1-2-2 in their last five games since winning their previous five in a row. |
|
| 27 | 28 |
15-15-7, 37 points: Nazem Kadri has 11 points (two goals and seven assists) in his last 11 games. He had nine points in his first 26 games of the season. |
|
| 28 | 29 |
16-21-3, 35 points: While the Oilers have only two wins in their last nine games, they're still just four points behind the third spot in the Pacific Division and Connor McDavid returned to practice. |
|
| 29 | 27 |
15-20-4, 34 points: The Sabres have lost their last four games, and have slipped to the basement of the Atlantic Division. |
|
| 30 | 30 |
15-22-3, 33 points: Brandon Saad has six goals and five assists during his career-high seven-game point streak. |
*Advanced stats courtesy of war-on-ice.com