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If you would’ve told me that the New York Rangers would be at the top of the Power Rankings at this stage of the season, I probably wouldn’t have believed you.
If you would’ve told me that the New York Islanders would be at the bottom of the Power Rankings at this stage of the season, I probably wouldn’t have believed you.
In fairness to the Rangers, I’m a little more shocked at the Islanders’ slump than I am at the Blue Shirts being good. But the Isles ran into Covid-19 issues and they started the year with one of the longest road trips in NHL history. The short off-season obviously didn’t help either.
1 – New York Rangers (no. 5 last week):
The Rangers have won six games in a row and they’re now 9-1-0 in their last 10 outings. They’re third in the league in regulation wins (14) too. Artemi Panarin continues to lead the team in points, as he’s now up to 26 points in just 23 games. It’s amazing to think how far this team has come in so little time. This rebuild has gone very smoothly.
2 – Florida Panthers (no.6 last week):
The Panthers took a bit of a dip in last week’s rankings because they had dropped two of three games. They bounced back thanks to a three-game winning streak. Heading into Sunday’s action, the Panthers had a .771 points percentage, which is tops in the NHL.
3– Toronto Maple Leafs (no. 3 last week):
The Leafs went into the weekend having won 10 of their last 11 games. I’ve mentioned it a few times in this column, but the Leafs won’t win any doubters over with anything they accomplish in the regular season. Still, you can’t ignore what they’ve done so far in 2021-22. Even though they lost games to Minnesota and Winnipeg this weekend, they’re still one of the top teams in the NHL.
4 – Washington Capitals (no. 1 last week):
The Caps have dropped three spots in the rankings even though they’ve suffered just one regulation loss in the last six games. Washington has an impressive .720 points percentage and have an impressive plus-26 goal-differential. Ovechkin watch: He’s up to 20 goals and 39 points in 25 contests.
5 – Minnesota Wild (no. 7 last week):
The Wild are riding a six-game winning streak heading into this week’s action and they’ve picked up points in seven consecutive games (their last regulation loss came on Nov. 20). Minnesota is the first team in the Western Conference to hit 10-home victories this season.
6 – Calgary Flames (no. 8 last week):
No team has allowed fewer goals than the Flames (51) and they have the top goal-differential in the league (plus-30). Calgary has a 4-2-3 record at home, but they’ve been amazing on the road (11-2-2). Andrew Mangiapane, who is up to 16 goals this year, has found the back of the net 15 times on the road.
7 – Tampa Bay Lightning (no. 12 last week):
Sunday’s win over the Philadelphia Flyers was the Lightning third consecutive victory. Don’t look now, but the two-time defending Stanley Cup Champions are now at 15 victories. The Lightning have found a way to stay competitive even though they lost so many bodies via trade and in free agency.
8 – Dallas Stars (no. 11 last week):
The Stars have rattled off six victories in a row and they’ve suffered just one loss in their last nine outings. Dallas have done well at home this year (8-2-1), but they’re 4-5-1 on the road in 2021-22.
9 – Edmonton Oilers (no. 4 last week):
Don’t look now but the Oilers have dropped back-to-back games to mediocre teams in Seattle and Los Angeles. I’m still going to give them the benefit of the doubt because they’ve actually been pretty good this year. Connor McDavid failed to pick up a point against the Kings on Sunday, but he was given a game-misconduct for boarding Drew Doughty.
10 – Carolina Hurricanes (no. 2 last week):
The Hurricanes have hit a rough patch after a great start to the year. Carolina have just two wins in their last six outings, but it’s not time to panic just yet. They still have a 16-6-1 record on the year and a strong .717 points percentage.
11 – Detroit Red Wings (no. 22 last week):
How about those Red Wings? They’ve won five games in a row and their last four victories have all been by one goal. There’s still a long way to go, but the 13-9-3 Wings are currently sitting in the first Wild Card spot in the East. If they can make the postseason, head coach Jeff Blashill will get a lot of Jack Adams Trophy votes.
12 – Boston Bruins (no. 14 last week):
The Bruins are off to a decent start in December, as they’ve collected three of a possible four points. Boston will travel through Western Canada this week, which won’t be easy because the Oilers and Flames are difficult outs. The Bruins aren’t in a playoff spot right now, but they actually have the seventh-best points percentage in the East at .595.
13 – Colorado Avalanche (no. 9 last week):
The Avs may not have gotten off to the start that everyone expected, but things have looked better in general. Yes, they lost to Ottawa and Toronto this week, but they have eight wins in their last 11 contests.
14 – Anaheim Ducks (no. 23 last week):
The Ducks are hanging in there. I thought Anaheim was in the middle of a rebuild, but they’ve shown that they might be ready to take a step forward. They’re 2-0-1 in their last three games and all of those were one-goal decisions (two came in a shootout). If the season ended today, the Ducks would be in a playoff spot.
15 – Pittsburgh Penguins (no. 10 last week):
The Penguins finished their Western Canadian road trip with three of a possible six points. They salvaged the trip with a big win in Vancouver on Saturday night. Believe it or not, the Pens are better on the road (6-3-3) than they are at home (5-5-2). They’re currently sitting in the second Wild Card spot in the East.
16 – Vegas Golden Knights (no. 15 last week):
The Golden Knights have posted back-to-back victories over Arizona and Calgary. Sunday’s win allowed the Golden Knights to jump into the first Wild Card spot in the West. They had an up-and-down start, but it’s good to see them get healthy and back on the rails.
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17 – St. Louis Blues (no. 17 last week):
The Blues head into the week in third place in the Central Division, but they’ve kicked off the month with back-to-back losses in Tampa and Florida. Brandon Saad has been a nice fantasy surprise, as he’s picked up 10 goals in the first 20 games of the season. As a team, the Blues have already found the back of the net 80 times in 24 games.
18 – Winnipeg Jets (no. 19 last week):
The Jets lost a disappointing 1-0 decision to the Arizona Coyotes on Monday. They’ve responded by filling the net against the Devils (8-4) and Leafs (6-3). Winnipeg is now second in the Central Division, but they have work to do if they’re going to catch up to the red-hot Wild (seven points behind).
19 – San Jose Sharks (no. 18 last week):
The Sharks appear to be a middle-of-the-pack team in the NHL so far, but they’re in a Wild Card spot despite playing 15 of their first 25 games on the road. San Jose has dropped back-to-back games on the road to the Rangers and Blue Jackets. They’ll get to enjoy some home cooking for a while, as they’ll play their next seven games in San Jose.
20 – Nashville Predators (no. 25 last week):
The Preds had their hands full with a struggling Canadiens team on Saturday night, but they managed to win the game late in OT. They managed to accumulate three of six points during last week’s three-game homestand.
21 – Columbus Blue Jackets (no. 13 last week):
The Blue Jackets finally put their four-game losing skid to bed on Sunday when they beat the Sharks, 6-4. Like most teams, the Jackets are solid at home (9-3-0), but they need some work on the road (4-7-0) if they’re going to stay in the playoff hunt.
22 – Chicago Blackhawks (no. 21 last week):
Only Vancouver (18 points) and Arizona (12 points) have collected fewer points among Western Conference teams than the Blackhawks (20 points). Chicago has won two of their last three games (both in a shootout). The good news is that they’ll get to play eight of the next 10 games at the United Center.
23 – Seattle Kraken (no. 16 last week):
The Kraken kicked off their four-game homestand with a win over a good Oilers team on Friday night. They’ll host the Penguins, Jets and Blue Jackets over the next week. Seattle is riding a four-game point streak (3-0-1). Their minus-12 goal-differential is fourth from the bottom in the Western Conference.
24 – Los Angeles Kings (no. 26 last week):
The Kings are 2-1-1 in their last four games, which is a step up from where they’ve been the last little while. Despite their mediocre start, they’re just three points out of a Wild Card spot. Veteran Anze Kopitar has 24 points in 23 games. The next highest scorer on the team (Alex Iafallo) has 16 points.
25 – New Jersey Devils (no. 20 last week):
The Devils have been beat up pretty good over the last three games. They’ve failed to pick up any points during that stretch and they gave up five, five and eight goals in those three games. They showed some fight in their 8-4 loss to the Jets though, as they came back from a 3-0 deficit to take a 4-3 lead in the second frame. The results aren’t good enough. This team should be a little better.
26 – Philadelphia Flyers (no. 27 last week):
It’s getting bad in Philly. They’ve now dropped eight games in a row and they’ve been outscored 22-7 in their last four outings. The Flyers underachieved last year. What happens if they don’t turn it around soon? Update: The Flyers have made changes!
27 – Buffalo Sabres (no. 24 last week):
It’s too bad the Sabres couldn’t keep up their respectable start of the season. Buffalo has given up 20 goals in their last three losses to Seattle, Florida and Carolina. Sabres fans have been patient, but this has to be painful.
28 – Vancouver Canucks (no. 29 last week):
The Canucks finally pulled the trigger on a few organizational changes. Bruce Boudreau will replace Travis Green behind the bench and it’ll be interesting to see if that changes anything. Vancouver is better than they’ve shown this year, but they’ll need their star players to start producing if they’re going to turn it around.
29 – Ottawa Senators (no. 32 last week):
The Sens have climbed out of the Power Rankings basement because they’ve won back-to-back games. They took down the Hurricanes, 3-2, and they beat the Avalanche, 6-5 (OT). Only the Coyotes (12 points) have fewer points than the Senators heading into the week (13).
30 – Montreal Canadiens (no. 28 last week):
The Habs have dropped three games in a row and they’ve only won one of their last six outings. Montreal’s minus-34 goal-differential is the second-worst one in the league (Arizona has a minus-46 differential). It’ll be interesting to see whether or not new VP of Hockey Ops Jeff Gorton decides that this team needs a full rebuild.
31 – Arizona Coyotes (no. 30 last week):
After winning back-to-back games two weekends ago, the Coyotes have hit another rough patch. They’ve dropped four of their last five games including Friday’s 7-1 home defeat against the Vegas Golden Knights.
32 – New York Islanders (no. 31 last week):
The Isles have gone through some difficulties this year, as they started the year on a 13-game road trip and they were hit hard by Covid-19. They’ve played six games at their new rink and they’re still searching for their first win at UBS Arena (0-4-2).
