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NHL Power Rankings Heading into Week 4 of 2016-17

By Ryan Ritchie

NHL Power Rankings: New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist (30) celebrates with New York Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh (27) and New York Rangers center Derek Stepan (21) after defeating the St. Louis Blues at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
NHL Power Rankings: New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist (30) celebrates with New York Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh (27) and New York Rangers center Derek Stepan (21) after defeating the St. Louis Blues at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports /
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NHL Power Rankings: Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price (31) makes a save during the third period of the game against the Vancouver Canucks at the Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports
NHL Power Rankings: Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price (31) makes a save during the third period of the game against the Vancouver Canucks at the Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports /

Previous Ranking: 1 (-)

Team Record: (9-0-1)

Player of the Week: G Carey Price (3 wins 0.67GAA .982 save percentage)

Special Teams

PP: 7-for-35 (20.0 percent) (15th)
PK: 4-for-40 (90.0 percent) (3rd)

Goaltending

The best goaltender in the world continued his dominance over the last seven days. He closed the door on 30 of 31 shots for the win versus Tampa Bay, then two nights later, allowed just a single goal on 38 shots against the rival Maple Leafs. Price closed out his week on Tuesday with a perfect 42-save shutout vs. Vancouver.

Just imagine what the Habs could do with a better team in front of Carey. It’s definitely trending in that direction, but there’s still some work to do.

Defense

On Tuesday, D Shea Weber was named the NHL’s second star of the month for October after his impressive start. Weber had a goal over those three games the past week, bringing his season total to 10 points in 10 games with a +14 plus/minus rating.

Give Nathan Beaulieu some credit. After being asked to play alongside Shea Weber, yielding mixed results, he has since been demoted to a more limited role playing between 13-15 minutes/night. A little less responsibility seems to have Beaulieu responding who now has two assists over his last three games and a +3 rating over that span, bringing him up to +10 in 2016-17.

Forwards

Habs forwards were slow out of the gates (other than the top line). Over the next little while, players such as Alex Radulov and Artturi Lehkonen were seemingly starting to heat up as Montreal began receiving additional secondary scoring. Now, since Price’s return, the offense has gone somewhat stagnant again. In fact, the only forward that actually had a noteworthy week was Alex Galchenyuk. He scored a goal versus Tampa Bay and Toronto before adding a pair of helpers on Tuesday against Vancouver. Alex is up to 10 points in 10 games, and could be in line to lead the Habs in scoring this year.

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