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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: Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov (86) celebrates his goal against the New York Islanders during the first period at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
NHL Power Rankings: Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov (86) celebrates his goal against the New York Islanders during the first period at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /

Previous Ranking: 2 (-6)

Team Record: (6-4-0)

Player of the Week: F Nikita Kucherov (4gp 2g 3a 5pts)

Special Teams

PP: 10-for-41 (24.4 percent) (5th)
PK: 3-for-30 (90.0 percent) (T-2nd)

Goaltending

The team struggled as a whole this past week, but the offense/defense sorta hung the goaltending out to dry. Andrei Vasilevskiy started one of three games allowing three goals on 23 shots. The .870 save percentage on the game does little justice to the performance the Russian netminder put on with some big saves.

Starter Ben Bishop had a decent showing in their loss to Montreal stopping 23 of 25 shots. He took the biggest loss of the early season three nights later allowing six goals on 37 shots versus the New York Rangers. Luckily, he bounced backstopping 26 of 27 shots for the win in Brooklyn versus the Islanders. Hoping the 6-1 win is a sign of things to come after slumping for a little bit prior to that.

Defense

It was a tough four games over the last seven days for Andrej Sustr and Jason Garrison. Both posted goose eggs on the score sheet while accumulating a -6 plus/minus rating. Only three defenders actually recorded a point. Victor Hedman had one assist in Montreal and a pair of helpers in the 6-1 win against the Isles. Anton Stralman also had an assist against the Canadiens and another one in the lopsided loss to the NYR. On a positive note, Slater Koekkoek made his season debut on Tuesday and made some noise in game one recording a pair of assists. This young man figures to be a core piece in the Lightning’s future defense corps.

Forwards

Tampa Bay got some recent exciting news. After missing roughly five months after undergoing surgery to repair a labral tear, forward Ryan Callahan returned to the lineup Saturday versus the Rangers.

Our POW Nikita Kucherov earned the award solely on his 4-point (2g 2a) performance versus the Islanders on Tuesday. Otherwise, the Lightning didn’t generate too many goals in their previous games.

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