In this week’s power rankings and week in review, John Tortorella answers a phone, Tyler Toffoli breaks a stick, and John Tavares gets booed (and cheered) a little.
Happy Monday, everyone. It’s time for our weekly NHL power rankings and week in review. A long time ago, I was given the task of coming up with highlights and lowlights for each week to really put things into perspective of how everyone’s week is different, and every week to each person is different. So we’re taking that to the NHL.
Here’s how the past week looked like for each team.
NHL Power Rankings
1. Tampa Bay Lightning (3-1-0, +2 Goal Differential)
Last week: 1
Highlight: They became the third quickest team in NHL history to reach 100 points in the standings.
Lowlight: Everyone besides goaltender Louis Domingue had a bad night in Boston on Thursday.
2. Calgary Flames (2-1-0, +1 Goal Differential)
Last week: 2
Highlight: Matthew Tkachuk goes between the legs to open the scoring on Long Island.
Lowlight: I thought Mike Smith was good at puck handling. This Wild goal leads me to believe he’s losing his game.
3. Toronto Maple Leafs (3-1-0, +4 Goal Differential)
Last week: 3
Highlight: Tyler Ennis’ breakaway goal against his former team highlighting a four-goal second against Buffalo.
Lowlight: Islanders fans were a little mean to John Tavares on Thursday, for no particular reason.
4. Boston Bruins (3-0-0, +7 Goal Differential)
Last week: 6
Highlight: Scoring three goals in a two-minute span in the third to pull away for good from the Lightning.
Lowlight: This isn’t really a lowlight, more a fun stat: Brad Marchand played in career game number 666 against who else but the New Jersey Devils. He started and finished the game with 666 career penalty minutes. Coincidence?
5. San Jose Sharks (2-1-0, +1 Goal Differential)
Last week: 4
Highlight: Tomas Hertl deking around Duncan Keith and sliding the puck through Cam Ward’s five-hole in Sunday’s win against Chicago
Lowlight: Evander Kane may have bitten off more than he can chew when he picked a fight with Zdeno Chara (Jack Edwards warning, for those who care).
6. Winnipeg Jets (2-1-0, +4 Goal Differential)
Last week: 7
Highlight: Blake Wheeler potting four goals (including all three third period goals) in Sunday’s win in Columbus.
Lowlight: Josh Morrissey is out until April with an injury, which is a tough blow to the blue line.
7. New York Islanders (1-3-0, -2 Goal Differential)
Last week: 5
Highlight: Dunking all over the Maple Leafs the night John Tavares returns to Long Island, winning 6-1.
Lowlight: They couldn’t carry over any momentum from that win and lost the other three games they played this week.
8. Pittsburgh Penguins (2-0-1, +6 Goal Differential)
Last week: 10
Highlight: Jared McCann’s second goal of the game to salt away Tuesday’s big win in Columbus.
Lowlight: Conor Sheary’s pair of revenge goals, including the controversial game-winner in OT.
9. Carolina Hurricanes (3-0-0, +9 Goal Differential)
Last week: 11
Lowlight: Jamie McGinn dumping Trevor van Riemsdyk, opening up a centering feed for Henrik Borgstrom’s second goal of the game to give the Panthers a third-period lead.
Highlight: A crazy sequence in OT ending with a Sebastian Aho goal to win the game later that night.
10. Nashville Predators (2-2-0, -4 Goal Differential)
Last week: 8
Highlight: PK Subban with an absolute bomb of a shot to give the Predators a lead against Edmonton.
Lowlight: Technically, the game-winning goal for Winnipeg on Friday was Tyler Myers’ toss into an empty net.
11. Washington Capitals (3-0-0, +7 Goal Differential)
Last week: 12
Highlight: You won’t see a better tic-tac-toe goal than Tom Wilson finishing off a feed from Alex Ovechkin to start a seven goal surge against Ottawa.
Lowlight: Tom Kuhnhackl stealing an errant clear to break in and open the scoring on Long Island.
12. Vegas Golden Knights (4-0-0, +9 Goal Differential)
Last week: 16
Highlight: Mark Stone landed in Las Vegas on Monday, and was greeted in typical Vegas fashion.
Lowlight: Roope Hintz finding the puck in a mass of bodies to give Dallas an early lead on Tuesday.
13. Columbus Blue Jackets (1-3-0, -9 Goal Differential)
Last week: 9
Highlight: John Tortorella stopping a press conference to answer a phone call from a reporter’s mother. Please never change, Torts.
Lowlight: Falling for the classic trap game, dropping what looked to be an easy win on paper against Edmonton 4-0. Hot take: The Jackets might miss the playoffs. That would suck.
14. Montreal Canadiens (2-2-0, +4 Goal Differential)
Last week: 15
Highlight: Tomas Tatar scoring on a power move combined with soft hands to start the scoring in Detroit (which there was a lot of).
Lowlight: Three of the first four Penguins’ shots beating Carey Price on Saturday, which was all the Pens needed for the win.
15. St. Louis Blues (1-2-0, -4 Goal Differential)
Last week: 13
Highlight: Tyler Bozak’s late third period goal to jump ahead of the Predators on Tuesday
Lowlight: Jake Allen’s huge error leading to the go-ahead goal for Sebastian Aho in Friday’s loss in Carolina.
16. Colorado Avalanche (1-2-1, -3 Goal Differential)
Last week: 14
Highlight: Gabe Landeskog stripping the puck from Markus Granlund and feeding Mikko Rantanen for a one time blast to give the Avalanche a lead.
Lowlight: Aaron Ekblad finishing a feed after a long dash by Mike Hoffman to beat Colorado in OT.
17. Dallas Stars (2-1-0, +1 Goal Differential)
Last week: 17
Highlight: Jamie Benn scoring a hat trick in a pivotal divisional game against St. Louis.
Lowlight: Max Pacioretty banking a centering pass off Tyler Seguin after stealing the puck from Ben Bishop to give the Golden Knights the game winning goal.
18. Minnesota Wild (2-0-1, +3 Goal Differential)
Last week: 18
Highlight: Their last minute comeback against the Jets, scoring both goals in the last 90 seconds of the game.
Lowlight: Filip Forsberg finishing a play he started to tie the game late for Nashville.
19. Arizona Coyotes (3-0-0, +5 Goal Differential)
Last week: 20
Highlight: Brad Richardson potting four goals against the Canucks. He’s only scored four in a month once this year.
Lowlight: Derek Stepan getting hurt and forced to miss the next four to six weeks, which is a tough hit to the Coyotes’ playoff chances.
20. Philadelphia Flyers (3-0-1, +8 Goal Differential)
Last week: 22
Highlight: Travis Konecny’s early goal against the Islanders which would set the tone for the rest of the game.
Lowlight: Cam Talbot starting in New Jersey made him the eighth different goalie used by Philadelphia this season, breaking the all-time NHL record for most goalies used in a season. It’s only appropriate that the Flyers hold this record.
21. Florida Panthers (1-1-3, -1 Goal Differential)
Last week: 21
Highlight: Roberto Luongo now sits third all time in wins by a goalie after Monday’s win in Colorado, behind just Patrick Roy and Martin Brodeur.
Lowlight: Derek Stepan’s curl and drag move followed by a shot past Luongo to tie the game late for the Coyotes.
22. Buffalo Sabres (1-3-0, -7 Goal Differential)
Last week: 19
Highlight: Brandon Montour scoring a big tying goal in his first game in Buffalo.
Lowlight: Two visits across the Falls to Toronto in the week, two big fat L’s (5-3 and 5-2)
23. Vancouver Canucks (1-2-1, -2 Goal Differential)
Last week: 24
Highlight: Jacob Markstrom pitching a shutout against the punchless Ducks, stopping all 29 Anaheim shots.
Lowlight: Jacob Markstrom being hung out to dry against the potent Golden Knights, stopping 45 of 48 Vegas shots, while the team in front of him laid an egg.
24. Chicago Blackhawks (1-2-0, -5 Goal Differential)
Last week: 23
Highlight: Corey Crawford returning to action with a 4-3 win in Anaheim.
Lowlight: Corey Crawford showing rust in his next game, a 6-3 loss in Los Angeles.
25. Edmonton Oilers (2-1-1, +2 Goal Differential)
Last week: 27
Highlight: Connor McDavid’s slick little move in the low slot to open the scoring in Ottawa.
Lowlight: After jumping out to a 14-3 shots advantage and a 1-0 lead in Toronto, things slipped away and the Leafs won 6-2.
26. New York Rangers (0-1-2, -3 Goal Differential)
Last week: 25
Highlight: Mika Zibanejad showing off a perfect top corner backhand against the Lightning.
Lowlight: Alexandar Georgiev throwing his stick to stop Alex Ovechkin in the shootout, only to have the goal awarded anyway, giving the game to the Capitals.
27. New Jersey Devils (1-3-0, -4 Goal Differential)
Last week: 26
Highlight: Corey Schneider stopping 34 of 35 Montreal shots in Monday’s win at home.
Lowlight: This goal that is credited to Travis Konecny pretty much sums up the season so far for the Devils.
28. Detroit Red Wings (0-2-0, -9 Goal Differential)
Last week: 28
Lowlight: Everything about the 8-1 loss against the Canadiens.
Highlight: That game eventually ended.
29. Los Angeles Kings (1-1-2, -3 Goal Differential)
Last week: 30
Highlight: Ten bells for Jonathan Quick robbing Jason Dickinson of a late chance to take the lead for Dallas.
Lowlight: Tyler Toffoli checking if his stick was broken by leaning on it. The experiment went about as well as you would imagine.
30. Ottawa Senators (1-3-0, -10 Goal Differential)
Last week:
Lowlight: The potential deal for their new downtown arena was killed. They fired their coach. They traded away their star player. A two-goal lead was blown. They don’t have their own first-round pick. Pick one.
Highlight: They did manage to win a game in Florida, though.
31. Anaheim Ducks (1-3-0, -7 Goal Differential)
Last week: 31
Highlight: Jakub Silfverberg destroying a water bottle to give the Ducks an early lead they wouldn’t surrender against the Avalanche. It’s also the 100th career goal as a Duck for Silfverberg.
Lowlight: No excuse for Kevin Boyle to let in a long shot from the point through the five hole, but he did it in Vancouver.
Schmooze of the Week: The Ottawa Senators
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In last week’s schmooze, we took a look at the Columbus Blue Jackets, who’ve bought until they couldn’t buy anymore, and have instilled new hope into their fan base for this year, and possibly beyond.
This week, we’ll check out the opposite end of the spectrum – the Ottawa Senators.
The Senators were the ultimate sellers this year, shipping out Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel to the aforementioned Blue Jackets, and Mark Stone to the Vegas Golden Knights. Ottawa got a plethora of draft picks and a stud prospect in Erik Brannstrom, all of which is enough to get the tank moving in the right direction, and the rebuild into full gear. Well, besides the fact that the lottery balls they earn this year belong to Colorado.
As good of a deadline they may have had, it leaves as many questions as it does answers. The Senators were hoping dearly that they could retain all three of Duchene, Dzingel, and Stone. They were offering them money and term, and trying to sell them the future of the franchise. It looks like none of them have bought into it, despite all the talk, and all three are playing elsewhere. All Ottawa has to show for their efforts are a bunch of lottery tickets.
This is worrisome. Mark Stone, who was unquestionably the cornerstone of the franchise this year and second in command to Erik Karlsson up until last year, mentioned early and often in this negotiating period how much he loved Ottawa and playing for the Senators. Karlsson did the same before he was traded to San Jose last summer. Matt Duchene made similar comments. Yet none of those players chose to sign long term contracts with the team. There’s gotta be a reason.
Turns out, there is – owner Eugene Melnyk.
Melnyk’s relationship with Sens fans and the city of Ottawa in general has been, well, poor. It hasn’t always been this way, but as soon as he made his remarks about lacking fan support at the Heritage Classic in 2017, things began to crumble. The team started losing, rifts arose between the players, and the fans started to lose interest in making the trek out to the suburb of Kanata to watch the team.
Another twist of the dagger came this week, when the plans Melnyk had been trying to put together (and have others pay for) for a new arena downtown was all but killed, when the extension day for the involved parties to come to an agreement passed without said agreement.
One highly possible reason being is that Melnyk had been difficult to work with, to the point of billion dollar lawsuits getting thrown around. There are more details, certainly, as well as the fact that the possibility still exists for a Senators arena in downtown Ottawa. But it seems that as long as Melnyk has control of the Senators, it looks like the arena won’t happen.
All the while, Melnyk has been trying to win back the fans with promises for a better future. He had that awkward video with Mark Borowiecki. More recently, he gave the team until 2021 before his promised “five years of unparalleled success”, spending up to the salary cap ceiling on the team.
Seeing how things are, lacking a new arena plan, fan support dwindling, and all the big ticket players getting paid more elsewhere, it may be difficult to see where that will begin.
When you say things to the press like you’re going to see the year out and evaluate the coaching staff once the season’s over, only to fire the head coach the next day, it doesn’t make it easier for the fans to believe any of the hype Melnyk is trying to build for that “unparalleled success”.
Look at what happened this past calendar year. The Senators were trying to sell the future to their four biggest players (including Erik Karlsson last summer, Duchene, Stone, and Dzingel last month), and all four are playing for other teams. Why? It looks like they simply can’t see it working out with Melnyk. They could love the city all they want, but if they have to deal with Melnyk and his antics, they would rather play elsewhere.
Now, looking toward the future, in order to spend to the cap like Melnyk says he will, how does he expect to get players from outside the organization to come in and play for him? If the players they had didn’t want to stay, what makes other players want to move there?
The Senators are going through one of the roughest patches of any team in recent memory. It probably will take something as drastic as getting the team out of Melnyk’s grasp in order for things to turn around. That probably will not happen, if Melnyk has his say.