NHL Power Rankings: Highlights and lowlights of Week 3

In this week’s NHL power rankings, Devan Dubnyk lends his helmet, Ken Daneyko sings Bon Jovi, and Seattle buries a time capsule.

Happy Wednesday, everyone. Welcome back to this week’s NHL Power Rankings, complete as usual with highlights and lowlights from each team this week. You know, our usual weekly recap.

Teams are settling into the long season, and slowly the picture will take shape on who’s for real and who isn’t. We have a few fun surprises so far this season, but anything can change on a dime, so keep an eye out for that.

More from Puck Prose

• Detroit Red Wings 2023 Rookie Camp Has Plenty of Ups and Downs
• This Columbus Blue Jackets rookie doesn’t want to be forgotten
• 2 trades the Boston Bruins must make to secure the Stanley Cup
• 3 reasons the Avalanche won’t win the Stanley Cup in 2024
• This is a big year for Alex Turcotte and the Los Angeles Kings

Also, we’ve had some good talk in the comments the last couple of weeks. If you have something to make mention of, for example, if you think I’m off my rocker for listing your favorite team lower than it should be, please make your voices heard in the comments. I’ll do my best to respond and continue the discussion. Hockey is more fun when you debate with friends.

Anyway, on to the rankings.

NHL Power Rankings

1. Buffalo Sabres (3-1-0, +2 Goal Difference)
Last Week: 2

Highlight: Jack Eichel recording a point on all four Buffalo goals in their 4-3 OT win vs San Jose.

Lowlight: Blowing a 2-0 lead to Anaheim, giving up the next five goals in a 5-2 loss.

2. Colorado Avalanche (2-1-1, +2 GD)
Last Week: 3

Highlight: Tyson Jost recording a hat trick early against the Lightning.

Lowlight: Mikko Rantanen getting injured on a non-contact play, which is never a good thing.

3. Washington Capitals (4-0-0, +8 GD)
Last Week: 12

Highlight: Scoring three goals in 78 seconds in their 4-3 win against Toronto.

Lowlight: A failed clear by TJ Oshie leading to a gorgeous 2-on-0 goal for Drake Caggiula against Chicago.

4. Boston Bruins (1-0-2, +1 GD)
Last Week: 5

Highlight: David Pastrnak’s between the legs goal against Toronto, and I bet the Leafs are sick of hearing his name over and over on the PA.

Lowlight: Pretty much anything that wasn’t a Bruins power play against the Lightning. Boston’s PP scored all three goals in their shootout loss.

5. Arizona Coyotes (3-0-0, +7 GD)
Last Week: 16

Highlight: Phil Kessel’s two power play goals (and first two Coyote goals) helped power a big 5-2 win against Nashville.

Lowlight: Needing overtime to beat the Rangers, despite out-attempting them 34-8 in the first period (22-3 shots on goal and 10-1 high danger scoring chances!) and 68-40 the whole game.

6. Edmonton Oilers (2-1-1, +1 GD)
Last Week: 6

Highlight: Connor McDavid showing off his wheels to cleanly beat Justin Braun despite starting 5 feet behind him to score a beauty of a goal against Philadelphia. Oh, he also had four assists in that game.

Lowlight: Mike Smith allowing three first period goals in their 3-0 loss to Minnesota. The Oilers have not scored in their last 152:38 of play after shutout losses to Minnesota and Winnipeg.

7. Vancouver Canucks (3-1-0, +3 GD)
Last Week: 11

Highlight: A three goal first period against the Rangers was enough to hang on for the win.

Lowlight: Their power play’s 0/6 effort against the Devils, who had the worst PK in the league entering this week. The final score of that game was 1-0 Devils.

8. Vegas Golden Knights (3-1-0, -1 GD)
Last Week: 9

Highlight: I’ve honestly lost track of how many ten-bell saves Marc-Andre Fleury has made over the last week, so it’s tough to pick one. He shut out his former teammates in Pittsburgh, so lets highlight that.

Lowlight: The whole Valentin Zykov PED ban is a weird story that doesn’t look good on the team, especially considering the Nate Schmidt thing last year. But if he knowingly took PEDs, he deserves it.

9. Pittsburgh Penguins (2-2-0, -2 GD)
Last Week: 4

Highlight: Kris Letang dancing around two flailing Stars forwards, and beating Anton Khudobin for the go-ahead goal in the third.

Lowlight: Matt Murray made a blocker save on Noel Acciari, but the puck went directly up in the air, only to hit Murray on the back and roll into the net for a fortuitous Panthers goal.

10. Carolina Hurricanes (0-2-0, -5 GD)
Last Week: 1

Highlight: They outshot their opponents this week by a combined 62-42 margin…

Lowlight: And yet they got outscored 9-4 by San Jose and Anaheim. Hockey’s not fair.

11. Nashville Predators (1-1-1, +2 GD)
Last Week: 8

Highlight: Chasing John Gibson by scoring four goals on their first 14 shots against Anaheim in a 6-1 win.

Lowlight: The penalty kill against Arizona left something to be desired. They gave up three goals on six power plays, failing to cover Phil Kessel twice (not advisable).

12. Montreal Canadiens (2-1-0, +6 GD)
Last Week: 19

Highlight: Victor Mete and Nick Suzuki each scoring their first career NHL goals in a 4-0 win against the Wild. It’s been a long time coming for Mete, and…less long for Suzuki.

Lowlight: Jason Zucker’s pass on the rush cutting through three Montreal defenders and finding Zach Parise on the doorstep for the GWG for Minnesota. Before you ask, yes, it was a different game than what we mentioned in the highlight above.

13. Florida Panthers (2-0-1, +1 GD)
Last Week: 15

Highlight: Evgeni Dadonov and Denis Malgin combining for a nice one-time goal to give the Panthers a lead on the Penguins.

Lowlight: Sasha Barkov getting completely robbed by Philipp Grubauer’s glove in a tie game in the third on the power play. The Panthers would lose that game in OT.

14. Anaheim Ducks (2-2-0, -1 GD)
Last Week: 10

Highlight: Rikard Rakell’s patience and hands finds a place for the puck behind Linus Ullmark to tie the game for the Ducks against Buffalo.

Lowlight: A Sam Steel turnover turning into a 2-on-1 for the Flames, which was sealed with a Mikael Backlund GWG.

15. Toronto Maple Leafs (1-2-1, -3 GD)
Last Week: 7

Highlight: Morgan Rielly scoring twice against Boston by just being around the net. The brace includes the OT game winner.

Lowlight: John Tavares’ broken finger will keep him out for a bit, which stinks for the Leafs.

16. Philadelphia Flyers (1-2-0, -2 GD)
Last Week: 13

Lowlight: Carter Hart played against Edmonton and Dallas, where the Flyers outshot their opponents 52-22 and 39-16 respectively, yet lost 6-3 and 4-1. Hart had a less than stellar week, let’s call it.

Highlight: Enter Brian Elliott against the Golden Knights, who made 33 saves and the Flyers finally scored enough to win. Go figure.

17. St. Louis Blues (1-1-1, -1 GD)
Last Week: 17

Highlight: The bank was open for a Jaden Schwartz pass off the end boards to Vladimir Tarasenko, who buried the Blues’ third and final goal of the night in their 3-1 win against Colorado.

Lowlight: A wild scramble with Colton Parayko prone in his own net and the puck lying in the blue paint, Bo Horvat comes in to pop one over the Blues temporary goaltender for a tying goal late in the third.

18. New York Islanders (2-0-0, +3 GD)
Last Week: 23

Highlight: Mat Barzal providing all the offense the Isles would need against the Jets, scoring two of the Islanders’ three goals in a 3-1 win in the ‘Peg.

Lowlight: Thomas Greiss’ rebound control left something to be desired when the puck bounced off him and right out to Boone Jenner for the tying goal in Columbus.

19. Los Angeles Kings (2-1-0, +1 GD)
Last Week: 25

Highlight: The first nine minutes of the second period against the Flames, where the Kings scored three goals and jumped out to a 4-0 lead, which was all they needed for the win.

Lowlight: They attempted 92 shots against Buffalo. 47 of those attempts reached Sabres goalie Carter Hutton. None went in. Sabres ran away with a 3-0 win.

20. Tampa Bay Lightning (1-1-0, -4 GD)
Last Week: 14

Highlight: Kevin Shattenkirk’s late third-period snipe on the rush gave Tampa a 3-2 lead. They’d later win in a shootout.

Lowlight: The inability for the Lightning to beat Pavel Francouz, and Andrei Vasilevskiy’s inability to stop Avalanche shots led to a lopsided 6-2 win, despite Tampa outshooting Colorado 46-24.

21. Columbus Blue Jackets (2-0-2, Even GD)
Last Week: 26

Highlight: Sonny Milano making his entry for goal of the year, going through the legs against Dallas on a partial breakaway.

Lowlight: Moments after Nick Foligno failed to score on a breakaway, Alex DeBrincat burying a one timer to tie the game for the Hawks.

22. Calgary Flames (2-2-0, Even GD)
Last Week: 20

Highlight: Milan Lucic’s forecheck leading to a steal and score for Sam Bennett to give the Flames a 3-1 lead against Detroit.

Lowlight: Cam Talbot’s adventure behind the net led to Chandler Stephenson’s centering pass hitting Calgary defenseman Rasmus Andersson in the skate and rolling into an empty net.

23. Chicago Blackhawks (1-1-1, -1 GD)
Last Week: 22

Highlight: Jonathan Toews directing a rebound in to win the game for Chicago in overtime.

Lowlight: Tom Wilson starting and finishing a sequence with a steal and a goal to give the Capitals a late 4-3 lead.

24. Winnipeg Jets (1-2-0, -3 GD)
Last Week: 21

Highlight: Connor Hellebuyck throwing a shutout plus, leading the Jets to a rare 1-0 shootout win.

Lowlight: Carl Dahlstrom’s first career NHL goal was taken off the board by an offside challenge. You hate to see it.

25. Dallas Stars (2-2-0, +1 GD)
Last Week: 28

Highlight: Corey Perry’s three point game, combined with stellar goaltending (pun intended) lead to a 4-1 win in Philadelphia.

Lowlight: I’m not sure the Stars were covering Alexander Wennberg well enough, as he caused two turnovers and scored a goal on one shift.

26. San Jose Sharks (1-1-1, +1 GD)
Last Week: 27

Highlight: Evander Kane’s first period hat trick against the Hurricanes was enough for the Sharks to hang on to for a 5-2 win.

Lowlight: Everyone’s favorite Zemgus Girgensons finding a rebound to give Buffalo a late go-ahead goal in a 4-3 win.

27. New Jersey Devils (2-0-0, +4 GD)
Last Week: 31

Highlight: Jack Hughes’ first career NHL goal coming on the power play in a 1-0 win against brother Quinn and Vancouver. You better believe mom and dad were in the building for it.

Lowlight: MSG+ color commentator Ken Daneyko not knowing the mic was live, and singing along to Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer”. He may have gotten the lyrics wrong, but Ken’s always good for a smile.

28. New York Rangers (0-3-1, -8 GD)
Last Week: 18

Lowlights: This was a bad week in Manhattan. Let’s cover all those reasons why down below.

Highlight: Alexandar Georgiev’s goaltending against the Coyotes kept it from being an 0-4-0 week.

29. Minnesota Wild (2-1-0, Even GD)
Last Week: 30

Highlight: Devan Dubnyk being a nice guy and lending a young Canadiens fan his mask for a minute.

Lowlight: Poor Joel Eriksson Ek blocking three Shea Weber power play slappers in one sequence, something you wouldn’t wish on your enemies.

30. Detroit Red Wings (0-3-0, -8 GD)
Last Week: 24

Highlight: Playing great hockey for the first two periods against Vancouver, leading 2-0 and ready for that first win of the week.

Lowlight: The Canucks scored five in that third period to win 5-2. This included a Bo Horvat hat trick.

31. Ottawa Senators (0-2-1, -4 GD)
Last Week: 29

Highlight: Thomas Chabot’s nifty toe drag goal against the Golden Knights. That kid is good and his contract is a bargain.

Lowlight: Anders Nilsson stopped 41 of 43 Dallas shots, and still lost the game.

NR. Seattle TBD’s

Highlight: We are closer to a team name! The city buried a time capsule at the Space Needle to be opened in 50 years, and in it was an envelope with the final five candidates for the name

to the Seattle NHL franchise.

Team of the Week

This week’s team of the week is the surging Washington Capitals. The Caps won all four games this week, scoring a staggering 19 goals in the process. Not only that, they beat a couple of quality opponents including the Maple Leafs and Flames.

Now, the small caveat is that the Caps are one of those teams depending on shooting success, currently third in the NHL with a 12.17 shooting percentage, which is probably going to come down to earth at some point (for everyone but Alex Ovechkin, anyway).

But for now, a four win week is an easy way to make it here. Keep an eye on John Carlson, who’s on the verge of making history with 20 points in his first 11 games.

Team in the Box

A bad week on Broadway led the Rangers to a place the cross-river rival Devils were last week. Some pretty gnarly lowlights include:

• Artemi Panarin’s stick deciding not to work at the worst possible time, leading to an easy goal for Devils’ winger Nikita Gusev, which killed the Rangers’ chance to come back in that game.
• The opening goal for the Capitals in their 5-2 win against New York made it’s way in when Marc Staal attempted to backup the goalie but ended up kicking it into his own net.
• Brock Boeser’s goal during a three goal first period came off not one but three failed clearing attempts.
• Getting booed off the ice after the first period against Arizona, getting outshot 22-3 and out-Corsi’d 34-8. They came back but lost in OT.

The Rangers’ have the worst Corsi% and SOG% in the NHL right now, and are not getting any PDO love from their shooters or goaltending. If this keeps up, the Rangers will probably keep plummeting to another lottery pick. The numbers are not encouraging so far, but it’s still early on for them to find a way to turn things around. Problem is, their only three games this week are against the Sabres, Bruins, and Lightning. Good luck with that.