In this week’s NHL Power Rankings, the Michigan goal gets trendy, Austin Wagner misses a punch, and Kaapo Kakko gets upset.
Happy Wednesday, everyone, and welcome back to this week’s edition of the NHL Power Rankings, complete as usual with a highlight and lowlight from each team this week. We will also feature our team of the week, as well as the first team to find themselves back in the box for a second time this season.
Once again, we’ve had some action in the comment section last week, and based on what the rankings look like this week, more of you will have a say on what’s going on here. Feel free to let me know. I would disagree with these had I not made them based on math. Anyway, voice your opinions below.
NHL Power Rankings
1. Boston Bruins (3-0-0, +10 Goal Differential)
Last Week: 4
Highlight: The top line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and David Pastrnak combining for five goals and eight assists against the Rangers in a 7-4 win.
Lowlight: The rest of the team had just two goals and two assists that night.
2. Nashville Predators (3-0-0, +8 GD)
Last Week: 11
Highlight: Pekka Rinne had a relatively easy shutout of the Wild. Same thing with the Blackhawks a few nights later.
Lowlight: One of the few defensive lapses they had came against the Lightning, finished off by Tyler Johnson.
3. Pittsburgh Penguins (2-1-0, +8 GD)
Last Week: 9
Highlight: Blowing the doors off the Flyers, putting in six goals in the first two periods before the Flyers could even respond.
Lowlight: Coming literally inches away from tying the game late against the Lightning in the dying seconds of the game.
4. Washington Capitals (2-0-1, Even GD)
Last Week: 3
Highlight: John Carlson keeps scoring, putting in two goals in the Caps’ OT win in Toronto.
Lowlight: Connor McDavid’s tying goal that dribbled through Braden Holtby in the last two minutes of the game in Edmonton.
5. Colorado Avalanche (1-1-0, +2 GD)
Last Week: 2
Highlight: Cale Makar’s first career regular season goal coming in a blowout win at Vegas.
Lowlight: Remember how last week Mikko Rantanen got hurt? Now Gabe Landeskog is out for a while with an injury.
6. Buffalo Sabres (1-1-1, -2 GD)
Last Week: 1
Highlight: Linus Ullmark stopping all 41 Red Wing shots in a 2-0 shutout win (one of those goals was an empty netter, so he really only got one goal of support).
Lowlight: Carter Hutton stopping just 18 of 24 Ranger shots in a 6-2 blowout at Madison Square Garden the night before.
7. Vancouver Canucks (1-0-1, +5 GD)
Last Week: 7
Highlight: We don’t normally check out prospects’ highlights here, but Canucks prospect Nils Hoglander scored the mother of all Michigan’s in Sweden, and we have to talk about it here because it’s the goal of the year in the entire world.
Lowlight: Blowing a 5-1 lead to the Capitals, losing 6-5 in a shootout.
8. Carolina Hurricanes (2-0-1, +4 GD)
Last Week: 10
Highlight: Having seen Hoglander’s beauty earlier that day, Andrei Svechnikov said, “Hold my beer” (despite him being under 21), and pulled off a Michigan of his own. He now legally owns David Rittich.
Lowlight: After scoring three goals on their first six shots against the Blue Jackets, not scoring again and losing the game in OT.
9. Arizona Coyotes (2-1-0, Even GD)
Last Week: 5
Highlight: Barrett Hayton’s first career NHL goal was timely for the Coyotes, as he scored the game-winner early in the third against New Jersey.
Lowlight: There were a lot of things the Coyotes didn’t do right in this sequence against the Islanders that ended in an Anders Lee goal.
10. Vegas Golden Knights (1-1-0, -2 GD)
Last Week: 8
Highlight: Ryan Reaves and William Carrier combining for a “who can make a better play while being taken down to the ice” goal against Anaheim.
Lowlight: Getting flattened by the Avalanche, where Colorado out-attempted the Knights 60-26 and outshot 34-15 in the first two periods.
11. New York Islanders (3-0-0, +6 GD)
Last Week: 18
Highlight: Chasing Carter Hart from the net early in the second after putting five behind him on just 14 shots.
Lowlight: The Islanders should know how fast Michael Grabner is, and not let him anywhere near the puck. They didn’t, and he scored against them.
12. Montreal Canadiens (1-1-0, +1 GD)
Last Week: 12
Highlight: Jonathan Drouin potting a pair in the Habs 5-2 win against the Leafs on HNIC.
Lowlight: Carey Price giving up four goals on just 14 shots through two periods against the Sharks.
13. Edmonton Oilers (1-2-0, -5 GD)
Last Week: 6
Highlight: A late third comeback led to an OT win against the Capitals, of course led by Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
Lowlight: Starting the second period against Florida by letting in the first three Panther shots, falling behind 3-0.
14. Florida Panthers (1-1-1, -1 GD)
Last Week: 13
Highlight: Included in those three was the first goal of the season by Brian Boyle, recently signed.
Lowlight: Whomever was in net against Vancouver, they switched back and forth. They combined to allow seven goals against.
15. Philadelphia Flyers (2-2-0, -2 GD)
Last Week: 16
Lowlight: Rookie Joel Farabee had both his first point and later his first goal both taken off the board for offside reviews in Chicago.
Highlight: He would later get his first point on this goal by Kevin Hayes.
16. Toronto Maple Leafs (1-1-1, -1 GD)
Last Week: 15
Highlight: Morgan Rielly scoring a late go-ahead goal against the Sharks, leading to a 4-1 win.
Lowlight: Alex Ovechkin assisting on the first two goals, then scoring the last two for Washington in their 4-3 OT win in Toronto.
17. St. Louis Blues (2-1-0, +1 GD)
Last Week: 17
Highlight: The power play against the Kings seemed to work well, going 3/4 and contributing to a 5-2 win.
Lowlight: Losing Vladimir Tarasenko for at least five months to shoulder surgery.
18. Anaheim Ducks (2-2-0, +2 GD)
Last Week: 14
Highlight: Scoring four goals on the Jets in the second period, chasing Connor Hellebuyck in the process.
Lowlight: Cam Fowler putting home the rebound on a shot by…the other team. Mark Stone gets credit for the own goal.
19. Calgary Flames (1-1-1, -2 GD)
Last Week: 22
Highlight: Sam Bennett scoring the tying goal in the final three minutes, leading to a shootout win against the Panthers.
Lowlight: After wearing those sweet, sweet Heritage Classic uniforms, they have to go back and wear their regular road whites, which are way worse.
20. Tampa Bay Lightning (1-1-1, -3 GD)
Last Week: 20
Highlight: Viktor Hedman’s last-minute go-ahead power play goal to win the game for the Lightning over the Penguins.
Lowlight: Nashville’s new $72M man Roman Josi batting down a clearing attempt out of mid-air and slapping home a one-timer to tie the game for the Preds, who would later win in OT.
21. Columbus Blue Jackets (1-1-0, -2 GD)
Last Week: 21
Highlight: Sonny Milano only scores really nice goals, apparently. This one came on a partial break against Carolina.
Lowlight: Seven goals on 43 shots and 73 shot attempts for the Flyers. Columbus’ defense just didn’t show up that night.
22. Winnipeg Jets (1-1-0, -2 GD)
Last Week: 24
Highlight: Bryan Little ending the Heritage Classic with an OT winner in snowy Saskatchewan.
Lowlight: Adam Lowry getting suspended for two games for boarding Oliver Kylington in that game. Don’t do that on national TV, dude. Or ever, for that matter.
23. Dallas Stars (2-1-0, +1 GD)
Last Week: 25
Highlight: Denis Gurianov scoring a pair of nice backhand goals to lead the Stars to a 2-1 win over the Ducks.
Lowlight: This is probably the worst way to give up the opening goal of the game in the third period, courtesy of Dominik Kahun and the Penguins.
24. New York Rangers (2-1-0, +4 GD)
Last Week: 28
Highlight: Filip Chytil tipping in a Pavel Buchnevich shot-pass to give the Rangers a late lead over the Lightning.
Lowlight: Uber-rookie Kaapo Kakko hasn’t been happy lately, not getting the ice time he wants, and not playing well when he is out there. Let’s look here, this past week he…was credited for one goal (kicked in by a defender) and a -6 +/- rating. Earn your ice, kid. This isn’t the NFL.
25. Los Angeles Kings (0-3-0, -11 GD)
Last Week: 19
Highlight: Uh…hard to find one. They didn’t score more than two in any game, and gave up five to each St. Louis, Minnesota, and Chicago. So yeah, bad week.
Lowlight: Austin Wagner swinging wildly and missing so badly that he fell over during a fight against Ivan Barbashev.
26. Chicago Blackhawks (1-3-0, -6 GD)
Last Week: 23
Highlight: Dylan Strome and Alex DeBrincat contributing to three of the five Chicago goals against the Kings. Their chemistry is finally back.
Lowlight: Robin Lehner being completely hung out to dry against Nashville. Hawks got outshot 51-20, out-Corsi’d 87-40, and didn’t score to backup Lehner’s 48 saves. The poor guy.
27. Ottawa Senators (2-1-0, +4 GD)
Last Week: 31
Highlight: It’s always nice to beat the team you traded your best player to, with Ottawa beating the Sharks yet again. Any regrets, Erik Karlsson?
Lowlight: Tickets for the Sens game against the Islanders were really cheap. $50 for glass seats? Hello…
28. New Jersey Devils (0-1-0, -2 GD)
Last Week: 27
Highlight: Jack Hughes putting up a goal and two assists against the Coyotes, and is now on a three-game point streak.
Lowlight: Mackenzie Blackwood giving up four goals on 16 shots, which led to the loss.
29. Minnesota Wild (1-2-0, -3 GD)
Last Week: 29
Highlight: Going up 3-0 in Dallas, maybe giving us hope that the Wild are good…
Lowlight: Giving up the next six, showing us that they really aren’t good.
30. Detroit Red Wings (1-2-1, -4 GD)
Last Week: 30
Highlight: Dylan Larkin scoring early on the PP to give the Red Wings a lead they actually didn’t surrender against the Oilers, snapping an eight-game losing streak.
Lowlight: Ryan O’Reilly scoring four points and being one of the sole causes to the Wings’ 5-4 OT loss against the Blues.
31. San Jose Sharks (1-3-0, -8 GD)
Last Week: 26
Highlight: Evander Kane’s two PP goals leading to a 4-2 win in Montreal.
Lowlight: Finishing the game in Boston with five guys on the bench. Among other things.
Team of the Week
The Boston Bruins had the best week this week, jumping to the top spot of our rankings by winning three games decisively over the Blues, Rangers, and Sharks. The formula to their success has been relatively simple. 88+63+37+40=W.
Tuukka Rask has a save percentage of .951 (!) and a 1.41 GAA, which is ridiculous. Perhaps even more ridiculous is the fact that the top line of Marchand, Bergeron, and Pastrnak have combined for 24 goals and 33 assists for 57 points, compared to 17 goals and 36 assists for 53 points for everyone else on the team. The team is inexplicable. They’re also winning. Go figure.
Team in the Box
Back in the box is the San Jose Sharks, who have been suffering all season from probably the worst 5v5 play in hockey. Somehow, this team has the best penalty kill and 7th best power play in the league, but everything else stinks. It came into play during their northeastern swing, where they lost to Toronto (ok…), Boston (I get it…) and Ottawa (uh oh).
The difference between them and their competition for this section this week, the Kings, is that the Kings are usually out-possessing the team they’re playing and just have bad goalies. The Sharks are getting bad runs of play at five-on-five and they have bad goalies. They have to start getting play going back in the right direction before the wins start coming. The Sharks aren’t, and they deserve it.