NHL Power Rankings: Each team’s highlights and lowlights of Week 7

In this week’s NHL Power Rankings, Garnett Hathaway does a spit take, a couple of goalies get into a fight, and the Coyotes hang a banner.

Happy Wednesday to ya, and welcome back to the NHL Power Rankings, complete with highlights and lowlights from each team this week. We have some teams on the rise, some teams on the fall, and a couple of big ol’ dumpster fires up in Canada right now. We’ll get to that later though.

Once again, feel free to comment your reaction to the rankings, or just to say hi. I always appreciate that. Anyway, let’s go to why you’re here – power rankings.

NHL Power Rankings

1. Washington Capitals (3-1-0, Even Goal Differential)
Last Week: 1

Highlight: Braden Holtby was quality over quantity in the Caps’ showdown win in Boston.

Lowlight: Garnet Hathaway spitting in the face of Eric Gudbranson during a fight. Not a good look for anyone here.

More from Puck Prose

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• This is a big year for Alex Turcotte and the Los Angeles Kings

2. Boston Bruins (2-0-1, +6 GD)
Last Week: 2

Highlight: Brad Marchand following up his toe drag rebound to give the Bruins a third period lead over the Leafs.

Lowlight: TJ Oshie’s last-minute goal to tie the game up for Washington. Boston would lose in a shootout.

3. New York Islanders (3-0-0, +2 GD)
Last Week: 6

Highlight: Ryan Pulock powering home a one time rocket to tie the game late for the Islanders in their OT win at Pittsburgh.

Lowlight: John Tavares scored at Nassau Coliseum, which will forever be a sore spot for Isles fans.

4. Pittsburgh Penguins (1-1-1, +3 GD)
Last Week: 3

Highlight: Jumping into a 5-0 lead over Toronto on home ice before the midway point of the game. It was over early.

Lowlight: Blake Coleman following up a weak rebound given up by Matt Murray, while powering around John Marino and swatting it home in the dying seconds of the second. This was the game winner for New Jersey.

5. Carolina Hurricanes (3-0-0, +4 GD)
Last Week: 8

Highlight: Dougie Hamilton with yet another OT winner for the Canes, this one in Buffalo.

Lowlight: Carson Soucy scoring his first NHL goal to force overtime in Minnesota. Carolina would win anyway.

6. Edmonton Oilers (2-0-1, +6 GD)
Last Week: 12

Highlight: Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl combining for 11 points, contributing on all six Oiler goals against Colorado. Just rename the team the Edmonton McDavsaitls.

Lowlight: Tyler Seguin slapping a one-timer home in the final two minutes of regulation to tie the game for the Stars. Dallas would win in OT.

7. Colorado Avalanche (2-1-0, +4 GD)
Last Week: 4

Highlight: Nathan MacKinnon stealing the show against the Canucks, scoring twice including an end-to-end drive to score the game-winner in OT.

Lowlight: Matt Calvert going down with a head injury, and Alex Edler scoring on the same play when the refs let the play continue, despite Calvert lying there bleeding. By rule, it’s correct for the refs to let play continue unless the player is in true danger. Although…come on, you gotta stop playing there.

8. St. Louis Blues (1-1-1, -2 GD)
Last Week: 5

Highlight: Holding the Lightning to just one goal on 18 shots in the Blues’ 3-1 win.

Lowlight: Pizza time comes to St. Louis, where the Blues Justin Faulk makes a bad pass and allows Derek Grant to score his first of the game and for the Ducks.

9. Arizona Coyotes (2-1-0, +5 GD)
Last Week: 13

Highlight: Oliver Ekman-Larsson allowing a kid with cancer to switch places with him at the ceremonial puck drop on Hockey Fights Cancer night in Arizona. Fantastic move, classy by OEL. Well done.

Lowlight: Old-time hockey in the desert, as everyone, including the goalies, got into a big line brawl. Matt Tkachuk ended the fight by dropping Darcy Kuemper with an overhand right.

10. Florida Panthers (2-1-0, +3 GD)
Last Week: 14

Highlight: Evgeni Dadonov scoring twice for the Panthers against the Rangers, including the game-winner late in the second for a 4-3 win.

Lowlight: Adam Lowry’s tip-in goal gave the Jets a late 4-2 lead that proved to be too much to come back from in such short order for Florida.

11. Montreal Canadiens (1-1-1, -1 GD)
Last Week: 11

Highlight: Philip Danault finishing a great passing play, ending up all by himself on Ilya Samsonov to open the scoring for Montreal in their 5-2 win in Washington.

Lowlight: Emil Bemstrom’s goal against Montreal, where the initial shot missed wide, but the puck ricocheted off the end glass, over the net, off Carey Price’s blocker and chest, and in. This was actually the game winning goal.

12. Dallas Stars (4-0-0, +12 GD)
Last Week: 19

Highlight: Justin Dowling scoring the first NHL goal of his career against the Flames with a beautiful toe drag move. He’s from Calgary, in fact, so he had family in the stands to see it.

Lowlight: Dowling scored first at home against Vancouver on Tuesday, but it was wiped out due to an offside challenge. He’d score later in the game.

13. Philadelphia Flyers (0-2-2, -4 GD)
Last Week: 9

Lowlight: Brett Connolly shooting the puck from behind the goal line, off the mask of Carter Hart, and in. The Panthers would never surrender the lead this goal gave them.

Highlight: Morgan Frost found silver lining, scoring his first NHL goal in his first NHL game on the most wicked of backhanders on Sergei Bobrovsky. He won’t forget that anytime soon.

14. Vancouver Canucks (0-2-1, -8 GD)
Last Week: 7

Lowlight: Tyler Seguin and friends picking apart the Canucks on the rush for the game-deciding goal late in the second in Vancouver.

Highlight: How about those throwback flying skate jerseys, though?

15. Vegas Golden Knights (2-2-0, +5 GD)
Last Week: 17

Highlight: Marc-Andre Fleury’s entry for save of the year, robbing Toronto’s Nic Petan of a late tying goal. If you look closely, you can tell how awesome the save was because it broke the Knights’ TV score bug in the upper left corner of the screen.

Lowlight: All Blake Lizotte had to do to pot a shorthanded goal for the Kings was tap the puck off Adrian Kempe’s failed shot, and he did to give LA an early lead.

16. Nashville Predators (0-2-0, -6 GD)
Last Week: 10

Lowlight: Goaltending was really stinky in their 7-2 loss against Chicago, giving up those seven on just 24 shots.

Highlight: All they could hang their hat on was Josi’s pair of goals. It wasn’t nearly enough.

17. Winnipeg Jets (3-0-0, +3 GD)
Last Week: 21

Highlight: Connor Hellebuyck coming up with a nasty glove save on Ondrej Palat late in the game to keep the Lightning from coming within one goal.

Lowlight: Vincent Trochek cleaning up a huge mess after a bad turnover by the Jets to tie the score for Florida.

18. Tampa Bay Lightning (1-2-0, +3 GD)
Last Week: 20

Highlight: Scoring four goals in the first seven minutes of the game against the Rangers, including three in just 71 seconds. Talk about Lightning quick *crowd boos*.

Lowlight: Giving up two goals to the Jets in 19 seconds, which would be the deciding factor in the game. Talk about…Lightning quick *crowd boos more*.

19. Buffalo Sabres (1-3-0, -5 GD)
Last Week: 18

Highlight: Jack Eichel potting all four goals to bury the Senators all by himself.

Lowlight: Technically, this goal belonged to Teuvo Teravainen, but this rebound was slammed home by Sebastian Aho. This gave Carolina a 3-1 lead.

20. Toronto Maple Leafs (0-4-0, -10 GD)
Last Week: 15

Highlight: William Nylander tipping home a perfect pass by Andreas Johnsson to tie the game for the Leafs on Long Island.

Lowlight: It all went downhill from there, as the Islanders would score the next three to set the tone for the Leafs’ wretched week.

21. Chicago Blackhawks (3-1-0, +8 GD)
Last Week: 26

Highlight: Kirby Dach showing hands and patience for this goal to give the Hawks a 4-2 lead over the Knights. It was also the GWG.

Lowlight: Nino Niederreiter’s breakaway goal giving Carolina an insurmountable 3-0 lead in the second period in Chicago.

22. Columbus Blue Jackets (2-0-0, +4 GD)
Last Week: 25

Highlight: Pierre Luc Dubois’ second goal of the game against Montreal was a beauty off a great passing play, not missing a wide open net.

Lowlight: Mackenzie MacEachern’s wraparound goal to tie the game for the Blues late in the first.

23. Calgary Flames (0-4-0, -12 GD)
Last Week: 16

Lowlight: David Rittich clearing the puck…right into Derek Stepan, who then hit an empty net for the Coyotes’ first goal, and all they needed for the win.

Highlight: TJ Brodie is going to be OK after a scare in practice necessitated a hospital visit.

24. Anaheim Ducks (1-2-0, -2 GD)
Last Week: 23

Highlight: Derek Grant scoring his first ever hat trick, getting the last three of the game against the Blues.

Lowlight: Giving up a goal to Chandler Stephenson of the Capitals while a huge fight broke out behind the net. This is also the fight where the Hathaway spit take happened. Ugly scene.

25. San Jose Sharks (2-1-0, -1 GD)
Last Week: 24

Highlight: Evander Kane’s shorthanded dagger off a feed from Logan Couture to give the Sharks the game winner in Anaheim.

Lowlight: The horn of doom makes an appearance, when Zack Kassian’s apparent goal was confirmed by Toronto a minute or so after the play to give Edmonton a 2-0 lead late in the first.

26. Los Angeles Kings (2-1-0, -1 GD)
Last Week: 27

Highlight: Jeff Carter scoring the game winning goal in his 1000th career NHL game, at the expense of the Golden Knights.

Lowlight: Getting trolled by the Coyotes, who hung a Taylor Swift banner over the away tunnel at Gila River Arena. This, if you didn’t know, is mocking the actual Taylor Swift banner at Staples Center. Oh, and the Kings got shut out that night.

27. New York Rangers (0-2-0, -7 GD)
Last Week: 22

Highlight: Tony DeAngelo finishing off a perfect feed from Artemi Panarin to give the Rangers the only lead they saw this week. It lasted 2:04 before Florida tied it.

Lowlight: It was so bad for the Rangers in Tampa, there was a point where the Lightning had seven goals, and the Rangers had eight shots on goal. The wheels didn’t fall off, they never got put on.

28. Ottawa Senators (3-1-0, +2 GD)
Last Week: 29

Highlight: JG Pageau scoring a hat trick in New Jersey, leading the Sens to a 4-2 win.

Lowlight: It was announced this morning that Bobby Ryan will take part in the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program, and will be leaving the team indefinitely. Hoping for the best for a good player.

29. Minnesota Wild (2-0-1, +3 GD)
Last Week: 30

Highlight: Jonas Brodin’s deke after a perfect pass from Jason Zucker gave the Wild a 3-0 lead in Buffalo.

Lowlight: Coming oh so close to the game-winner twice in the third period against Carolina, with the puck nearly crossing the line on multiple occasions, but staying out.

30. New Jersey Devils (2-2-0, -4 GD)
Last Week: 28

Highlight: Mackenzie Blackwood standing on his head against Pittsburgh, making 38 saves to preserve a 2-1 Devils win.

Lowlight: Matt Grzelcyk turning PK Subban inside out before going bar-down on Blackwood for the dagger for the Bruins.

31. Detroit Red Wings (0-1-2, -2 GD)
Last Week: 31

Highlight: Bertuzzi’s pair against Los Angeles gave the Red Wings enough to earn a point in their 3-2 OT loss.

Lowlight: Anthony Duclair’s pair of beautiful goals was enough for Ottawa to walk away with two points in Detroit.

Team of the Week

Going undefeated for their second Team of the Week award is the Dallas Stars. The only team to win four games this week, the Stars did it in style with contributions up and down the lineup, but most notably from Justin Dowling, who scored multiple beautiful goals in Western Canada.

Remember, this team is still missing Roope Hintz, one of their top players, though he could come back as early as this weekend. The Stars seem to finally have their offense straightened out, and are now playing like we thought they would this season.

Team in the Box

There could be one of two teams deserving for this week’s seat in the sin bin. One is the Maple Leafs, who lost all four of their games in regulation, including a blowout in Vegas, and one that’s much closer after garbage time against the Islanders.

But this week, it belongs to Calgary, who also lost all four this week in regulation, but only managed three goals scored. Two of them came last night.

The offense dried up, to the point where there is actually trade speculation surrounding Johnny Gaudreau, a previously unthinkable point after last season. The Flames are in trouble, especially after their high expectations coming into this season, and it’s only made worse by their cross-province rival Oilers doing much better. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. The Flames have work to do to get back in order.