Ranking Top 5 Stanley Cup Contenders With One Week to Play

4. Minnesota Wild

The Wild find themselves at number four on this list, though they could probably be as high as number two. With elite goal-scoring and a three-time Stanley Cup champion now in goal, there is little to dislike about the Wild.

Forward Kirill Kaprizov just eclipsed the 100-point mark for the first time in his career, and players like Kevin Fiala and Mats Zuccarello have helped this club score 3.7 goals per game this year, which is tied for the fourth-best mark in the league.

The Wild have won seven of their last nine games, and the two losses were both overtime games, giving Minnesota a nine-game point streak. This is a team peaking at the right time, as it is 16-1-3 since March 16.

My biggest concern here is that the Wild are 17th on the power play (20.6%) and 24th on the penalty kill (75.7%). If Minnesota wants to get past the Blues and (potentially) the Avalanche, those figures, especially the PK numbers, will have to improve.

3. St. Louis Blues

Narrowly edging out the Wild are their Central Division rivals, the Blues. Like Minnesota, St. Louis scores 3.7 goals per game this season, giving the Blues an asset that they don’t typically have.

What makes St. Louis a little more enticing at this point is the defense, which is slightly better, statistically, than Minnesota’s. The Blues surrender only 2.8 goals per contest, which is seventh-best in the NHL.

The special teams also give St. Louis an edge, as the Blues boast the second-best power play in the NHL (26.6%) and the fifth-best penalty kill (84.0%). Both of those marks are clearly superior to that of their first-round opponents from Minnesota.

In their last 14 contests, the Blues are 12-0-2, having not lost in regulation since March 26. Keep an eye on netminder Ville Husso, whose 2.46 goals against average and .923 save percentage have helped the Blues to that dominant stretch, to be the x-factor for St. Louis this postseason