November NHL Standings, News and Opinion (Monday 11/28)
By Jim Lynch
Can you believe that December is almost here? The NHL season is flying by, which makes this standing update that much more important. A lot has changed in the past few weeks in the NHL, so this update has a lot to unpack.
November NHL Standings, News and Opinion (Monday 11/28)
Atlantic Division Standings:
Boston Bruins 18-3-0 | 36 Points
Toronto Maple Leaf 13-5-5 | 31 Points
Detroit Red Wings 11-5-4 | 26 Points
Tampa Bay Lightning 12-7-1 | 25 Points
Florida Panthers 10-8-3 | 23 Points
Montreal Canadiens 11-9-1 | 23 Points
Buffalo Sabres 9-12-0 | 18 Points
Ottawa Senators 8-12-1 | 17 Points
Division Outlook:
The Boston Bruins are still the front runners to lead the league, especially with a perfect 12-0-0 record at home, but the amazing thing is this division features a lot of great teams right now.
The Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings are both on multi-game win streaks, and the Tampa Bay Lightning are starting to look like the team that made it to the Stanley Cup Final last season once again. This division is going to be one of the best around.
Metropolitan Division Standings:
New Jersey Devils 18-4-0 | 36 Points
New York Islanders 15-8-0 | 30 Points
Carolina Hurricanes 11-6-5 | 27 Points
Pittsburgh Penguins 11-8-3 | 25 Points
New York Rangers 10-8-4 | 24 Points
Washington Capitals 9-11-3 | 21 Points
Philadelphia Flyers 7-10-5 | 19 Points
Columbus Blue Jackets 7-12-1 | 15 Points
Division Outlook:
The New Jersey Devils are tied with the Boston Bruins for the most points in the league. The Devils are not the team I want to talk about, though, right now. The New York Islanders started the season 3-4-0, and it did not look like this was going to be a good year for the team. They turned that around quickly and are now second in the Metro Division. Mathew Barzal leads the team with 25 points in the team’s first 23 games, including an incredible 23 assists.
Central Division Standings:
Dallas Stars 12-6-4 | 28 Points
Winnipeg Jets 13-6-1 | 27 Points
Colorado Avalanche 12-6-1 | 25 Points
St. Louis Blues 11-10-0 | 22 Points
Minnesota Wild 10-9-2 | 22 Points
Nashville Predators 9-9-2 | 20 Points
Arizona Coyotes 7-10-3 | 17 Points
Chicago Blackhawks 6-11-4 | 16 Points
Division Outlook:
Remember when everyone thought the Blues were going to be at the bottom of the standings and miss the playoffs? Things change quickly around the NHL, as they currently sit in a playoff spot. Everything is starting to look as it should in the Central. The Blackhawks and Coyotes are losing and are starting to fall in the proper spot in the standings, while the Blues, Wild and Avalanche have been pretty good as of late. It will be interesting to see if Winnipeg and Dallas really are the real deal this season.
Pacific Division Standings:
Vegas Golden Knights 16-6-1 | 33 Points
Seattle Kraken 13-5-3 | 29 Points
Los Angeles Kings 12-9-3 | 27 Points
Edmonton Oilers 11-10-0 | 22 Points
Calgary Flames 9-9-3 | 21 Points
Vancouver Canucks 9-10-3 | 21 Points
San Jose Sharks 7-13-4 | 18 Points
Anaheim Ducks 6-15-3 | 13 Points
Division Outlook:
Lastly, we get to the Pacific Division. This division has the Vegas Golden Knights, one of the strongest teams in the league, despite so many doubts going into the season. The real story in the Pacific has to be the Seattle Kraken. Seattle is on a five-game win streak and has a record of 8-1-1 in their last ten games. Seattle potentially making the playoffs in their second season would be a great achievement for an expansion team, a more realistic one than the president Vegas set in 2018.