The NHL’s top five teams continue to remain just that. Although the season did start late, it hasn’t seemed to affect Chicago, Pittsburgh, Anaheim, Boston or Montreal one bit as they continue to flex their muscle. As for the rest of the league...those teams all just seem to be a jumbled-up mess trying to stay afloat.
*Rankings based upon statistics through Tuesday night
1. Chicago Blackhawks (-)
While my formula this week did actually bump Chicago down to number two in the rankings, I had to take a stand against my own math. The drop was by less-than a hundredth of a point in the rankings and the ‘Hawks only played three games since the last ranking. I feel there’s no valid reason as to why Pittsburgh should be higher just yet. The Blackhawks did lose those two games last weekend ending their record-setting streak, but then came back to win their last three; outscoring their opponents 15-4. Besides that, Patrick Kane’s insane 360-degree goal against the Dallas Stars on Saturday earns them at least 100 cool points.
2. Pittsburgh Penguins (-)
The Penguins are really on a role this month; they haven’t lost a game yet. They’ve pretty-firmly planting themselves at the lead for the Eastern Conference, three points ahead of Montreal, and 5 ahead of Boston. The Penguins also beat Boston twice in less than a week, which caused quite a stir; as many believe Boston has one of the deepest and most cup-worthy bound teams this season. It definitely helps that Sidney Crosby came out of the woodwork and has been a scoring machine these past few weeks.
3. Anaheim Ducks (-)
Also maintaining their place amongst the top are the Ducks. While they lead the Pacific division they are still five-points behind the Blackhawks, but hoping to close that gap with a win tonight. The Ducks haven’t suffered a regulation loss since February, but they’re still down Corey Perry tonight for his cheap shot against the Wild last week.
4. Montreal Canadiens (-)
The Canadiens are also keeping their spot in the playoff list tied up with a Northeast division lead, as well as second in the Eastern conference. Until losing in overtime Tuesday, Montreal was on a five-game win streak. Equally impressive is the fact that Montreal has scored first a whopping 75-percent this season. The Canadiens have a knack for making the playoffs and this year doesn’t appear to be any different.
5. Boston Bruins (-)
On the positive side, the Bruins have been on a nice win streak; the negative, they lost twice in one week to the Penguins, which is more than a little demoralizing. Making last week even harder for them was the injury of star forward David Krejci, who took a puck to the knee from his own defender. As of right now, his return Thursday against the Senators is pretty iffy so we may be seeing another AHL player on the ice this week.
6. Ottawa Senators (+3)
Still out their star goalie, the Senators continue to climb the ranks and hold on. Craig Anderson is the league’s goaltending leader, despite being out over a month now with an ankle injury, which just shows how solid of a team the Senators really are. They continue to impress and stay together, even though people had their doubts. They’ve managed to win almost all their games in the last couple weeks, having won a few overtime losses.
7. Los Angeles Kings (+5)
Not to be outdone, last year's Stanley Cup champions continue to put on a good show and prove they have playoff potential again this year. Goalie Jonathan Quick is still pretty shaky and continues to get pulled mid-way into games but the Kings still manage to pull off wins. Now they just need to work on their road game as they’ve got more on the road losses than wins.
8. Winnipeg Jets (+5)
Another team that was really stepped up the past few weeks is the Jets. While there’s no question they play in the worst division in the entire league, they’re still leading it. That gives them a playoff spot and as of right now a third seed one. Winnipeg’s coach has really stepped up and their sweep of the Maple Leafs over the weekend was pretty nice too. Even if they don’t improve the whole rest of the season, I still see them in the playoffs somewhere.
9. St. Louis Blues (-2)
The Blues on the other hand have had a rough few weeks. They’re now seven points behind first place in the Central division and desperately clinging to remain playoff potential. Rookie goaltender Jake Allen may be the answer to their prayers though, earning his first shutout Thursday followed by an overtime win Saturday against the Ducks.
10. Detroit Red Wings (+1)
Just when you start to think maybe that’s that for the Red Wings this season, they come back to surprise you. After being pretty embarrassingly stomped by Calgary on Wednesday, they turned out a come-from-behind win against Edmonton on Friday and proceeded to walk all over Vancouver Saturday. The Red Wings have off until Wednesday night, but need all the rest they can manage with the fierce competition coming up in their next few games.
11. Phoenix Coyotes (-3)
The Coyotes have had quite a week, suffering four back-to-back losses. They hadn’t even managed putting a point on the board in a week until Tuesday night in their 3-2 loss against the Kings. They did manage to sign defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson to a six-year extension which will be nice in the long run, but now they need to go back and focus on today. They’ve got another tough game coming up Thursday against Vancouver, who happens to be on another upswing.
12. New Jersey Devils (+2)
New Jersey was amongst the top a short month ago, but not surprisingly; the loss of lead goaltender Martin Brodeur hurt the team pretty badly. The Devils have won just three times this month and it doesn’t seem to matter where their opponent is ranked. It appears the team has started to put in a little more effort this past week before completely losing sight of the playoffs and with Brodeur finally set to return Thursday; the Devils should start to look more like a hockey team again.
13. Vancouver Canucks (+5)
The Canucks started off the season looking as if they were just going to walk straight into the playoffs. They quickly proved though that no matter how much talent a team has, one can never assume the outcome. They’ve had quite a lot of ups and downs this season, but will really need to get it together if they hope for a playoff spot at this point. Alexandre Burrows had an awesome goal Saturday just six seconds into the game, but the Canucks turned around and lost the game 5-2; another game that would have been a great statement if they’d won.
14. Carolina Hurricanes (-4)
Rough week doesn’t even begin to touch on what is going on with the Hurricanes. They’ve dropped the last FOUR games to the Capitals, Lightning, Rangers and Panthers. To make it worse, the only close one was to the Rangers. It’s no surprise the Hurricanes got bumped out of first place this week although they’re still the favorite to win the division.
15. Toronto Maple Leafs (-9)
Although they insist it isn’t happening, the Maple Leafs are collapsing. They’ve been losing a ton recently, to good teams at least, but they still aren’t earning any points. The Leafs did get to overtime on Saturday, which earned them a point but they’re off until Wednesday now; which doesn’t help them much either. They’ll be playing the Lightning which should result in a win, but with how the Leafs are playing right now; you just never know.
16. Minnesota Wild (+3)
The Wild are probably one of the hottest teams in the league right now. They’ve moved into first place again in the Northwest division, but that’s going to be a tight battle for the next six weeks against the Canucks. Although the Wild season started out roughly, they’re pushing hard to make up for it with only a couple losses this month and all to the league’s best: the Blackhawks and the Ducks. The rest of the offense has really stepped up and started scoring, so we should continue to see the Wild make process and hang in for the division title.
17. Columbus Blue Jackets (-2)
The Blue Jackets have definitely pushed their way forward into the spotlight this season. For starting out 3-6-1, they’ve shown great progress going their last 11 games without a regulation loss; including a few matchups against Chicago. When this week started, the Blue Jackets were just a few points out of playoff positioning; so they’ve got some serious potential yet before the season is over.
18. New York Rangers (+3)
Even a week ago, people were still expecting to see the Rangers with a playoff spot, but as they went through another losing skid this week; that chance is becoming more and more dismal. The staff has been changing up lines, trying to make a difference, but the guys need to start shaping up or I fear they’ll be learning a new line on a whole different team at this rate. The trade deadline is approaching and the Rangers are a team who could really benefit from some new meat.
19. Nashville Predators (-3)
The Predators are watching their playoff chances slip by too, as they also go on another losing streak. They’ve lost the last four games on their five-game road trip. What are they missing you ask? Goals. Normally a pretty high scoring team, the Predators have had a hard time finding the net, resulting in their losing streak.
20. New York Islanders (+2)
Edging closer to their fellow New Yorkers than probably anyone expected, the Islanders look like they’re trying to make a playoff push. They won their last two games before dropping to Ottawa Tuesday. But is it just a tease for Islanders faithful or is the team really making a run for the playoffs?
21. Philadelphia Flyers (-4)
After losing Monday night against the Lightning, the Flyers have all week to get their heads in gear, which they’re going to need as they play the Penguins this upcoming Sunday. The Flyers seem to be a win then lose then win team right now, so maybe that will work in their favor Sunday at least. Hopefully they do something useful with their week off, because the teams they’re trying to catch up to have all been playing this week and widening the gap.
22. Tampa Bay Lightning (+2)
The Lightning had a couple nice wins this past week, including one over the Hurricanes, which bumped them up a little in rankings. While the team does have league-leading scorer Steven Stamkos, they can’t seem to do a lot. As they continue to lose, the noise about upcoming trades gets louder and louder. Although it may have been once unthinkable, it appears this may be the last season for Martin St. Louis as a member of the Lightning. Even as a scoring machine, Tampa Bay is looking at another year missing the mark for the playoffs.
23. San Jose Sharks (-3)
San Jose continues to be a pretty lackluster team as the season continues. They came out with a solid win against LA on Thursday, but followed it with a 5-2 loss against LA just two days later; then fell to Anaheim on Monday. The Sharks are almost unbeatable at home but are easily beaten on the road. They’re on the playoff bubble yet, a miracle given their season, but without some more wins on the board they’ll fall pretty quick.
24. Buffalo Sabres (-1)
The Sabres are just barely above .500 when scoring first, which is not a statistic to brag about. They aren’t at the bottom though, point-wise either. Blowing their lead against Ottawa and then losing in overtime Saturday followed by a loss to the Capitals Sunday still had to sting though. Tuesday the Sabres came out with an impressive win over the Canadiens, so maybe that will raise their spirits the rest of the week.
25. Dallas Stars (+2)
This week was a definitive low for the Stars, going on a four-game losing streak culminating with an absolute execution 8-1 by Chicago. If the team continues to play that poorly, they can kiss any playoff chance goodbye. More than that though, the Stars are another team that better prepare for the very-real chance of some serious trades.
26. Washington Capitals (+3)
While the Capitals were able to overturn a bad loss with a nice win this week, until they start beating worthwhile teams (not the other weakest teams); they still aren’t showing any playoff potential. Alexander Ovechkin continues to make big progress though, and prove he isn’t just an old man on the ice; very refreshing. Maybe the team's problem isn’t their players though, but in fact their staff? The Capitals have started each of the last three seasons with a new coach and there are rumors floating that next year won’t be any different.
27. Florida Panthers (-1)
How about them Panthers folks? One of a few bottom-feeder teams that pulled off a win over the Hurricanes this past week, ending their six-game losing streak. While impressive to say the least, the Panthers are still in the pits. Hard to believe they were division champs just last season.
28. Edmonton Oilers (-3)
The Oilers continue to be a confusing team. After writing them off they came back this past week and showed maybe they aren’t quite done for. They do still have that win over the Blackhawks last week, which is hopefully still boosting their spirits; but after losing a 2-0 lead and ultimately the game to the Red Wings on Friday, it had to bring them down. If the Oilers could pull off a few more big-name wins, they just might gain a playoff spot yet.
29. Colorado Avalanche (-1)
Spinning in aimless circles seems to be the in-thing for the Avalanche right now. After ending Chicago’s record streak, the Avalanche went on a four-game, painful, losing streak including a few to the Wild and one Monday to Chicago. There’s an upcoming home-away series against Dallas at the end of the week that could boost the Avs if they win. They’re pretty far behind in the conference right now though, so they’ll need more than a couple if they want back into the playoffs.
30. Calgary Flames (-)
Poor Calgary! Although one place (two points) ahead of the Avalanche in division standings, the Flames just can’t seem to get any higher in my rankings. They teased fans with wins against the Red Wings and the Predators last week, but if they can get some wins this week too they just might catch a glimpse of playoff positioning.