1. New York Rangers 14-2-2
The Rangers have been holding a steady position in the top five, but this week they really closed the gap between them and Montreal. They beat Toronto on Sunday to extend their winning streak to nine games. What has really propelled them over this winning streak is their offense, which is currently ranked fourth in the NHL. Mats Zuccarello has been dominant on the top line, scoring nine goals and notching 18 points in as many games.
2. Montreal Canadiens 13-3-2
They may fall out of first place, but that is not because of poor play. They picked up a couple of strong victories against the Islanders and Bruins before falling to Pittsburgh and Colorado. They are getting Hart Trophy winner Carey Price back, and they should continue to be one of the teams to beat in the Eastern Conference.
3. Dallas Stars: 14-4-0
The Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin combination just continues to pay off in strides for the Stars. Tyler Seguin leads the NHL in assists with 17 and his 26 points is good enough for second in the league. Jamie Benn is second in the NHL with 12 goals and is third with 25 points.
4. Washington Capitals: 11-4-1
Evgeny Kuznetsov has built up quite a resume to be the top line center. His 12 assists and 17 points lead the team despite the fact he has not been on the top line for all of this season. The team has a rough schedule ahead of them, and they will have to beat Detroit and Dallas to stay in the top five.
5. Nashville Predators: 10-3-3
The Predators keep their top five position, but need to be more consistent. They crushed the Jets 7-0, but somehow lost to the lowly Maple Leafs. Pekka Rinne should get his 10th win of the season this week as they face Anaheim and Columbus, two winnable games.
6. St Louis Blues: 11-5-1
The Blues have lost their last two games, putting them in the middle of the pack for the race to win the grueling Central Division. The fact of the matter is that right now, about half of the top ten teams in the NHL all play in the Central Division. The Blues schedule lets up, and they have winnable games against Winnipeg, Columbus and Buffalo.
7. Chicago Blackhawks: 10-7-1
The Blackhawks have won three of their last four games, and are again one of the premiere teams in the NHL after a rough start. The defense was supposed to cave in after Duncan Keith went down with injury, but right now they are only giving up 2.4 GAA. Brent Seabrook has had a great start of the season, playing 23 minutes and posting a positive +/-.
8. Minnesota Wild: 10-3-3
Speaking of defenders playing great, Ryan Suter has been the Wild’s iron man. He plays 27 minutes a night, and has 14 points in 16 games. They also score 3 GPG, and have the star power in the forward position to ride their offense into the playoffs.
9. Pittsburgh Penguins: 10-7-0
The Penguins have been winning this season, just not in the way we expected. They only have been scoring at a rate of 2.1 GPG, well below the bar they normally expect for themselves. Sidney Crosby only has nine points in 17 games, and if he gets hot this team could catapult up the rankings.
10. Tampa Bay Lightning: 8-8-3
The Lightning have lost three of their last four games, and are tumbling in the rankings. Their main problem is that their star players are not scoring at their expected rate. Tyler Johnson, Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat are all having down years so far. Through 19 games, none of them have more than 10 points.
11. Los Angeles Kings: 11-6-0
The Kings continue to lead the relatively easy Pacific Division. They have rebounded on the defensive end, ranking third in the NHL despite their rough start. Jake Muzzin has stepped up and surprised everyone on the top line.
12. New York Islanders: 9-6-3
Jaroslav Halak has been sensational in net for the Islanders, with his 1.89 GAA. The defender corps also deserves praise, as all but one of them have a positive +/- and have done a good job keeping shots against to a minimum.
13. Ottawa Senators: 8-5-4
Erik Karlsson has been reminding us of why he is considered one of the best offensive defenders in the league. He is playing at a point a game level, with 17 points in as many games.
14. New Jersey Devils: 10-6-1
They have to be the hottest team not named the Rangers right now. They have won four of their five games, including victories against Chicago and Pittsburgh. One has to wonder if this is just an amazing run, or this is the real New Jersey Devils team we are seeing.
15. Detroit Red Wings: 8-8-1
The Red Wings get back their future Hall of Fame center in Pavel Datsyuk. He comes back at the perfect time, when the offense is ranked 26th in the NHL and could use Datsyuk’s help.
16. Vancouver Canucks: 7-6-5
The Canucks are plummeting down in the rankings, losing five of their last six. Their only victory came against the lowly Blue Jackets. Radim Vrbata only has three goals so far this season, and is counted on to score goals.
17. Boston Bruins: 8-7-1
The Bruins recovered from their three game losing streak earlier in the month with victories against the Islanders and Red Wings. The have three more games left in their home stand, and have to take advantage of them.
18. San Jose Sharks: 9-8-0
Joe Pavelski has been the Sharks key player so far this season. His nine goals and 15 points lead a team that has a number of talented forwards.
19. Arizona Coyotes: 9-7-1
They continue to hang on in the Pacific Division, thanks to the emergence of Max Domi. Their tough schedule ahead of them though will be huge in determining if they are contenders or pretenders.
20. Winnipeg Jets: 8-8-2
The Jets defense has completely fallen off the rails. They have given up three or more goals in all but one game this month, when they played the pathetic Maple Leafs. Their five game losing streak is the worst in the league, which is disastrous considering they play in the Central Division.
21. Florida Panthers: 7-7-3
The Panthers refuse to go away. After a five game losing streak seemed to derail their season, they responded Saturday with a massive shootout victory against Tampa Bay. They have a rough schedule for the rest of November, so it will be interesting to see what shape they are in by the end of the month.
22. Anaheim Ducks: 5-8-4
We are still all waiting for the Ducks to finally snap out of this awful funk they have been in since the start of the season. They are only scoring 1.6 GPG, so someone is going to have to step up offensively and get the offense moving again.
23. Buffalo Sabres: 7-7-3
The Buffalo Sabres have come out of nowhere to win four out of six in November. Their goaltending has been a complete surprise, not allowing more than two goals yet this month.
24. Colorado Avalanche: 7-9-1
The three game winning streak is always a good sign. The fact that one of those victories came against the dominant Canadiens make me feel even more comfortable keeping them out of the bottom five.
25. Philadelphia Flyers: 6-8-3
The month of November has been a disaster for the Flyers. Two wins in seven games will get you out of the playoff picture in a hurry.
26. Calgary Flames: 6-12-1
They give up the most goals in the league, and their goaltending has been awful. They may deserve to be at the bottom of these rankings, but I will give them the benefit of the doubt for one more week.
27. Carolina Hurricanes: 6-9-2
Carolina was on a roll at the end of October, but the wheels have come off here in November. They have lost five out of six games, and were not even competitive against the Stars or Rangers.
28. Toronto Maple Leafs: 5-9-4
Toronto got more wins this past week than the total they had coming into this week. They are a train wreck on offense, and unsure who their starting goaltender is, even though we are close to two months into the season.
29. Edmonton Oilers: 6-12-0
Lets be honest, they weren’t actually going to be a good team even with Connor McDavid in the lineup. Without him, they are making a serious move for the first pick in the draft, a race that they have a lot of experience with in recent memory.
30. Columbus Blue Jackets: 6-12-0
When your team has half as many wins as losses, it is time to panic. Columbus may at this point just want to hit the reset button and start rebuilding