Welcome to the week five NHL power rankings. Because this is the first power rankings in a couple of weeks the positioning of the teams have changed quite a bit. Therefore without any further delay let’s get to it.
The Bolts are red hot. They are 8-2 in their last 10 and they have made a big climb since the last rankings.
Here is another team that is 8-2 in their last 10 games, and they are a perfect 7-0 away from home.
The Maple Leafs continue to impress through 15 games. They have a ratio of two wins for every one loss they have this season.
Vancouver has been impressive this season, and a big part of their success is rookie Swede Elias Pettersson, even after he came back from injury.
The Wild since the last rankings have turned things around and have really played well. They in addition to Tampa and Nashville are 8-2 in their last ten.
The Flames are having a good season so far. And they are doing it with a fairly young roster. I still worry a lot about Mike Smith being enough to propel them to a deep playoff run if they make the playoffs.
7. Dallas Stars
Another team having a good season but with the roster, they have had this had to be expected. In fact, one may expect the Stars to be better than this.
If you minus the 8-5 loss to the Canucks Thursday night, the Bruins have been solid in net and that is thanks to Jaroslav Halak.
The Habs have slipped a little bit off of their strong start to the season. That isn’t to say that they haven’t been good but that start was just ridiculous.
10. San Jose Sharks
The Sharks have to be worried about their goaltending, it has been pretty lackluster. But the offense is keeping them afloat but relying on that is never a winning recipe.
The Islanders have been a nice (yet surprising) story to this point. This is especially impressive considering that they no longer have the services of John Tavares.
12. Winnipeg Jets
I expected the Jets to be higher up on this list right around now, but their offense isn’t producing as they can yet.
13. Buffalo Sabres
The Sabres continue to play well, and it is thanks to a deeper team and some young talent. I am still not sold they can make the playoffs because they are so inexperienced all around but the Sabres are a nice story so far.
Colorado has been very good this season and it is thanks largely to being in the top five in goals for and middle of the pack in goals against. Their plus-nine goal differential has been impressive, ranking them fourth in the NHL.
The defending champs are doing alright, a little off at the moment but they’ll put it together I think.
Columbus is a young team playing some solid hockey. Can it be sustained? We will see. But so far so good for the Blue Jackets.
17. Edmonton Oilers
The Oilers will live or die with Connor McDavid. To this point, it is too early to tell. They really need Cam Talbot to rebound and be the starter they thought they were getting.
While I mentioned this in the report card last week it bares repeating in case you missed it. The Flyers goaltending and defense could be the death of them. This seems to be a constant issue year in and year out.
The Penguins are playing some average hockey which is below their standards. It seems to be getting to them, especially when players like Malkin are getting kicked out of games for dumb hits to the head.
20. Anaheim Ducks
The Ducks are a tough team to gauge. I thought they would be better than they have been but they really do miss Corey Perry.
21. Arizona Coyotes
The Coyotes have been playing some impressive hockey as of late. They got off to a slow start but have been pretty solid over the past couple of weeks. It remains to be seen which Coyotes team is the real one.
What a stunning turn around for the ‘Canes. In the last power rankings, they were near the top. Since then they have been pretty bad. They are still getting good contributions from their players but not enough.
Could this be the longest hangover ever? Well in sin city that is possible and wouldn’t be a huge shock I guess. On a serious note, could last season have just been lightning in a bottle? Perhaps. They were definitely a great story especially after the attack last October just before their season.
24. New York Rangers
While the Rangers have a solid defense and Hank in the net, it really means nothing if they can’t score. Hence, that is why the Rangers to this point haven’t been able to win many games.
I am not certain firing a three-time Stanley Cup-winning head coach will solve their problems. Therefore, I give them credit for trying to turn it around.
The Devils are in this position thanks largely to the fact that that they are 1-5 on the road. They are 5-1-1 at home however so that helps them from being lower on the list.
27. St. Louis Blues
The Blues are hurting this season thanks mainly to their lack of capitalization at home so far. The Blues have started out playing nine of their first 13 at home and only managing nine points in that stretch. Not nearly good enough.
28. Ottawa Senators
What can hurt the team with the third most goals for in the NHL? Allowing the most goals in the NHL. The Sens have a -12 goal differential this season despite the fact that they are an offensive machine.
Not enough scoring and couple that with a lack of offense and you will see why Detroit is where they are.
30. Florida Panthers
Hurt by a weak offensive output, their goaltending has been pretty solid for the most part.
What in the heck has happened here? The Kings were penned in to be in the playoff race. The Jonathan Quick injury has been huge.
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