NHL Power Rankings: B/R Experts' Week 5 Poll
The Eastern Conference of the NHL has been seen as the weaker of the two for many years. Despite the Pittsburgh Penguins' Stanley Cup victory last spring, the West was still best entering the new season, at least according to the pundits.
Is that no longer the case? Maybe.
The league's hottest teams are in the East, with the New York Rangers, Washington Capitals, Montreal Canadiens (despite a 10-0 horror show Friday night in Columbus) and Penguins all are winning with regularity. The East, therefore, is better represented in the top 10 of our latest NHL power rankings.
The Rangers have to be the league's biggest surprise to this point. That's not just because of their 10-3-0 record but also for the league-leading 55 goals they scored in those 13 games. An NHL team averaging more than four goals a game? Isn't that supposed to be illegal now?
And in a rematch of the last Stanley Cup Final, Pittsburgh went into San Jose Saturday night and waxed the Sharks 5-0. The East is Least no more, it seems.
But it's still early. Our week 5 panel consisted of yours truly, Jonathan Willis, Carol Schram, Allan Mitchell, Luke Richardson and Steve Macfarlane.
Have any disagreement with any of the consensus picks? Let's hear it in the comments section.
30-26: Vancouver Canucks-Carolina Hurricanes
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30. Vancouver Canucks (last week: 26)
That 4-0-0 start sure seems like a long time ago, doesn't it? The Vancouver Canucks are now 4-7-1, including Saturday's 6-3 home loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Now the Canucks go on the road, where they have yet to win on the season. The problem of late has been an anemic offense. Vancouver's 20 goals give them the worst total in the league. The 36-year-old Sedin twins aren't getting any younger, either. It might be a long year in Vancouver.
29. Arizona Coyotes (last week: 30)
Well, the Arizona Coyotes did get a couple of decent wins over the Nashville Predators and San Jose Sharks last week but finished the period with a dismal showing in a 5-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks. Arizona is 1-6-0 on the road and is set to embark on a road trip, starting Tuesday in Colorado.
28. Calgary Flames (last week: 15)
The Calgary Flames take a massive tumble from last week's rankings. Entering Sunday's game with Anaheim, the Flames' 47 goals against was second-worst to the Philadelphia Flyers' 48. Wait, wasn't free-agent goalie Brian Elliott supposed to the cure for what ailed the Flames' goaltending woes? That doesn't seem to be the case yet.
27. New York Islanders (last week: 27)
Not only are the New York Islanders not winning much, but they aren't getting good crowds at the Barclays Center. New York's home attendance was last in the league entering Sunday, according to ESPN.com. They've played 10 games at home so far too, the most of any team in the league. And according to reports, goalie Jaroslav Halak wants to be traded. Where did those good times go for this previously up-and-coming franchise?
26. Carolina Hurricanes (last week: 28)
Jeff Skinner (12 points in 10 games) is off to a nice start. As is Victor Rask (10 points). Otherwise, it's been the same old, mediocre song and dance for the Carolina Hurricanes. One thing is certain: Carolina can already start booking tee times for the day after the regular season if Cam Ward is going to keep having an .888 save percentage, as he does now, and 3.11 GAA.
25-21: Nashville Predators-San Jose Sharks
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25. Nashville Predators (last week: 29)
The Preds got a nice 5-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday but lost in a shootout the next game in Arizona. They then came home and lost another extra-time game to the Hurricanes. A 3-5-3 record after 11 games certainly isn't the kind of mark the pundits expected from this team before the season began. Goalie Pekka Rinne has at least been a bit better lately after a bad start.
24. Colorado Avalanche (last week: 17)
An offseason coaching change hasn't changed the Avs' win-one, lose-one-or-two ways. A shutout win at home over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday was followed up by a 5-1 thumping at the hands of the St. Louis Blues on the road Sunday. No. 1 goalie Semyon Varlamov (3.73 GAA, .883 save percentage) is in danger of losing to the top job to Calvin Pickard, who is 3-0-0 including Saturday's shutout over the Wild.
23. Winnipeg Jets (last week: 22)
As the Jacob Trouba holdout situation drags on, the Winnipeg Jets continue to do what they did when Trouba was a player: spin their wheels. Anther loss Sunday to the Rangers dropped the Jets to 5-8-1. Winnipeg can just never seem to sustain anything for long under coach Paul Maurice. Rookie Patrik Laine (eight goals) has been a big bright spot at least.
22. Dallas Stars (last week: 20)
Nobody should ever panic before at least 20 games have been played. But after 12 games, its officially time to start worrying some about last season's Western Conference regular-season points leaders. The Dallas Stars lost another one in overtime Sunday night to the Chicago Blackhawks to drop to 4-5-4.
The goaltending duo of Antti Niemi and Kari Lehtonen just hasn't been good enough. Captain Jamie Benn only had two goals in his first 11 games and veterans Patrick Sharp and Jiri Hudler remain sidelined by injury.
21. San Jose Sharks (last week: 6)
A precipitous fall for last season's Western Conference champs. Like the Stars, San Jose can't seem to sustain anything. They've lost three games in a row, including an embarrassing 5-0 defeat Saturday night to Pittsburgh in a Stanley Cup Final rematch. Martin Jones' save percentage is just .900. Not good enough.
20-16: Florida Panthers-Detroit Red Wings
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20. Florida Panthers (last week: 14)
The Florida Panthers are 3-6-1 in their last 10 games, and now the 44-year-old Jaromir Jagr is out with a reported groin injury. Florida is off to a dismal start offensively. None of their top forwards have scored much, including Jagr (one goal). Top center Aleksander Barkov has just two. Somebody's got to start putting the puck in the net.
19. Buffalo Sabres (last week: 25)
It was a pretty good week for coach Dan Bylsma's Buffalo Sabres. They are 5-4-2, which is not bad considering sophomore Jack Eichel is still out with an ankle injury. Kyle Okposo is off to a nice start with his new team after signing a big free-agent deal. He has eight points in 10 games. As does Ryan O'Reilly. Matt Moulson, who had eight goals in 81 games last season, had four through his first 11.
18. Boston Bruins (last week: 13)
The Boston Bruins are 6-5-0, but that's only good enough for 13th place in the suddenly beastly East. The Bs got David Backes back from an elbow injury Saturday but still got thumped 5-2 by the Rangers. Boston's power play has been a big problem. Entering Monday, it was 29th in the league, at 7.9 percent.
17. New Jersey Devils (last week: 12)
The New Jersey Devils are off to a pretty good start, at 5-3-3. Defenseman Damon Severson, 22, is your surprise scoring leader so far, with nine points in 11 games. This is Severson's third season with the Devils, and his career high in points is 21. Cory Schneider (.927 save percentage) has been fine in net, as usual.
16. Detroit Red Wings (last week: 10)
After that quick start, the Detroit Red Wings have fallen back, losers of two in a row and at 6-6-1 overall. Dylan Larkin, who had such a fine rookie season in 2015-16, has only five points in his first 13 games this term. He's got too much speed and skill to stay down for long, though.
15-11: Los Angeles Kings-Columbus Blue Jackets
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15. Los Angeles Kings (last week: 16)
As top goalie Jonathan Quick continues to recover from a groin injury, veteran Peter Budaj is doing what he can in his stead. Budaj's 2.07 goals-against is good, though his .912 save percentage is about average. The Kings need captain Anze Kopitar to start picking it up. His six points in 12 games isn't good enough for a team that needs to overcome offensively while Quick recovers.
14. Philadelphia Flyers (last week: 23)
Despite a mediocre week, our distinguished panel moved the Flyers up nine notches from last week. Philly lost 5-4 to Montreal Saturday night despite a late charge. Philadelphia's goaltending just hasn't been good enough. The Flyers are scoring plenty of goals, but netminders Steve Mason (.878 save percentage) and Michal Neuvirth (.859) haven't been able to keep enough pucks out of their own net.
13. Toronto Maple Leafs (last week: 24)
Look out for the Leafs! Toronto's 5-4-3 record is something long-suffering fans can feel good about. That and the continued fine play from youngsters Auston Matthews, William Nylander and Mitch Marner. Of the three, Nylander is the oldest at 20, and all three have at least 10 points. Goaltender Frederik Andersen has been much better of late after a slow start.
12. Anaheim Ducks (last week: 19)
Coach Randy Carlyle, in his second stint with the club, has the Anaheim Ducks playing good, defensive hockey. They entered Sunday's game with Calgary 5-3-2 in the previous 10. These guys seem a little too stale personnelwise, still overly reliant on Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf to do most of the heavy lifting offensively. But for now, they're winning some games again.
11. Columbus Blue Jackets (last week: 21)
The Columbus Blue Jackets shocked the hockey world Friday night with a 10-0 victory over the previously unbeaten-in-regulation Montreal Canadiens. Of course, that came against the Habs' backup goalie, Al Montoya.
Still, it was that kind of showing that helped the Blue Jackets take a big jump in our rankings. The 22-year-old center Alexander Wennberg has 11 points, and Seth Jones is starting to look comfortable playing in coach John Tortorella's system. Things are looking up again in Columbus.
10. Ottawa Senators
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Record: 7-4-0, 14 points
Last week: 18
Big Picture
The Ottawa Senators dropped a tough 2-1 game Saturday to Buffalo, but things are still trending in a positive way. Goalie Craig Anderson, whose wife is undergoing treatment for cancer, obviously has a lot on his mind. Yet with the blessing of his wife, he's been able to play—and at a high level.
Anderson's .930 save percentage and 2.21 GAA are among the league's upper echelon. Erik Karlsson, meanwhile, is motoring right along as usual. The two-time Norris Trophy-winning defenseman has 10 points in his first 11 games.
By the Numbers
Remember Dion Phaneuf? The former high-profile captain of the Maple Leafs and standout in Calgary is one of the few minus players on the Senators so far. In his first 11 games, Phaneuf was a minus-seven with one goal.
9. St. Louis Blues
6 of 14
Record: 7-4-2, 16 points
Last week: 4
Big Picture
Well, it didn't take long for the Nail Yakupov honeymoon to end. The Blues made the former first overall pick, acquired over the summer from the Edmonton Oilers, a healthy scratch Saturday against Columbus and Sunday against Colorado.
In the first 11 games he did play, Yakupov had two goals and four points. The Blues, incidentally, won both the aforementioned games without him.
By the Numbers
The Blues' five goals in the win over Colorado on Sunday matched their output from the previous four games combined. Robby Fabbri, so important to the Blues' offense last season, got his first goal of the season in the win over the Avs.
8. Minnesota Wild
7 of 14
Record: 6-4-1, 13 points
Last week: 2
Big Picture
The Wild cooled off some last week, entering Monday losers of two in a row, including a 1-0 loss to Colorado Saturday.
Devan Dubnyk got into a scuffle with Colorado's Gabe Landeskog, was given a penalty and Landeskog scored on the power play for the only goal of the game. The overall picture is still good with this team, though. Coach Bruce Boudreau always seems to get his teams back on track quickly, and this is a solid club. The Wild get a nice break until Thursday, when they'll face Pittsburgh.
By the Numbers
Boudreau's teams always seem to excel at killing penalties. His Wild lead the league in PK percentage (93.5), and his Anaheim Ducks finished first last season (87.2).
7. Edmonton Oilers
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Record: 9-3-1, 19 points
Last week: 4
Big Picture
Cam Talbot lost to the Rangers on his first return to Madison Square Garden since leaving the Rangers for the Oilers in 2015. But Edmonton finished out the weekend with consecutive victories and is tied with Chicago for most points in the West.
Connor McDavid continues to average better than a point per game, and on Tuesday night, he'll face Sidney Crosby for the first time as an NHL player, with Edmonton playing in Pittsburgh. That should be fun.
By the Numbers
The Oilers won 12 games on the road last season in 41 contests. They've got five such victories already this term (5-1-1 overall).
6. Tampa Bay Lightning
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Record: 7-4-1, 15 points
Last week: 9
Big Picture
The Tampa Bay Lightning haven't quite gotten on a roll yet, but they continue to win games more often than not. The Bolts got a good 4-1 win Saturday over the Devils, and forwards Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov are both off to strong starts.
Tampa Bay's strong power play (26.5 percent, fourth in the league) has bailed the team out of some tough spots. The Lightning's goal differential isn't great (40-35), but again, they're winning games.
By the Numbers
The Lightning are allowing 30.5 shots per game, which is a bit more than coach Jon Cooper would like. Tampa Bay allowed 28.9 per game last season.
5. Montreal Canadiens
10 of 14
Record: 10-1-1, 21 points
Last week: 1
Big Picture
Hey, nobody can win 'em all. The Canadiens have lost only one game so far this season. But what a loss that was: 10-0 Friday night to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Starting goalie Carey Price got the evening off, and understudy Al Montoya just had one of those nights.
Montoya had been great before that, but that game knocked his statistics down quite a few pegs. Montreal rebounded the next night, barely, with a 5-4 win over the Flyers.
By the Numbers
Montreal's record remains gaudy, but they still have plenty of skeptics because of their relatively poor puck-possession numbers. Montreal is allowing 33.7 shots per game, second-highest in the league. They're getting 28.3 themselves. According to Corsica.hockey, Montreal's Corsi percentage is a lackluster 47.85.
4. Chicago Blackhawks
11 of 14
Record: 9-3-1, 19 points
Last week: 11
Big Picture
The Chicago Blackhawks made a nice leap in our rankings. Six wins in a row will help do that.
Chicago let a late third-period lead slip against Dallas Sunday night, but Marian Hossa won it in overtime after nearly giving the game away with a turnover a few seconds before.
Hossa only scored 33 points in 64 games last season and is playing like a guy who wants the award for comeback player of the year. He's got 11 points in 12 games so far.
By the Numbers
Corey Crawford is in the clubhouse as an early leader for the Vezina Trophy. The two-time Stanley Cup winner has a 2.01 GAA with a .936 save percentage. He also has two shutouts and has played 10 of Chicago's first 13 games.
3. Pittsburgh Penguins
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Record: 8-2-2, 18 points
Last week: 5
Big Picture
With goals in five of his last six games, and eight overall, Sidney Crosby is leading the league in that regard. That, despite missing the first six games with a concussion.
Crosby scored two more in a 5-0 win in San Jose. The previous time he'd played there, he hoisted the Stanley Cup. So for now, SAP Center continues to be Crosby's happy place. Tuesday night, he'll play against McDavid for the first time, at least in the NHL. There might be another compelling story going on that night, but hockey diehards won't want to miss it.
By the Numbers
The Penguins are getting excellent balance offensively, which was their strength toward the end of last season.
All the guys you'd expect to have good scoring numbers do, with four players having 10 points or more. One player whose numbers are off some is youngster Bryan Rust. The 24-year-old has only got one point, a goal, in nine games.
2. Washington Capitals
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Record: 8-2-1, 17 points
Last week: 7
Big Picture
The Washington Capitals are winning a lot despite not scoring many goals so far (33). They're doing it so far, mostly, with defense and goaltending.
Washington's 24 goals against is the third-best record in the league, behind Columbus and Minnesota. After a relatively slow start, captain and Capitals legend Alex Ovechkin was back up to a point per-game average. It might help his fellow Russian Evgeny Kuznetsov (77 points last season) could get going. He only had one goal and six points in his first 11 games.
By the Numbers
The Caps, who have won five games in a row, are doing it despite a fairly mundane power play. Washington is 22nd in the league, at 14.3 percent. Last season, the Caps finished fifth, at 21.7 percent.
1. New York Rangers
14 of 14
Record: 10-3-0, 20 points
Last week: 8
Big Picture
Eleven players on the Rangers have nine points or more through the first 13 games. That might have been no big deal in the olden days, but in today's NHL, it's bordering on amazing.
The Rangers lead the league with 55 goals and have just 29 against. They're killing everybody. And to think that some on this panel (hand raised here) didn't think the Blueshirts would make the playoffs. There's a long way to go, but the Rangers are the big surprise team of the league so far.
By the Numbers
Rangers broadcaster Joe Micheletti has mentioned a few times this year that forward Kevin Hayes lost 20 pounds over the summer (h/t SNY.tv), which could account for his increased speed, quickness and production so far. Hayes is listed at 6'5", 215 pounds. He has 12 points his first 13 games after a subpar season of 36 points in 79 games.
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