NHL Power Rankings See Penguins Rise Into Top 10 as Bruins and Rangers Struggle
The seismic early movements are no surprise, but the teams making them? Perhaps a little.
Change was again the theme of B/R's NHL Power Rankings for the week, with several teams making double-digit climbs or dives, including the Utah Mammoth's 19-spot jump from No. 28 to No. 9 and the Pittsburgh Penguins also jumping into the top 10 with a 14-place spike from last week's No. 21 slot.
Meanwhile, the Dallas Stars tumbled from their first-place perch all the way to No. 22 after a three-game losing streak. The Boston Bruins' plunge was nearly as precipitous, with a 19-spot fall from No. 8 to No. 27.
The B/R hockey staff awarded 32 points for a first-place vote all the way to a single point for a 32nd-place ranking. Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought or two of your own in the app comments.
(All stats and records are updated through games on Tuesday, Oct. 21.)
32. Calgary Flames
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Previous Ranking: 29
Overall Record: 1-6-1
Some time away from home may be just what's needed for the reeling Flames, with five of their next six games on the road.
Calgary visits Winnipeg on Friday and hosts the New York Rangers on Sunday, before an extended trip to Toronto, Ottawa, Nashville, and Philadelphia, followed by a Nov. 5 game with Chicago at home.
It can only go up from here and another loss in OT to the Canadiens Wednesday night won't help matters.
31. San Jose Sharks
2 of 32
Previous Ranking: 30
Overall Record: 0-4-2
The future seems bright, but the present is pretty awful for the Sharks, who are the only team in the league without a win following a 4-3 loss to the New York Islanders on Tuesday night.
The bad news is that the defeat on Long Island was just the first of a four-game trip that will take them to midtown Manhattan to face the Rangers, then New Jersey and Minnesota before they return home on Tuesday against Los Angeles.
30. Tampa Bay Lightning
3 of 32
Previous Ranking: 22
Overall Record: 1-3-2
It'll be a welcome return to home base for the Lightning on Thursday after a miserable four-game road trip in which they had a pair of back-to-back games and scored just nine goals while going 1-1-2.
Tampa Bay was without forward Nikita Kucherov for the final two games of the trip in Detroit and Columbus due to illness. He has three points in his first four games this season and has exceeded 100 for each of the past three seasons.
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29. Buffalo Sabres
4 of 32
Previous Ranking: 32
Overall Record: 3-4-0
The Sabres haven't been particularly good this season, but it can't be pinned on goalie Alex Lyon, who has allowed just 15 goals and racked up a .924 save percentage while starting each of the team's first six games.
The 32-year-old has played for Philadelphia, Carolina, Florida, and Detroit since breaking into the NHL in 2017-18. He signed with Buffalo as a free agent in July.
Buffalo did get back on the winning track Wednesday night with a victory at home against the Red Wings.
28. Ottawa Senators
5 of 32
Previous Ranking: 27
Overall Record: 2-4-1
The Senators battled back from a two-goal deficit to start the third period before ultimately losing in OT to visiting Edmonton on Tuesday.
However, coach Travis Green was focusing on the positives amid a difficult start without captain Brady Tkachuk.
"It was a lot more like how we want to play," he said. "We talked about playing connected, I thought we saw a team who was on the same page tonight, for the most part."
27. Boston Bruins
6 of 32
Previous Ranking: 8
Overall Record: 3-5-0
That sound you hear in the Northeast? It's the Bruins free-falling with five consecutive losses after they'd started the season with a surprising three-game win streak.
Boston outscored its opponents by a 10-5 margin through the first three games but has surrendered 21 goals in the subsequent five.
Its 4.20 goals-against average since the slide began on Oct. 13 is third-worst in the league behind only Ottawa (4.60) and San Jose (4.50).
26. Nashville Predators
7 of 32
Previous Ranking: 15
Overall Record: 2-3-2
Just when you thought it was safe to believe in the Predators turning things around after a dreadful 2024-25 season, it might not be after all.
Nashville's 5-2 loss to visiting Anaheim on Tuesday was its fourth in a row (0-3-1) after a 2-0-1 start.
"I just thought we were sloppy," coach Andrew Brunette said. "We were slow. We lost a lot of puck battles. We had no urgency going back for pucks."
25. Los Angeles Kings
8 of 32
Previous Ranking: 24
Overall Record: 2-3-1
Goalie Darcy Kuemper returned from a two-game injury issue, and the Kings ended a four-game slide with a 2-1 overtime win in St. Louis in the first game of a five-game road trip.
Kuemper stopped 17 shots and picked up his first win of the season in four starts for Los Angeles, which will play at Dallas, Nashville, Chicago and San Jose before returning home for an Oct. 30 date with visiting Detroit.
24. New York Rangers
9 of 32
Previous Ranking: 19
Overall Record: 3-4-1
It's gone from quirky stat to confidence issue with the Rangers, who have one goal on 114 shots at home and are 0-4-0 at Madison Square Garden while scoring 15 times on 114 shots on the road in going 3-0-1 elsewhere.
"We just have to keep going," forward Mika Zibanejad said. "We have to. I don't know, do you have a better idea than what we're doing right now? Honestly. Like, I don't know. It's frustrating."
23. New York Islanders
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Previous Ranking: 31
Overall Record: 3-3-0
The Islanders look to be onto something with No. 1 overall pick Matthew Schaefer, who had a goal and an assist in a Tuesday night win over San Jose that extended his point streak to six games—covering every game he's played in the NHL.
It was the first multi-point game of his brief career, and he became the second defenseman with at least one point in each of his first six career games, joining Marek Zidlicky in 2003.
22. Dallas Stars
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Previous Ranking: 1
Overall Record: 3-3-0
It's not often the Stars lose three straight games, but that's where the three-time Western finalists find themselves after a 5-1 loss to visiting Columbus on Tuesday night.
Dallas started the season with three straight wins but has been outscored 13-5 while losing to Vancouver, St. Louis and the Blue Jackets.
"You'd like to say it's an easy fix," veteran forward Tyler Seguin said. "We're in the middle of figuring out what's playing simple, what's playing with swagger, what's playing with new systems, and we're just kind of caught in it all right now."
21. Minnesota Wild
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Previous Ranking: 18
Overall Record: 3-4-1
Winger Danila Yurov scored the first goal of his NHL career on one of the league's biggest stages, Madison Square Garden, in Minnesota's Monday night defeat of the Rangers.
The 21-year-old was the 24th overall pick in the 2022 draft and had gone scoreless and pointless in his first four games. He had a career-high 10:39 of ice time against New York, playing 14 shifts and racking up two shots.
20. Edmonton Oilers
13 of 32
Previous Ranking: 5
Overall Record: 3-3-1
It was Jake Walman to the rescue for the Oilers on Tuesday night when the defenseman returned from missing the season's first six games to score the game-winner in OT against Ottawa and end Edmonton's three-game losing streak.
"Probably just a little relief," Walman said. "Just happy to be back. We've got a great team, I thought we played a great game and we were fortunate to win it."
19. Columbus Blue Jackets
14 of 32
Previous Ranking: 25
Overall Record: 3-3-0
Goalie Elvis Merzlikins stopped 22 shots and picked up his second victory in three starts when the visiting Blue Jackets beat Dallas, 5-1.
The 31-year-old has a .927 save percentage, which is ninth-best in the league, through Tuesday's games.
"I tried a couple of different things over the summer and they're working out pretty well right now," he said, "so I want to keep working on what I'm doing and keeping the same flow."
18. Toronto Maple Leafs
15 of 32
Previous Ranking: 17
Overall Record: 3-3-1
A sound start over the first five games has devolved, at least temporarily, for the Maple Leafs, who have dropped two straight after a 5-2 loss to visiting New Jersey on Tuesday.
"It's a little bit of the same over the last couple games," captain Auston Matthews said. "Sloppy at times and then this roller coaster of consistency. I think that's the biggest piece."
17. Florida Panthers
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Previous Ranking: 4
Overall Record: 4-4-0
It's not often the two-time defending champs will encounter prolonged difficulty, but they were happy to end a four-game skid with a 4-3 win in Boston on Tuesday that was celebrated as Brad Marchand's return to the city where he'd played for 16 seasons and won a Cup in 2011.
"I always loved playing here, loved putting the jersey on and wearing my heart on my sleeve," he said. "It's a hard-working city and people appreciate that. I love the fans here. They're special. They're an incredible group."
16. Seattle Kraken
17 of 32
Previous Ranking: 9
Overall Record: 3-2-2
It's been an ugly trip east for the Kraken, who started the season with two straight wins but have won just once (1-2-2) on a six-game trip that concludes on Thursday in Winnipeg.
Seattle opened with home defeats of Anaheim and Vegas but have lost in Montreal (OT), Ottawa (shootout), Philadelphia and Washington on the trip while managing to win only in OT in Toronto on Saturday.
15. Vancouver Canucks
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Previous Ranking: 26
Overall Record: 4-3-0
A three-game win streak to start a five-game road trip came to an abrupt halt for the Canucks on Tuesday in Pittsburgh, where they may have hit a wall while giving up five straight goals after scoring the game's opener in the second minute.
"We could've been up 3, 4-nothing in the first 10 minutes, but it didn't happen," coach Adam Foote said. "I think you run out of a little bit of gas, you put yourself in a situation where you take some penalties you probably, most likely, wouldn't take."
14. Chicago Blackhawks
19 of 32
Previous Ranking: 23
Overall Record: 3-2-2
The Blackhawks were in the playoffs every spring from 2010 to 2017 and won three Stanley Cups. They've made the postseason just once since, but CEO Danny Wirtz has a forward-thinking mindset amid a respectable start for his young team.
"I will remain patient while the process unfolds," he said. "We're all as anxious as anyone to get into the playoffs and go compete for the Stanley Cup, but as I've learned quickly, there are no shortcuts, there are no easy buttons on this stuff."
13. St. Louis Blues
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Previous Ranking: 14
Overall Record: 3-2-1
An OT loss to visiting Los Angeles on Tuesday snuffed out a run of three wins in four games for the Blues and left coach Jim Montgomery frustrated with the effort.
"We didn't come close to executing the game plan," he said. "We're going to have to change things up, do things different. The intensity we started the game, it wasn't there. It was lacking. We need to find more consistency with how we play."
12. Anaheim Ducks
21 of 32
Previous Ranking: 12
Overall Record: 3-2-1
The Ducks scored more than a single goal for the first time in a week while defeating Nashville, 5-2, to end a two-game losing streak on Tuesday night.
Anaheim had scored 11 goals in defeats of San Jose and Pittsburgh the previous week but was held to just one apiece in losses to Carolina and Chicago.
Its 3.17 goals-per-game average is 11th in the league through Tuesday after the 2024-25 team was 30th among 32 teams with just 2.65 per game.
11. Philadelphia Flyers
22 of 32
Previous Ranking: 20
Overall Record: 3-2-1
Winger Owen Tippett continued a career-best start for the Flyers during a Monday night win against Seattle, scoring two goals to lift his season total to five in just six games played.
The 26-year-old was a first-round pick of Florida in 2017 but never played more than 45 games in a season for the Panthers before he came to Philadelphia in a trade for Claude Giroux.
Tippett has scored 27, 28 and 20 goals in his last three seasons.
10. Montreal Canadiens
23 of 32
Previous Ranking: 6
Overall Record: 6-2-0
The Canadiens began their West Coast trip with a big 2-1 win in Calgary in overtime Wednesday nights, as Montreal sits atop the Atlantic Division by itself.
Captain Nick Suzuki is off to a great start for the Habs with 11 points in his first eight games, including 10 assists.
9. Utah Mammoth
24 of 32
Previous Ranking: 28
Overall Record: 5-2-0
They're still early into Year 2 in Salt Lake City, but perhaps the Utah Mammoth have turned the Delta Center into a genuinely difficult place to play.
Utah won its fourth straight on home ice on Tuesday, defeating Colorado, 4-3, and remained one of five teams in the league (Seattle, Florida, New Jersey, Carolina) without a home loss through Tuesday night.
8. Washington Capitals
25 of 32
Previous Ranking: 7
Overall Record: 5-2-0
So maybe it wasn't just an Alex Ovechkin thing for the Capitals, who rode the mojo of the Great 8's chase for the league's all-time goals record last season but have started this season with five wins in seven games after a defeat of Seattle.
Ovechkin, incidentally, had an assist against the Kraken but remains at 898 goals for his career after scoring just once so far in 2025-26.
7. Pittsburgh Penguins
26 of 32
Previous Ranking: 21
Overall Record: 5-2-0
He's still playing like a "Kid," but Sidney Crosby's prolonged excellence yielded another milestone on Tuesday, when his goal in a 5-1 defeat of Vancouver pushed him past Mario Lemieux for the most points scored in a Penguins uniform.
Now 38, Crosby's 1,896 points are one better than the 1,895 Lemieux racked up in 1,022 combined regular-season and playoff games with Pittsburgh from 1984-85 to 2005-06.
6. Detroit Red Wings
27 of 32
Previous Ranking: 16
Overall Record: 5-2-0
The Red Wings caught an earful from coach Todd McLellan after an ugly home loss to Montreal in their 2025-26 debut on Oct. 9, but it obviously served its purpose because they responded with five straight wins against Toronto (twice), Tampa Bay, Florida and Edmonton—all of whom were playoff teams last season.
"Maybe the two-by-four across the forehead against Montreal was exactly what we needed, now in retrospect," McLellan said. "We didn't want it at that time. None of us were happy. But maybe it just put us back to where we needed to be, and hockey became real."
Wednesday night's loss in Buffalo is a setback, but fans in the Motor City should be encouraged with the start.
5. Carolina Hurricanes
28 of 32
Previous Ranking: 2
Overall Record: 5-1-0
It was bound to happen eventually for the Hurricanes, who were the last remaining unbeaten team in the league before they dropped a 4-1 decision to Vegas on Monday night.
It was the first time Carolina was held to less than four goals this season after they'd netted 22 in regulation and one in OT through five games.
4. New Jersey Devils
29 of 32
Previous Ranking: 13
Overall Record: 6-1-0
The Devils are the hottest team in the NHL after recording a convincing 4-1 win Wednesday night in Newark, extending their win streak to a league-high six games.
Jack Hughes looks healthy and at his best, but it's Jesper Bratt who's leading New Jersey in points in the early going with 11 through the first seven games.
3. Winnipeg Jets
30 of 32
Previous Ranking: 11
Overall Record: 5-1-0
It was a long time coming for 37-year-old Winnipeg native Jonathan Toews, who scored his first goal in a Jets uniform and his first in the NHL in more than two years during the team's 2-1 win at Calgary on Monday.
Toews hadn't scored since April 13, 2023, when he was playing for the Chicago Blackhawks. He missed the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons with lingering health issues and injury concerns.
2. Colorado Avalanche
31 of 32
Previous Ranking: 3
Overall Record: 5-0-2
It's been seven games and there's still no team that's been able to beat the Avalanche in 60 minutes, though a OT loss in Utah on Tuesday did end a three-game win streak for Colorado.
Colorado's 24 goals are tied for third-best in the league through Tuesday's games, and its plus-10 goal differential is tied for first with Vegas and Winnipeg.
1. Vegas Golden Knights
32 of 32
Previous Ranking: 10
Overall Record: 5-0-2
Forward Pavel Dorofeyev sneaked up on some people last year while scoring a career-best 35 goals after having never netted more than 13 in parts of three previous seasons with the Golden Knights.
However, the 24-year-old Russian winger is proving it was no fluke this season with seven goals in his first seven games while playing on a line with offseason acquisition Mitch Marner.
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