NHL Power Rankings: B/R Experts' Week 26 Poll

There is no shortage of competitive races in the NHL.

In the Central, three legitimate Stanley Cup contenders, all vying for home ice in the playoffs, are within four points of each other in a pitched battle to win the division. In the Atlantic, it's three teams within five points. The numbers aren't so close elsewhere, but the outcome of the Pacific is still very much in doubt, and there's a heated race for second place in the Metropolitan.

Then there are the races just to get into the playoffs. Philadelphia has injected uncertainty out East, pushing its way into a postseason berth, at least for the moment. Out West, Minnesota delivered a crushing blow to the Avs this week which may kill off that club's chances. 

At the bottom of the league, meanwhile, six teams are separated by just three points as each eyes its draft lottery odds. 

I'll be your host as we go through the full happenings of the past week and rate the performances of the league's 30 clubs.

The rankings that follow aren't solely based on my assessment. Instead, we've assembled the usual panel of Bleacher Report hockey writers—Adrian Dater, Allan Mitchell, Lyle Richardson, Carol Schram and yours truly—and had them submit their own lists, which we then used to calculate an average ranking for each team.

Read on to see where your team ranks.

30-26: Vancouver Canucks-Winnipeg Jets

Alan Diaz/Associated Press

30. Vancouver Canucks (last week: 30) It has been a tough year for Vancouver, but even by the standards of the dismal 2015-16 season, this last stretch has been especially bad. 

A 3-2 setback to Chicago on Sunday extended the Canucks' losing streak to eight games. Four of those losses have come against non-playoff teams; even worse, four of them have been shutouts for the opposition.

29. Columbus Blue Jackets (last week: 26) It appears that the narrative of the Jackets always playing well when the games no longer matter may be in need of an overhaul. John Tortorella's club has now lost six of its last eight games. 

Columbus squeaked out a shootout win at home on Tuesday against a Flyers team that had played in New York the night before for its lone win this week; the only other victory over this stretch was a win over New Jersey in which the Devils' goaltenders imploded. 

28. Calgary Flames (last week: 27) After a nice little run last week the Flames have now lost three straight games, getting outscored 15-to-5 in the process, with many of the team's recalls and depth players getting exposed in the process. 

Much-maligned defenceman Dougie Hamilton is an exception to the bad news; he had two points in the three losses and now has 13 points in his last 14 contests, representing one-third of his total output this season. 

27. Edmonton Oilers (last week: 25) Edmonton was enjoying a pretty good March, but slides in these rankings after losing three of four games. The Oilers have kept themselves in contests; they beat San Jose, and lost to Colorado, Arizona and Los Angeles by a single goal (plus empty-netters in two of those games) but wins have been difficult of late.

Weirdly, centre Mark Letestu has six points in six games after putting up just 18 in the season's first 72 contests. 

26. Winnipeg Jets (last week: 29) It's been an ugly month for Winnipeg, but the Jets are on the upswing in these rankings after winning two of three games this week, including a 4-1 victory over the playoff-bound Los Angeles Kings. 

After a three-game absence from the scoresheet, top centre Mark Scheifele picked up points in all three contests. He now has 23 points in 19 games after assuming a top-line role in the absence of injured pivot Bryan Little.

25-21: Ottawa Senators-Carolina Hurricanes

Ben McKeown/Associated Press

25. Ottawa Senators (last week: 19) After a pretty decent run last week, the Senators are back to where they've been for most of March—on the wrong side of too many contests.

Team owner Eugene Melnyk slammed the club on Tuesday, with the National Post's Bruce Garrioch quoting him as saying that "nobody is safe" in Ottawa. Three straight losses likely didn't improve his mood any. 

24. Toronto Maple Leafs (last week: 28) An exodus of veterans and an influx of prospects at the trade deadline seems to have done good things for the Leafs. Toronto won two of three contests this week and is now 6-3-1 over its last 10 games.

There's a five-way tie for the team's scoring lead over that stretch, with prospects Zach Hyman and William Nylander tied with young NHL'ers Nazem Kadri and Morgan Rielly. Veteran forward Ben Smith rounds out the group and could be an interesting reclamation project for some team next year. 

23. Montreal Canadiens (last week: 23) A win over Anaheim on Tuesday was a welcome respite for the Canadiens, who have now lost four of their last five games and have been smoked by also-rans like Ottawa and Calgary, two teams which ran up a 9-1 goal differential over the Habs last weekend. 

Injuries have cut Montreal's defence to ribbons; in Saturday's 5-2 loss to the Rangers, the Canadiens dressed three defencemen who combined have less than 82 games of experience. At this point, the club has been forced to lean heavily on the trio of Andrei Markov, Alexei Emelin and Nathan Beaulieu, all of whom played more than 24 minutes. 

22. Buffalo Sabres (last week: 22) The Sabres had an easier week after a busy month, playing just two games in an eight-day span and with both of those coming against non-playoff teams. Buffalo picked up a pair of wins and rookie forward Sam Reinhart continued his strong play with points in both contests. The 20-year-old now has 11 points in March.

21. Carolina Hurricanes (last week: 21) A win over New Jersey on Sunday moved the Hurricanes to 0.500 on the week (2-1-1). Jeff Skinner was held off the scoresheet in consecutive games for the first time this month, but he picked up points in both of Carolina's weekend games to continue a strong run of play. He now has 11 points in his last 12 games after managing just 35 in his first 63 contests this season.

20-16: New Jersey Devils-Boston Bruins

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

20. New Jersey Devils (last week: 20) The Devils lost two of three this week, but that simple statement of fact loses much of the nuance of their situation. New Jersey lost 1-0 in overtime to a very good Washington team a night after it beat the red-hot Penguins 3-0 in Pittsburgh. A 3-2 loss to Carolina on Sunday was the Devils' third game in four nights, and the club is 5-3-1 over its last nine. 

Particularly given the absence of injured goalie Cory Schneider, New Jersey's resilience down the stretch has been admirable. Keith Kinkaid and Yann Danis have both struggled in net. The team's best goaltending has somewhat surprisingly come from 23-year-old prospect Scott Wedgewood, who has won two of three starts and turned aside 91 of the 93 shots he's faced in the first games of his NHL career. 

19. Arizona Coyotes (last week: 24) Last weekend saw the Coyotes shut out in a pair of losses to Tampa Bay and San Jose, but that dual defeat was preceded by a trio of wins and this week Arizona followed it up with three more victories, including triumphs over the excellent Dallas Stars and the streaking Philadelphia Flyers. 

Defenceman Michael Stone has been a surprise offensive contributor, picking up points in each of Arizona's last five wins. He has eight points in his last nine games and, with 36 points for the season, he is now 15 better than his previous career high with time left on the schedule.

18. Colorado Avalanche (last week: 17) The Avalanche played only two games this week and lost both of them. A 4-2 loss to Philadelphia on Thursday hurt, given the Avs' precarious playoff position, but a 4-0 defeat at the hands of the Minnesota Wild on Saturday was devastating. The loss puts Colorado five points back of the Wild for the final playoff spot in the West, and the team now needs to make that gap up over its final seven games.

In the best of times, that would be difficult, but the Avalanche face a brutal schedule. They will play four of seven games on the road, and all of them will be against playoff teams. Washington, St. Louis (twice), Dallas, Anaheim and Nashville (also twice) may be the toughest remaining schedule of any team in the league. 

17. Detroit Red Wings (last week: 16) Detroit officially fell out of a playoff spot in the East this week; the Wings are technically tied with the Philadelphia Flyers but have played one more game. Detroit was inexcusably bad in losses to Tampa Bay (6-2) and Pittsburgh (7-2) this week and has been sliding for a while. The club has now lost 12 of its last 20 games and seven of 12 in March. 

There's no shortage of culprits, but an underwhelming offence hasn't helped. Of particular note, key performers Henrik Zetterberg, Gustav Nyquist and Dylan Larkin have combined for just four goals and 13 points in 36 man-games in March.  

16. Boston Bruins (last week: 14) The Bruins fell by more than any other team in last week's rankings, and the slide continued this week. Boston has played five of its last six games against other playoff teams and lost every single one of those contests; its lone win was a 3-1 victory over the already-eliminated Maple Leafs on Saturday. The Bruins are still in the playoff picture in the East, but it's no longer impossible to conceive of a scenario where that changes shortly.  

There hasn't been much patience for underachievers given what's happening on the ice, and Jimmy Hayes has been a frequent target of the coaching staff, being both scratched and played in depth minutes. It's hard to blame the coaches; after all, Hayes has now gone 14 games and more than a month without recording a point.

15-11: Philadelphia Flyers-Tampa Bay Lightning

Mike Carlson/Associated Press

15. Philadelphia Flyers (last week: 15) The Flyers didn't particularly help or hurt themselves in Week 26, going 2-1-1 and basically treading water in the Eastern playoff race. They are now 7-2-2 over their last 11 games.

Sportsnet's Dimitri Filipovic notes that  there is a wrinkle over their remaining schedule, however, particularly because No. 1B goaltender Michal Neuvirth is now injured. That means starter Steve Mason will likely need to play in three sets of back-to-back games over the final few weeks of the season, and winning those could prove difficult with a tired goalie. 

14. San Jose Sharks (last week: 8) San Jose falls six spots after posting three consecutive losses. A 1-0 loss to St. Louis on Tuesday was tough, as was a 4-2 defeat at the hands of the Stars on Saturday which included an empty net goal against.

While we might excuse those defeats to some degree, a blown 2-0 lead against Edmonton on Thursday, which ended in a 6-3 decision for the Oilers, is hard to excuse for a team that had a chance to advance in the Pacific standings at the time. 

13. New York Islanders (last week: 11) The Islanders haven't been very good of late, and they were just 0.500 this week, winning games narrowly against non-playoff teams but losing when matched up against Philadelphia and Tampa Bay by a combined 11-5 margin. New York is now 3-5-2 over its last 10 contests and has fallen into a wild-card slot in the East. 

The team's problems over this run have been extensive. Thomas Greiss has not done well holding the fort for an injured Jaroslav Halak in net, going 1-5-1 with a 0.902 save percentage, but then the offence hasn't done its job, either. John Tavares leads the club with six points in the last 10 games; he and Kyle Okposo are the only players on the team with more than four in that span. 

12. Minnesota Wild (last week: 18) The Wild jump six spots in this week's ranking after winning five straight games. All of those wins have helped the team to make its position in the final Western playoff spot more secure, but none more so than Saturday's win over Colorado.

A regulation victory for the Avs would have moved them to within a single point of Minnesota; instead the Wild won by a decisive 4-0 margin and now hold a five-point edge on Colorado. Zach Parise scored twice in that game, including the game-winner, and he picked up a hat-trick in Thursday's 6-2 win over Calgary, giving him five goals in just two games. 

11. Tampa Bay Lightning (last week: 10) Tampa Bay recorded big wins over the Islanders and Red Wings early in the week, but Saturday's loss to the Panthers stung, costing the team first place in the Atlantic division.

The Bolts do not play the Panthers again in the regular season, but play three games at home next week and all of those against non-playoff teams, so there's an immediate opportunity here to regain some ground.

10. Florida Panthers

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Record: 42-24-9, 93 points

Last week: 10

Big Picture

The Panthers won both games they played this week against division rivals Boston and Tampa Bay, and in so doing, they went a long way toward securing first in the Atlantic division. Thanks to regulation wins in both games, the Cats now have a two-point lead on the Lightning and a five-point lead on the Bruins; regulation losses in both games would have put those teams four and one point ahead, respectively. 

It isn't over yet, but with the Panthers' seven remaining games all coming against non-playoff teams, a failure to win the division would be very disappointing.

By the Numbers

Vincent Trocheck is having a great year, and while a career-high 14.6 shooting percentage is a big part of that, he deserves a lot of credit, too.

He's outperformed his team average in terms of possession metrics every year he's been in the league, and the 22-year-old has taken advantage of increased ice-time down the stretch. He has 13 points in his last 10 games and has played 20-plus minutes in seven of those contests.

9. Pittsburgh Penguins

Seth Wenig/Associated Press

Record: 41-25-8, 90 points

Last week: 6

Big Picture

An overtime win over the New York Rangers on Sunday increased Pittsburgh's hold on third in the Met to three points, and moved the team to within three points of second place, trailing those same Rangers.

Pittsburgh has just one loss in its last eight games, a 3-0 defeat at the hands of the Devils in which they had a 39-to-24 edge in shots. 

By the Numbers

There are a lot of numbers worth looking at in Pittsburgh right now, but for me, the one that takes the cake is the team's recent record as a puck-possession monster. Over the last 20 games, and adjusting for score effects, no team in the NHL has a better 5-on-5 Fenwick rating than Pittsburgh's total of 57.4 percent.

This is a team that has improved dramatically over the course of the year by virtually every metric.

8. Nashville Predators

Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Record: 39-23-13, 91 points

Last week: 13

Big Picture

Nashville has now won three straight games and five of its last six contests, with a loss in Washington in the second half of a back-to-back set being the lone setback over the last two weeks. Mostly, the effect has just been to tighten the team's stranglehold on the better of the two Western wild-card spots, but climbing into third in the Central may yet be possible.

Whether it's preferable or not is another story. The top wild-card slot will likely mean a playoff road through Los Angeles and Anaheim, but third in the Central means taking on St. Louis and Dallas. There's no easy road here, and the exact finish may not matter much.

By the Numbers

The Predators have had an up-and-down year, but play the kind of puck-possession game at even-strength that makes them well suited to the postseason. Only Los Angeles and Anaheim have a better 5-on-5 Fenwick rating than the Predators' 53.5 percent number.

Obviously, there's more to hockey than shot-clock dominance, but being able to keep the puck at the right end of the ice at even-strength is a proven ingredient in playoff success.

7. Anaheim Ducks

Jay LaPrete/Associated Press

Record: 41-23-10, 92 points

Last week: 5

Big Picture

There's still time, but the Ducks may have blown their best chance to take over first place in the Pacific division. Anaheim has just two regulation wins in its last 10 games, and dropped two of three this week while only playing non-playoff teams. The team is now three points back of the Kings with a game in hand.

By the Numbers

Jakob Silfverberg stood out for his strong play this week, scoring three goals for the Ducks. He now has seven goals in his last seven games after scoring just nine times in his previous 67 games.

Shooting percentage is a fickle beast; over his current run Silfverberg is scoring at a 25.9 percent clip (seven goals, 27 shots); that compares to a 9-for-166 run (5.4 percent) over the majority of the season.

6. Chicago Blackhawks

Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press

Record: 44-25-7, 95 points

Last week: 7

Big Picture

A pair of wins have pulled Chicago out of a tough stretch which saw the team drop five of six games. That run included two losses to Dallas and one to the Blues, and consequently the 'Hawks are now four points back of both of those teams in the dogfight for first in the Central division.

Nashville can't be disregarded, either; the Predators are winning a lot, have a game in hand and are only four points back. 

By the Numbers

Offence has been a bit of an issue for the Blackhawks of late, with the teams scoring two or fewer goals in six of its last eight games. Andrew Ladd is doing his part, though, scoring again on Sunday to improve to six goals in 13 games since coming over in trade from Winnipeg.

5. New York Rangers

Seth Wenig/Associated Press

Record: 43-24-9, 95 points

Last week: 12

Big Picture

March hadn't been overly kind to the Rangers prior to this week, but a 3-0-1 run has done wonders.

New York now sits with a three-point lead on Pittsburgh for second place in the Metropolitan division, and while the Pens have a game in hand the Rangers have a pretty favorable schedule the rest of the way. Four of their final six games are at home, and three of their final six are against non-playoff clubs.

By the Numbers

Eric Staal scored two goals in a losing effort on Sunday, thereby increasing his total from one to three since being acquired by the Rangers. He also had a 52.4 percent even-strength Corsi number in the game, up from 45.2 percent over the rest of his time in New York.

The post-trade adjustment obviously hasn't been easy, but if this is the start of a productive run for Staal, it would do wonders for New York's playoff chances.

4. Los Angeles Kings

Alex Gallardo/Associated Press

Record: 45-25-5, 95 points

Last week: 2

Big Picture

A win Sunday over Edmonton snapped a three-game losing streak for the Kings, a run which came on the heels of a four-game winning streak.

Fortunately for Los Angeles, nobody else in the Pacific was able to take advantage of its slump; the Kings still have a three-point lead on Anaheim for top spot in the division. 

By the Numbers

Discipline has been a problem for the Kings this season. Los Angeles ranks 26th in the NHL in total number of power-play opportunities, with 219. The team also ranks 28th in the number of times penalized, at 264.

Even with strong special teams, going to the penalty kill 45 more times on the power play makes it hard to have a positive net goal differential on special teams.

3. Dallas Stars

Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press

Record: 45-22-9, 99 points

Last week: 3

Big Picture

The Stars have won four of their last five games, with the lone loss weirdly enough coming against the only non-playoff club (Arizona) that they played over that stretch. That's been a good enough recent record to keep Dallas in a tie with St. Louis for top spot in the Central; the two clubs have identical records.

A regulation win over Chicago on Tuesday kept the Blackhawks in third place and four points back. 

By the Numbers

Ales Hemsky still isn't getting a lot of minutes, but his play has improved markedly in 2016.

Since January 1, Hemsky has played 32 games, scored 10 times and recorded 21 points. That compares to just three goals and 13 points in his previous 37 games.

2. Washington Capitals

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Record: 53-16-5, 111 points

Last week: 1

Big Picture

Washington continues to be unmatched in the overall NHL standings. With 111 points, it has a 12-point lead on its nearest rivals, all in the West; in the East, the Rangers come closest to competing, and they are 16 points back.

However, the Caps are also in a slight slump, having lost two of their last four and four of their last eight games, including a 4-0 defeat on Saturday at the hands of the Blues. 

By the Numbers

Offence has been somewhat hard to come by of late; in eight of Washington's last 10 games the team has scored two or fewer goals.

Even Alex Ovechkin has just two goals in his last 11 games, a rare cold streak for him this season.

1. St. Louis Blues

Jeff Roberson/Associated Press

Record: 45-22-9, 99 points

Last week: 4

Big Picture

The Blues fell to fourth place last week after bizarrely losing consecutive games in Alberta, but that's been the only blip on the radar for a long time.

Of the Blues' last 12 games, those are the only two losses, and some of the wins have been really impressive, including a set of three games in four nights that saw them beat Chicago, Anaheim and Dallas. More recently, St. Louis beat Washington by an impressive 4-0 margin on Saturday.

All of that contributes to them moving into the top spot in these rankings. 

By the Numbers

I wanted to write about Paul Stastny's strong recent play here—I have picked on him in past editions of these rankings—but Brian Elliott has made that impossible. 

The Blues' 1A/1B goalie has stopped every shot he's faced for three consecutive games, 71 in total. His 0.934 save percentage over 37 games is the best figure in the NHL; the next-best total for a goalie with more than 25 games played is Ben Bishop's 0.928 save percentage in Tampa Bay. 

Statistics courtesy of Hockey-Reference.com, Stats.HockeyAnalysis.com, NaturalStatTrick.com and PuckOn.net.