NHL Power Rankings: New York, Boston and Florida (Yes, Florida) Rise in the East

The recent play of three Eastern teams has caught my eye:

New York looks like the team they were expected to be at the beginning of the season. Yes, their six-game win streak came against San Jose and five teams that are unlikely to make the playoffs, but they’re playing the style of game they need to in order to succeed.

The Blueshirts are only giving up two goals a game and are killing penalties at a 88.3 percent rate. This team has the ability to make a deep playoff run playing this way.

Boston looks like they have righted their ship. They are No. 4 in their division, but Toronto and Ottawa are on their way down, and Buffalo doesn’t look unbeatable.

The B’s have a top-10 offense (third), defense (eighth) and PK (eighth) and are No. 13 in the league on the power play. Expect this team to be competing with Buffalo for the No. 1 spot in this division all season long.

Florida has caught the eye of many around the league, but I’m not buying into the Cats just yet.

They have a top-10 offense (ninth), defense (ninth) and power play (fourth), but are abysmal on the PK (26th: 75.6 percent) and beat the reeling Leafs and Winnipeg in their most recent contests.

Their previous three games were losses to Winnipeg, Chicago and Tampa Bay at home.

Games against Philly and Dallas next week will tell us a lot about this team.

30. Winnipeg Jets

Last week: 27

A loss to Columbus that extends a five-game losing streak may be an early low point for the Jets this season.

29. Columbus Blue Jackets

Last week: 30

The Blue Jackets picked up a win against Winnipeg.

It probably won’t ignite a streak, however. They were outscored 19-6 in their previous three contests.

28. New York Islanders

Last week: 29

The Islanders have a win, one win, in their last nine games…

Yikes.

27. Calgary Flames

Last week: 28

Calgary appears to have Colorado’s number.

They’ve beat the Avs all three times the two teams have played this season.

The Flames lost to Minnesota and Chicago, however, by a combined score of 7-1.

If only Calgary had more than three games left against Colorado this year…

26. Ottawa Senators

Last week: 26

Owners of the league’s third-best power play, Ottawa is struggling in every other aspect of the game (especially defense, where they’re giving up 3.6 goals per game).

Since winning six straight, the Sens have a record of 1-5.

Their lone win came in Toronto on Saturday.

They’ve got four games left on their road trip before returning to Ottawa for their only home contest left in November.

25. Colorado Avalanche

Last week: 18

Owners of the league’s best power play, the Avalanche can score.

There is not a semblance of defense, however, with this team and it is costing them.

Colorado has lost five of their last six games.

Their lone win came against the Islanders in overtime.

24. Carolina Hurricanes

Last week: 19

Eric Staal snapped a 10-game goalless streak with his tiebreaking tally against Pittsburgh on Saturday.

The win over Pittsburgh also snapped a four-game losing streak for the Canes.

Staal has to get his game going if Carolina’s going to do anything this year.

23. Anaheim Ducks

Last week: 22

Owners of the league’s worst offense, the Anaheim Ducks are having a rough November.

Their win over Vancouver on Friday snapped a six-game losing streak, but things hardly get easier for Anaheim.

They play Minnesota and a home-and-home against LA, and host Detroit in their next four games.

22. Minnesota Wild

Last week: 16

After a red-hot winning streak, Minnesota’s lack of offense caught up to them on their road trip.

The Wild have to score more than 2.1 goals per game to win consistently in this league.

This was evident in their losses to San Jose and Los Angeles last week.

21. Montreal Canadiens

Last week: 17

Montreal has won their last two games in overtime, and things are looking better, but this team is hardly meeting the expectations of their rabid fan base.

20. St. Louis Blues

Last week: 24

The Blues have two impressive shutout wins against Chicago and Tampa in November and picked up a win over Vancouver.

They also lost to the Wild in Minnesota 2-1 and to Toronto at home in a shootout.

Things are looking better in St. Louis, but this team needs to show their fans they can win consistently.

19. Toronto Maple Leafs

Last week: 13

The Leafs are scoring 2.9 goals per game, but continue to struggle in other aspects of the game.

Toronto leads the Northeast Division, but have lost three of their last four.

Boston and Florida won by a combined score of 12-1, St. Louis took them to a shootout, and Ottawa ripped them, 5-2, at home.

They will relinquish their division lead, and early momentum, if they can’t play some defense or special teams.

18. Vancouver Canucks

Last week: 23

Vancouver is playing well offensively and on special teams, but need help on defense.

They had moderate success on their road trip, going 3-3, and return home with an opportunity to address their defensive deficiencies.

17. Los Angeles Kings

Last week: 12

The Kings are 3-7 in their last 10 contests, but picked up a convincing win over Minnesota on Saturday.

Los Angeles is expected to play better this season and doesn’t have any easy opponents on the schedule in November.

16. Washington Capitals

Last week: 4

Things are heading south in Washington.

They lost recent contests to the Islanders and Stars and split a home-and-home with New Jersey.

To add insult to injury, the Caps have to play their next three games on the road.

15. New Jersey Devils

Last week: 25

Killing penalties at a 93 percent rate is impressive.

But a 10 percent power play...that’s abysmal.

New Jersey has scraped together wins in four of their last five, but will have trouble on their road trip if they cannot find the back of the net.

Their next four opponents will test them: Boston, Buffalo (Versus, Wednesday), Tampa and Florida.

14. Nashville Predators

Last week: 9

The Preds are killing penalties, but need work on other aspects of their game.

Fortunately, they have four more games in Tennessee to turn things around.

13. Philadelphia Flyers

Last week: 8

The Flyers are scoring 3.8 goals per game and have strong special teams, but are giving up three goals a game.

The result: inconsistency.

The Flyers have only strung together two wins one time since starting the season with three straight wins.

12. Tampa Bay Lightning

Last week: 7

After winning three straight against quality opponents, Tampa fell flat on their face in St. Louis.

They get a warm-up game in Winnipeg before facing Pittsburgh on NHL Network on Thursday.

11. Florida Panthers

Last week: 21

Florida has a top-10 offense (what?) and the fourth-ranked power play (no way) and are second in their division after winning their last two games by a combined score of 10-3.

It’s unlikely that the Cats continue their winning ways, however.

Their most recent wins came against Toronto, a descending team, and Winnipeg.

Upcoming contests against Philly, Dallas, St. Louis and Pittsburgh will be a test for the upstart Panthers.

10. Buffalo Sabres

Last week: 14

After winning four straight, the Sabres were crushed 6-2 in Boston.

The win streak may have been deceptive. They beat mediocre teams (Calgary, Ottawa and Winnipeg) and have lost to their last three quality opponents (Florida, Philly and Boston).

Buffalo gets two nationally televised games this week to prove that they will meet the lofty expectations placed on them in the offseason.

9. Phoenix Coyotes

Last week: 10

With solid play on both ends of the rink and killing penalties, the Yotes have ascended to second in their division.

They are 3-2 in November, but have impressive wins over Colorado (4-1), Edmonton (4-2) and San Jose (3-0).

Phoenix will be tested in their next four games, which come on the road.

8. San Jose Sharks

Last week: 5

San Jose suffered a 3-0 blunder to Phoenix, but were able to pick up wins over Pittsburgh, LA and Minny in their recent homestand.

Detroit and Dallas will test them next week.

7. Edmonton Oilers

Last week: 6

Playing stingy defense, the Oilers remain atop the Northwest Division.

Their lead is slipping, however.

Edmonton is 2-3 on their road trip.

6. New York Rangers

Last week: 11

The Rangers have won six straight and suddenly look like the team they were supposed to be at the beginning of the season.

There are two things to consider here, however:

1. Their first win came against San Jose, a good team, but the rest of the wins came against Anaheim, Montreal, Winnipeg, Ottawa and Carolina—none of those teams are good.
2. Their next four games come on the road.

Fortunately, their road trip begins with contests against the Islanders and Canadiens before they have to face the Panthers and Capitals.

5. Chicago Blackhawks

Last week: 2

The Hawks may be leading their division and clicking on offense, but there are major concerns on special teams for this club.

Chicago will be tested in the rest of November.

They begin a six-game road trip on Wednesday.

The Blackhawks will have to step it up on the power play and penalty kill in order to weather this storm.

4. Boston Bruins

Last week: 15

At No. 4 in the Northeast Division, the B’s are not off to the start they expected coming off a Stanley Cup season.

There are many indicators that things are going the right way in Beantown, however.

Boston has won five straight games in which they have scored five or more goals.

The Bruins own the third-best offense in the league and a top-10 defense and penalty kill.

3. Dallas Stars

Last week: 3

Playing a well-rounded game, the Dallas Stars have continued to win.

Two perennial contenders, Pittsburgh and Detroit, showed them how difficult it is to stay on top last week.

Dallas lost to both squads by a combined score of 8-3.

2. Detroit Red Wings

Last week: 20

Detroit has won four straight and looks like they’ve recovered from a rough patch.

Their last four wins have come by a combined score of 18-4.

The Red Wings will be tested on their four-game road trip that takes them to St. Louis and California next week.

1. Pittsburgh Penguins

Last week: 1

Despite a difficult loss to Carolina, Pittsburgh continues to win and remains on top of their division.

Prior to their loss in Raleigh, Pittsburgh had wins against LA and Dallas and lost in a shootout to San Jose.

Everyone can get a glimpse of this team on Tuesday when they play Colorado on Versus.