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NHL Power Rankings: Chicago Blackhawks Hanging Tough With East
In this week’s edition of the NHL power rankings, the Eastern Conference is dominating while the Chicago Blackhawks are on a roll
A string of relatively weak competition is generally appreciated in the NHL, and the Chicago Blackhawks know that right now more than maybe any other team. They’ve rattled off four straight wins against four teams — Buffalo, Carolina, Nashville and Detroit — that are outside the playoff picture.
That’s kept the Blackhawks in a good spot in our NHL power rankings, which see the Eastern Conference absolutely steamrolling the West this season.
Four teams in the West have more than 50 points at the time of this post: the Blackhawks (59), Minnesota (55), San Jose (52) and Anaheim (52). The East, meanwhile, has a 57-point team in a wild-card slot with the New York Rangers.
The power has certainly shifted in the NHL. With that said, let’s get to our new NHL power rankings and see where everyone falls.
No. 30: Colorado Avalanche
Previous: No. 29
Record: 13-25-1 (27 points)
The Avs are three games from the halfway point of their season and they’ve yet to hit 30 points. Something has gone horribly wrong in the shift from Patrick Roy to Jared Bednar as head coach. The team is clearly confused with the contrasting styles these guys employ, and having some defensive holes and porous goaltending doesn’t help matters.
No. 29: Arizona Coyotes
Previous: No. 30
Record: 12-22-6 (30 points)
The Coyotes sneak out of the basement this week despite going 1-8-1 in their last 10 games. Lucky they’ve played a whole one more game than the Avs. The talk of the town for the Coyotes right now is goaltender Mike Smith, who was inexplicably selected to the All-Star Game over someone like Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
No. 28: New Jersey Devils
Previous: No. 25
Record: 16-18-8 (40 points)
The Devils have 95 goals in 42 games, for an average of 2.26 goals per game. That’s not going to get it done, even with someone like Cory Schneider in net. And when he’s having a statistically poor season like this one (.909/2.73), you start to wonder how far the Devils can fall.
No. 27: New York Islanders
Previous: No. 26
Record: 15-16-8 (38 points)
Their four wins on the road are the fewest in the league. Last year, this team was complaining about having to play in its new home, Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. Now, they’d probably be fine with spending every game there.
No. 26: Detroit Red Wings
Previous: No. 24
Record: 17-18-6 (40 points)
The streak of consecutive playoff appearances for the Wings is in serious jeopardy. This team is averaging less than a point earned per game now. Luckily for them, however, the Wings play in a sad-sack Atlantic Division in which 46 points is currently good for third place and a playoff spot. There’s still hope — it’s just fleeting.
No. 25: Dallas Stars
Previous: No. 22
Record: 17-17-8 (42 points)
How the mighty have fallen. Last season, we couldn’t get Dallas out of the top spot on this list. This season, they just keep plummeting. Maybe general manager Jim Nill will actually dish out on goaltending moving forward.
No. 24: Buffalo Sabres
Previous: No. 28
Record: 16-15-9 (41 points)
Nine overtime/shootout losses? This team is trying to Florida its way into the postseason. And, again, it might work how bad the Atlantic is. But at least the Sabres have won two straight games. They didn’t boost up this week’s power rankings solely on the back of other teams’ losses.
No. 23: Tampa Bay Lightning
Previous: No. 17
Record: 19-19-4 (42 points)
A team with plenty of young talent and a seemingly strong duo in net is just a mess right now. The squad has lost four straight games, the latest a 6-2 thumping at the hands of Pittsburgh. Any chance the Lightning move Ben Bishop at the deadline in a semi-tank? Probably not, considering, again, this is another Atlantic team. Playoff hopes are still alive.
No. 22: Winnipeg Jets
Previous: No. 21
Record: 20-21-3 (43 points)
This team can actually score a lot. Among Western Conference teams, the Jets’ 122 goals are fourth most. However, when you still have a minus-11 goal differential, you know there’s a problem. Plenty of forward promise, but some back-end work needed.
No. 21: Nashville Predators
Previous: No. 18
Record: 18-16-7 (43 points)
Trying to overtime-victory one’s way into the playoffs might work for the Preds, too. But I will continue to contend that there is a lot more talent here than what we’ve seen. While Nashville wasn’t on a roll while he was healthy, eventually getting P.K. Subban back will be huge for this team.
No. 20: Vancouver Canucks
Previous: No. 27
Record: 20-19-4 (44 points)
There is just no reason this team should be one point out of a wild-card slot. It’s not a team that was built to contend, its one All-Star this year isn’t even a Sedin (it’s Bo Horvat) and its minus-17 goal differential is better than just three teams in the West. But maybe Vancouver sneaking into the playoffs wouldn’t be so bad. The rioting was comical back in 2011.
No. 19: Los Angeles Kings
Previous: No. 15
Record: 20-17-4 (44 points)
This is the second wild card team being placed behind three non-playoff teams out of the East in these rankings. That’s how bad the West has been through the first half of the season. But if you’re the Kings, you have to be thrilled you’re contending despite goaltender Jonathan Quick playing all of 10 minutes this season.
No. 18: Toronto Maple Leafs
Previous: No. 19
Record: 18-13-8 (44 points)
Coach Mike Babcock has something cooking in Toronto, as this team is two points out of a playoff spot and on a 7-2-1 run over its last 10 games. It’s just a matter of if the notoriously fickle fans and media in Toronto will wait for things to play out, or if they’ll crap all over it if Toronto misses the postseason by a couple points this year.
No. 17: Florida Panthers
Previous: No. 23
Record: 19-16-8 (46 points)
Oh, so Florida is trying to Florida its way into the playoffs, too. Another Atlantic team, so it works. You’d think a team with Roberto Luongo in net would have a positive goal differential, but when you’re averaging 2.33 goals per game, I guess not even Bobby Lu can totally save that.
No. 16: Carolina Hurricanes
Previous: No. 20
Record: 19-15-7 (45 points)
A win over the Blue Jackets in their last game is certainly cause for optimism for the Hurricanes, as is playing in the Atlantic. But that 6-11-6 road record needs some work. Thankfully for Carolina, that number of games played on the road already means more home dates are near.
No. 15: Philadelphia Flyers
Previous: No. 10
Record: 21-16-6 (48 points)
The last thing you want to do in a cutthroat Metropolitan Division is go on a 2-5-3 bender. But the Flyers are still holding down the second wild card spot, albeit by two points. This team is going to need much more from the goaltending duo of Steve Mason and Michal Neuvirth, which has been atrocious this season.
No. 14: Calgary Flames
Previous: No. 12
Record: 23-19-2 (48 points)
This is your first wild card team right now, and it’s a positively average one. The Flames have a goal differential of minus-4 and are barely over .500 both at home (12-10-0) and on the road (11-9-2). Johnny Gaudreau just has to hope the team possibly making the playoffs doesn’t stop the front office from looking to make it better, like last time.
No. 13: Boston Bruins
Previous: No. 16
Record: 22-17-5 (49 points)
This is the only team that has played as many games as the Chicago Blackhawks this season (44), but there hasn’t been as much success for the Bruins. A lot of that can be pinned on the club’s struggles at home, as the Bruins are 9-10-0 at TD Garden this season.
No. 12: Ottawa Senators
Previous: No. 14
Record: 21-14-4 (46 points)
Meanwhile, Ottawa is tied for the fewest games played in the league with 39. Plenty of room for the team to improve on its third-place standing in the Atlantic, and that would probably start with finding some goals (2.54 per game).
No. 11: St. Louis Blues
Previous: No. 9
Record: 21-15-5 (47 points)
Not as egregious as going on a bad run in the Metropolitan, but if you’re the Blues, you probably don’t want to go 4-5-1 while chasing Minnesota and Chicago. If they’re looking for a place to improve, it’d be anywhere away from Scottrade Center. The Blues are a miserable 5-10-1 on the road this season.
No. 10: Edmonton Oilers
Previous: No. 11
Record: 21-15-7 (49 points)
Connor McDavid is captain of the Pacific Division All-Star team while Chicago’s Artemi Panarin isn’t even on the Central squad. Hopefully that will shut up all the fans who were so grumpy about McDavid losing out on the Calder Trophy to Panarin last year despite McDavid playing half a season.
No. 9: Anaheim Ducks
Previous: No. 13
Record: 22-13-8 (52 points)
A Randy Carlyle-led team seeing regular-season success is no surprise. As long as the Ducks can get past the Sharks, they’ll have a nice path to the Western Conference finals, too. Carlyle will wind up getting way too much credit for “turning around” this team.
No. 8: San Jose Sharks
Previous: No. 8
Record: 25-15-2 (52 points)
A plus-16 goal differential is by far tops in the Pacific Division. Brent Burns (44 points) leading the scoring charge and Martin Jones (.917/2.24) having another effective year in net are both good for business. Wild stat: Burns is on pace for 332 shots on net this season.
No. 7: Minnesota Wild
Previous: No. 6
Record: 25-9-5 (55 points)
Minnesota kind of gets shafted this week because, while it is playing really well (8-1-1 in its last 10 games), so is everyone else remaining on this list. The Wild still have five games in hand on the Blackhawks, so they should be atop the Central Division at some point unless the Blackhawks don’t stop winning or the Wild suddenly can’t win.
No. 6: Montreal Canadiens
Previous: No. 4
Record: 26-10-6 (58 points)
Hard-knock life for the Habs, who are atop the Atlantic Division but fifth in the Eastern Conference in these power rankings. Blackhawks fans were probably a little sad last night when they saw Phillip Danault go coast-to-coast for a pretty goal. Blackhawks definitely lost that trade.
No. 5: New York Rangers
Previous: No. 3
Record: 28-13-1 (57 points)
How is a plus-39 goal differential and a league-leading 26 regulation/overtime wins not even good for a top-three spot in your division? Such is life right now for the Rangers, who I can’t say for certain will find themselves in a top-three spot in the Metropolitan just because of how tight it is. Keep on scoring and winning 15 of 21 road games, though, and the chances get better.
No. 4: Chicago Blackhawks
Previous: No. 5
Record: 27-12-5 (59 points)
In this case, you have the top team in the Western Conference on a four-game winning streak and it can’t crack these rankings’ top three. The Blackhawks’ run of cupcakes comes to a screeching halt Friday when they visit the red-hot Capitals before hosting the warm Minnesota Wild on Sunday. A pair of true tests.
No. 3: Pittsburgh Penguins
Previous: No. 2
Record: 26-9-5 (57 points)
Yes, the Penguins have fewer points than the Blackhawks and aren’t on a four-game binge. But the Penguins have played four fewer games than Chicago and look quite a bit better anyway. A plus-27 goal differential is always good for that. No doubt Pittsburgh would like to improve on its marginal 8-7-3 road record, though.
No. 2: Washington Capitals
Previous: No. 7
Record: 27-9-5 (59 points)
Early in the season, we were talking about how it was amazing a good Capitals team was in the wild-card hunt instead of divisional. Well, that’s all flipped now thanks to a seven-game win streak that included a 5-2 thumping of Pittsburgh last time out. Braden Holtby is just having another stellar season in net (.932/1.90), and the offense is following him right along.
No. 1: Columbus Blue Jackets
Previous: No. 1
Record: 28-8-4 (60 points)
So the Blue Jackets aren’t scorching the Earth anymore. They’re still the first team to 60 points and own the league’s best goal differential at plus-45. I don’t know that Columbus can stay atop the rugged Metropolitan the rest of the season, but their 16-game winning streak was probably enough to put them firmly in the playoff picture. It’s also helped keep them atop our NHL power rankings for another week.
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