The Stars remain at the top of the NHL Power Rankings, but there has been a shakeup, with the biggest surprises coming from the province of Alberta. Also, the New York Islanders have once again threatened to be one of the strongest teams in the NHL, as they attempt to shake off their 2000’s reputation of being a laughingstock franchise and become a consistent playoff team. It is looking good for them right now.
NHL Power Rankings December 17, 2015
1. Dallas Stars (48 points)
Last week: 1
The Stars’ offense was halted in St. Louis, but it still showed against Philadelphia and Columbus. As Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn continue to dominate, backup goalie Kari Lehtonen continues to make goalie competition interesting. He scuffled late against Carolina, but he made 33 saves on Columbus’s 34 shots.
2. Washington Capitals (46 points)
Last week: 2
The runaway train is on the loose. The Caps now have won three straight to Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh, and Ottawa. How many goals did each opponent get? Just one. Braden Holtby is Hart-worthy.
3. New York Islanders (41 points)
Last week: 9
Flopping against Florida is forgivable considering how dominant Roberto Luongo performed. Before falling well short against the Panthers, the Isles had a near perfect outing against New Jersey. Kyle Okposo nearly had his third goal in two games (he had two against Columbus) when John Tavares tipped in Okposo’s shot attempt early, and Thomas Greiss befuddled the Devils offense for an easy shutout.
4. Montreal Canadiens (43 points)
Last week: 4
Want proof that the Habs need Carey Price? They are 1-5-0 in their last six games, and their last defeat came against a Sharks team that had lost six straight. To make matters worse, they will embark on an eight-game road trip this week, with visits to Dallas, Nashville, Washington, and Boston (outside) on the schedule. Montreal is certainly looking forward to those resolutions.
5. Los Angeles Kings (40 points)
Last week: 5
After surviving Columbus and Pittsburgh, they fell victim to Buffalo and Ottawa. While beating a struggling Montreal team may call for full enforcement, Jonathan Quick had started nine straight games before resting against Buffalo. His fatigue certainly showed against Ottawa, saving just 16 of Ottawa’s 21 shots.
6. Detroit Red Wings (38 points)
Last week: 6
They had a shot to pass teams in the rankings, but they fell to New Jersey and Buffalo this week. Mike Richards had his best game of the season against Buffalo, scoring the lone Detroit goal and getting five shots on Chad Johnson. A good sign for an aging veteran.
7. Chicago Blackhawks (38 points)
Last week: 8
Forget the biggest headline lately, which was Patrick Kane’s point streak coming to a screeching halt. They recently let the struggling Trevor Daley go to Pittsburgh in exchange for Rob Scuderi, who has played just one game this season. The Stars must be laughing right now with Patrick Sharp and Johnny Oduya in their possession.
8. New York Rangers (42 points)
Last week: 3
We will see if the win against Edmonton at MSG will give them momentum, but it was beyond ugly before that. They lost three games in a row to Vancouver, Edmonton, and Calgary on the road, and had lost eight in ten. Kevin Hayes has not scored in 11 games, but Dylan McIlrath got his first career goal in the win against the Oilers.
9. Minnesota Wild (38 points)
Last week: 7
They caught fire with a blowout win over Vancouver, but they have a huge home game against New York coming up. Even though the Rangers have struggled, a win could turn the Wild into a serious contender in a division where multiple contenders exist. It would certainly help Darcy Kuemper’s case to be a starting goalie in the NHL, as he has come through with Devan Dubnyk injured.
10. Boston Bruins (38 points)
Last week: 11
The three-game home stand was a step in the right direction. The defense was on the mark in their wins to Florida and Pittsburgh. Their offense looked good against Edmonton, but Cam Talbot had a much needed performance, saving 47 of Boston’s 49 shots, and Edmonton continued to surprise doubters. Boston has not looked good at home, but they have quickly silenced doubters of their own and are definitely playoff contenders.
11. New Jersey Devils (36 points)
Last week: 17
The New York State trip was much improved after a clunker in Brooklyn. They won 2-0 against the Sabres at First Niagara Center. If you need any other reason as to why the Devils are terribly under-appreciated in the NHL, the win against Buffalo was one of many examples of how elite New Jersey’s defense has played. Corey Schneider has allowed just 2.09 goals per game and could enter the Vezina conversation with a few good performances over the next couple weeks.
12. St. Louis Blues (40 points)
Last week: 18
Beating the Jets in Canada helped them, but not nearly as much as the shutout win against Dallas. Sure, they lost to Colorado, but every team is these days. Vladimir Tarasenko has five goals in December after tallying eight in November. He is certainly one of the few players that causes people to stop what they are doing and stare at his talents
13. Ottawa Senators (37 points)
Last week: 13
Mark Stone could certainly be Santa Claus. He has assisted on 21 goals this season. His generosity over the last six games could be used more often because he had three assists in a win against Florida and one in a win against LA. Unfortunately, he had just one assist in the other four games, and all of them were losses.
14. Nashville Predators (36 points)
Last week: 10
While Colorado and Calgary have been hot lately, there should be no excuse to lose to both of them at home. Nashville did just that, and they now are just five points ahead of Colorado in the Central Division standings. With last place nearby, the thought of them at the bottom would be shocking, even though the division has been very tough this year.
15. Florida Panthers (34 points)
Last week: 15
Roberto Luongo caught fire, but he was not the only one to credit for the big win against the Islanders. Aleksander Barkov, the former #2 pick in the 2013 draft, had a goal and two assists to drive the offense. Since returning from hand injury on November 16, he has four goals and six assists, a solid contribution for a balanced Panthers attack.
16. Edmonton Oilers (30 points)
Last week: 21
TOP HALF?!?! Almost! Before finally losing to New York at MSG, the Oilers had won six straight games, including a goal-fest at home against the Rangers. Perhaps Glenn Sather should be honored pre-game more often.
17. Tampa Bay Lightning (35 points)
Last week: 12
The battered offense was shut down against Washington, and it did just enough to down Columbus. Ben Bishop is undefeated in December, and when he took the night off against Toronto, Tampa Bay needed overtime to give Jonathan Bernier a loss. That itself is a bad sign, and the Lightning are struggling to prove their worth.
18. Winnipeg Jets (30 points)
Last week: 14
December seemed so promising. After beating Toronto and Washington, they have lost to Chicago (twice) and St. Louis. They also beat Columbus, but that may be a given at this point. Colorado has passed Winnipeg in the standings, so the Jets are now last in the Central Division. To make matters worse, they are meeting the Alberta teams at the worst time.
19. Philadelphia Flyers (32 points)
Last week: 19
Shayne Gostisbehere’s game-winner against Carolina was his third OT goal of the season. Philly has played the Canes three times this year, and all of them have resulted in an overtime win. They play one more time in Raleigh on February 23. The Flyers really need Jakub Voracek to step up. He had just a goal and 15 assists before coming up big against Carolina, tallying a goal and two assists, including the setup to Gostisbehere’s goal.
20. Calgary Flames (30 points)
Last week: 22
Are they back? They were about to fall out of it early, but they are right in the mix after ripping off six straight wins. The question was if Calgary could come through on the road, but they pulled a stunner in Nashville when Johnny Gaudreau dished the puck to Kris Russell for the game-winner. I wonder if Johnny Hockey does the money sign, too?
21. Pittsburgh Penguins (33 points)
Last week: 20
I do not usually like to butt into the Philly-Pittsburgh rivalry, but the writing is on the wall. Sidney Crosby has six goals. Evgeni Malkin has more than double his goal total. Jamie Benn, Patrick Kane, and Vladimir Tarasenko have more than triple his goal total. Mike Johnston is gone and Fleury is struggling. Wake up, Kid! Your team is in quicksand!
22. Vancouver Canucks (30 points)
Last week: 16
The win against the Rangers was big, but so were the next two games. They were shutout in Chicago and blasted in Minnesota. Ryan Miller has succumbed to the injury-riddled defense, giving up three or more goals in four of the last six games, including six in two periods against the Wild.
23. Colorado Avalanche (31 points)
Last week: 29
I do not need to explain how beating every Central Division opponent, including three straight road wins to Nashville, St. Louis, and Chicago, can boost a team here. It is self-explanatory.
24. Carolina Hurricanes (29 points)
Last week: 28
Even in North Carolina, the media will flock to a hot hockey player. That player is none other than Jeff Skinner. He has two hat tricks in three games and now leads the team in scoring with 14 goals. He could be a little more generous, since he only has three assists, but he is beginning to show his prospect potential after several disappointing seasons.
25. Buffalo Sabres (29 points)
Last week: 26
After the heartbreaker in Calgary, the Sabres won two of their next three, with the wins coming to LA and Detroit. After Anaheim, however, they have to play Chicago, Boston, Washington (twice), and the Islanders to close out 2015. Chad Johnson has outperformed Linus Ullmark this season, and he came up big against Detroit.
26. Arizona Coyotes (30 points)
Last week: 27
Waterslides are fun, especially in triple-digit weather in Phoenix. It is not so good for a hockey team in the regular season. 1-5-1 in December and Mike Smith is out for two months. That may or may not be a good thing, but I do not expect Anders Lindback to put up Braden Holtby numbers and get Arizona out of this funk. A winter swoon is coming.
27. San Jose Sharks (31 points)
Last week: 27
It was a good win against the Habs, but that win snapped a six-game losing streak. Is Joe Thornton starting to become a liability for the team he previously captained? He is beginning to get up there in age, and he has just four goals for a struggling franchise that has a weak division to thank for its decent playoff chances.
28. Toronto Maple Leafs (26 points)
Last week: 24
They have played just one game in the last week, but it was a very telling one. Mike Babcock made a horrible mistake by letting Jonathan Bernier go out against the struggling Tampa Bay Lightning offense. As usual, Bernier made them look like the defending Eastern Conference Champions, giving up five goals and the game-winner to Vladislav Namestnikov. Even worse, the fans are delusional to think that Steven Stamkos, who played in that embarrassing performance (0 points), would consider playing for their sorry franchise.
29. Anaheim Ducks (27 points)
Last week: 25
Check my archives to find my December 15 article on the Ducks. For those who do not want to read it, the offense is bad. They are embarking on the New York road trip, taking on all of the New York metro teams (Rangers, Isles, Devils) and Buffalo. At least hitting 30 will be difficult, because…
29. Columbus Blue Jackets (25 points)
Last week: 30
…of this team. Sergei Bobrovsky is now hurt, and with Curtis McElhinney not performing well, Ohio fans can only enjoy watching the Cavs or the Bengals (Definitely NOT the Browns). Scott Hartnell has been a bright spot, scoring four goals in six games.