NHL Power Rankings: Avalanche Don't Let The Stars Lead For Long

The Colorado Avalanche battled hard to get back into the top spot of the NHL power rankings.

They trailed 3-1 against the Dallas Stars and 2-1 against the Minnesota Wild, but they managed to battle back and win crucial games against divisional rivals.

This is further evidence the games will be tight and all the more important to win the Central Division crown to avoid a first-round playoff matchup against each other.

The Avalanche's re-acquisition of Nazem Kadri in the final hour of the trade deadline, who was greeted by a standing ovation in Colorado, once again tips the scales in their favor.

While the Central features the best teams, the Metro and Atlantic have the most interesting playoff races.

The Buffalo Sabres – Sabres! – sit atop the Atlantic after a thrilling 8-7 win against the Lightning on Sunday in what was perhaps one of the best regular-season games ever in the cap era. They sit four points ahead of the Bolts and hold the tiebreaker in regulation wins, 34-30, although Tampa Bay has two games in hand.

The Jack Adams winner was supposed to be Jon Cooper this year, helping guide the Lightning back to elite status despite a slew of injuries to key players, but Lindy Ruff is making a strong case. Cooper, regarded as one of the best coaches ever with two Cups, still has yet to win the award as the league's best coach.

Then there's the race at the bottom with five teams within five points of another, not counting the Canucks, which are on track to be one of the worst teams in the cap era.

One of those five teams is the Jets, which have a 7.5 percent chance of winning the first overall pick if they remain 27th in the standings, but they also have a 13 percent implied probability of making the playoffs, per BetMGM. It's quite an amazing predicament to be in, but it also speaks to the futility of the Western Conference this season aside from the three top Central teams, which rank 1-2-3 in the NHL power rankings this week.

The Pacific has especially been bad, where the Ducks currently sit as division leaders but would fail to qualify for the playoffs in the East if the playoffs started today.

It has not been an easy week for the Avs with close calls against the Stars and Wild, but the important thing was they managed to skate away with wins against their toughest opponents. The Avs can take a breather and enjoy their five-point cushion in the standings until next Wednesday when they host the Stars.

The Stars have yet to lose in regulation in 13 games but the big unforced error was blowing a two-goal lead against the Avs, allowing Valeri Nichushkin's game-tying goal with 15 seconds remaining. The loss of Roope Hintz will certainly hurt, and now the worry is if the Stars will be healthy enough for a long playoff run.

The shootout loss in Colorado could've gone either way, but they proved they could easily go toe-to-toe against the league's best team. The quality of opponents the Wild have defeated lately – Knights, Lightning, Mammoth – with a plus-11 goal differential shows just how good they can be.

The win against the Lightning was an emphatic statement and reinforced the notion the Sabres are true contenders. Sure, they blew a three-goal lead and ended up trailing by two, but they completed the comeback in what should be the NHL's game of the year. The Sabres are tough and fast, and they can definitely score. Hard to believe that this time last season the Sabres were the third-worst team in the league.

They were surprisingly quiet at the deadline and head into the post-season with Brandon Bussi and Frederik Andersen between the pipes, who have allowed a combined 24 goals on 163 shots for an atrocious .853 save percentage since the Olympic break. They're winning games in spite of them, but what happens when the scoring gets tough… like in the conference finals, maybe?

The Olympic break was supposed to benefit the Lightning with Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov and Andrei Vasilevskiy getting extra rest. Instead, they're 2-6-0 with at least four goals allowed in all six losses.

When the Habs turn their games into track meets, it generally doesn't bode well for them because their goaltending hasn't been particularly good. Their California road trip was nearly a winless disaster, and they continue to struggle to put together a meaningful winning streak.

It is definitely amusing the Ducks would not be in a playoff position in the East, but they've rightfully earned this spot by beating all of their Pacific rivals and winning eight of their past 10. Since their nine-game losing streak ended on Jan. 10, they're 15-4-0 with the best points percentage in the West and tied-fourth overall.

It is absolutely insane the Isles are a perfect 10-0 in overtime, and if this streak continues, they would become the first team in the cap era to go undefeated in overtime in an 82-game season. Of note, there have been 22 instances where a team has lost just once in overtime, including the Avs last season.

It's difficult to get into a rhythm when you're alternating wins and losses, though they're unbeatable on home ice. The bad news is only seven of their remaining 18 games are at home. At least they're giving up precious loser points to Metro teams and not those in their own division.

Take the Pens' 3-2-3 stretch with a grain of salt with no Sidney Crosby, no Evgeni Malkin and no luck in shootouts. They've managed to capture a point in six of their past eight, but they're in danger of falling into a wild-card spot.

The Mammoth are on track to earn their first playoff berth in franchise history and the first since 2020 when the core was still in Arizona. It is unfortunate they're stuck in the Central, however, because it's almost certain their best finish will be the first wild-card spot, meaning they'll start the first round on the road where they're a pedestrian 16-16-3.

Whether it's the mounting pressure of making the playoffs for the first time in nine seasons or the absence of Dylan Larkin, the Red Wings are teetering precariously on the edge of a playoff position.

Conor Garland looks like he was the best pickup at the trade deadline so far, and the Jackets have lost just once in regulation since the Olympic break. Had their first post-Olympic game gone the other way – they outshot the Bruins 40-23 but lost – they might even be in a playoff position right now.

The Senators are red-hot, but can they make up enough ground? They've collected 20 points since Jan. 25, tied for the fourth-most in the league, but still sit five points behind the Bruins with only one game in hand.

Road wins in Vegas and Colorado were encouraging signs, but after Connor Ingram was forced to leave Tuesday's game, is there any trust in Tristan Jarry going forward? Harkening back to Stan Bowman's very questionable trade history, should he have been aggressive in acquiring another goalie at the trade deadline? An early playoff exit and another long summer of wondering if Connor McDavid can be convinced to stay in Edmonton awaits.

Is there another "good" team that looks worse than the Knights? Since the conclusion of their six-game winning streak on Jan. 19, the Knights have not been able to get out of their current rut, going 5-11-2 with the third-lowest (!) points percentage in the league.

The Kraken have never seen a middle-six winger they didn't like. It was a little baffling to see them trade two picks for a rental role player in Bobby McMann, a fairly high price for a team facing a high likelihood of a first-round exit, if they even make the playoffs at all.

Considering what we saw from Macklin Celebrini at the Olympics, surely a playoff appearance will see him ascend to greater heights. However, the Sharks are leaving valuable points on the board with overtime losses, though at least they weren't to divisional opponents. Speaking of which, it seems like a scheduling oversight that the Sharks play divisional opponents just five times in their remaining 20 games.

Good news: Jack Hughes is scoring, and Jacob Markstrom has won back the starting job. Bad news: they still have 13 players with some form of trade protection that prevents them from making significant moves to improve their roster.

Time will tell if trading John Carlson was the right thing to do, but it's a clear signal the Caps are focusing on building a team for the future. A beloved veteran who almost everyone expected to retire as a one-team player, which trade was more gut-wrenching: Carlson leaving the Caps or Marc-Andre Fleury leaving the Pens?

The Flyers had shown so much promise at the beginning of the season, but they lost too much ground during a horrific January (4-8-3) when their rival Pens (12-2-2) were flourishing, and they never managed to recover. As the losses and frustration mount, it's also become clear that his roster still has plenty of holes, including a true No. 1 center and a long-term option in net.

Back-to-back wins against the Red Wings help the Panthers play spoiler, but no doubt their focus should turn to the following season. They will receive the benefit of the doubt and remain contenders with captain Aleksander Barkov back in the lineup. The big mystery is who their starting goalie will be.

Only in this season's Western Conference can a team with more losses than wins manage to stay in the playoff race. Practically speaking, however, despite winning three of their past four games, the Jets' playoff hopes are pretty slim.

Artemi Panarin at least makes the Kings more watchable, but it's tough to say whether the Kings' Cup window is opening again or closing faster than anyone realizes. Based on expectations going into the season, Quinton Byfield has been of the biggest disappointments, scoring just 14 points in 36 games since Dec. 1 on a bottom-five offense.

Might the Preds have a sneaky good core coming up with Luke Evangelista, Matthew Wood, Joakim Kemell and Brady Martin? They have 16 picks in the first three rounds in the next three drafts with plenty of vets to deal. Their miscalculations in free agency have been massive, but the turnaround might be actually quicker than anyone thinks.

It's the dawn of the Joel Hofer Era in St. Louis with Jordan Binnington likely to get moved sooner than later. Among the 46 goalies with at least three starts since the Olympic break, Hofer ranks second in save percentage (.955).

Winning four of their past six is encouraging, but the Rangers are the least of the East with 60 points, which no one had really predicted at the start of the season. Their roster remains old, slow and overpriced, and despite some good draft capital, they have not drafted nor developed well in recent seasons. They recently traded Brennan Othmann, the seventh of nine first-round picks from 2017 to 2021 who are no longer with the organization.

Discombobulated, disinterested, disconnected… pick your word. Since NHL resumed play on Feb. 24, the Leafs are the only team in the league that has yet to win a single game, and they're averaging a league-worst 1.88 goals-for per game.

The question the Hawks have to ask themselves is how to surround Connor Bedard with better players so they may be more competitive next season. He's an impending RFA without an extension in place. (Calm down, Canucks fans).

The Flames barely held onto a 4-1 lead against the Canes and lost their next two games by a combined score of 11-3. It's probably going to be like this for the rest of the season. Just a fair warning.

While teams are scrambling down the standings in the final month to see if they can attain a better draft position – ahem, Leafs – the Canucks had already fallen out of the ugly tree and hit every branch by mid-January.

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