The Vegas Golden Knights are off to a 4-0 start, but the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche rise while the Florida Panthers and Seattle Kraken dive down the NHL power rankings.

Welcome back to the ever-popular NHL power rankings at The Hockey News. Published every Wednesday, all 32 teams will be ranked from best to worst with an emphasis on their weekly performances.

You try not to overreact in the second week of the season. The Kraken will surely score more goals and the Lightning will allow fewer shots, right? And the Knights – they will lose at some point, no?

There were a range of surprising results, from an 8-1 drubbing of the Oilers by the Canucks to a 51-save performance by Mackenzie Blackwood to earn a point for the Sharks against the heavily favored Avalanche. Heck, Auston Matthews’ back-to-back hat tricks seems like the most innocuous of them all.

This is typical in the first week because it’s our first real look at every team. As a result, there’s plenty of movement in the power rankings, but for the third straight week, the Knights remain at the top. The Stars climb to second, falling short after a shootout loss Tuesday, while many of last week’s top-five teams take a tumble, including the Canes (surprising) and the Panthers (not surprising).

(All fancy stats are 5-on-5 and courtesy naturalstattrick.com. CF% stands for Corsi-for percentage and xGF% represents expected goals-for percentage.)

1. Vegas Golden Knights (4-0-0, +10 goal differential. CF% league rank: 16, xGF% league rank: 20)

For the second time in their very short history, the Knights start the season 4-0-0. They’re deep at every position, and the defending champs really look like they could go back-to-back. Only two other teams in the cap era have accomplished this feat: the Lightning and Penguins.

2. Dallas Stars (1-0-1, even. CF%: 5, xGF%: 3)

The margin is thin. The Stars lost 3-2 in a shootout Tuesday night, and the outcome could’ve easily gone their way if Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz didn’t hit the post. Jake Oettinger looks like the best goalie in the Western Conference.

3. Colorado Avalanche (3-0-0, +7. CF%: 7, xGF%: 5)

It was a hell of an adventure, no thanks to Mackenzie Blackwood’s heroics that almost blemished the Avs’ perfect record. Averaging 39 shots per game, their offense is as frightening as ever. The Avs benefit from an early soft schedule and do not face a top-tier intraconference opponent until the Knights on Nov. 4.

4. Toronto Maple Leafs (2-1-0, +1. CF%: 18, xGF%: 13)

Some players were good, and some definitely were not. The Leafs were shaky, but they’re undoubtedly a very good team. John Klingberg has been a huge difference-maker on the power play.

5. New York Rangers (2-1-0, +3. CF%: 2, xGF%: 1)

Igor Shesterkin held two of their opponents to just one goal. The analytics look good, and the Rangers also pass the eye test. The scoring has been a little more balanced with only four forwards yet to register a point.

6. Boston Bruins (2-0-0, +3. CF%: 3, xGF%: 14)

Perhaps the call for a huge regression is overblown. Their goaltending remains superb, but with San Jose, Anaheim (twice) and Chicago coming up, I expect them to cakewalk this creampuff schedule. It’s slightly concerning, but not entirely unexpected, that only three forwards have scored a goal.

7. Carolina Hurricanes (3-1-0, +3. CF%: 1, xGF%: 16)

When the Canes debuted their #CauseChaos hashtag, I didn’t think they meant it literally. A wild 6-5 shootout win over the Kings when they nearly blew a 3-0 lead, then losing 6-3 to the Ducks, then falling behind twice to the Sharks and having to pull Frederik Andersen due to a potential injury before scoring four goals in 6:01 to secure a win.

8. Edmonton Oilers (1-2-0, -3. CF%: 6, xGF%: 9)

The Preds were set up for a revenge game by the Canucks. The Oilers had a minus-8 goal differential in their two matchups, got really angry because they deserved better in their second game, then obliterated the Preds with coach Jay Woodcroft playing Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on the same line. It’s either destroy or get destroyed for the Oilers so far.

9. Los Angeles Kings (1-1-1, even. CF%: 9, xGF%: 2)

Cam Talbot and Pheonix Copley both looked bad, allowing 11 goals through the first two games, then responded by allowing just one goal against the Jets. Their goaltending will determine their season.

10. Winnipeg Jets (1-2-0, -4. CF%: 4, xGF%: 10)

Very mixed bag. A gutsy home opener win against the Panthers with Paul Maurice back in town, then losing 5-1 in Pierre-Luc Dubois’ return. The ultimate bad news? Gabe Vilardi was injured against the Kings.

11. Minnesota Wild (2-1-0, +2. CF%: 21, xGF%: 27)

They’ve got two good goalies, and the hard part is figuring out who to play and when. Losing Matt Boldy is going to hurt an offense that doesn’t have a lot of weapons to begin with, and they’ll need it with the Oilers, Devils (twice) and Rangers (twice) coming up in a couple of weeks.

12. Florida Panthers (1-2-0, -3. CF%: 13, xGF%: 11)

A drop that everyone expected after making the Stanley Cup final last season, getting outscored 8-4 while missing their top two defensemen. They righted the ship with a close 4-3 win over the Devils to prevent a big freefall.

13. New Jersey Devils (1-1-1, -1. CF%: 8, xGF%: 19)

Jack Hughes looks dominant, but the team doesn’t. After a season-opening win, the Devils dropped two straight against two opponents they should’ve beaten. Don’t fret; the Devils started lost their first two games last season before taking off.

14. New York Islanders (2-0-0, +2. CF%: 10, xGF%: 7)

Sample size is small, but we are most certainly sure of one thing: They will go only as far as Ilya Sorokin takes them, and he's allowed only two goals in two games.

15. Pittsburgh Penguins (2-1-0, +5. CF%: 23, xGF%: 15)

They don’t look nearly as dominant, especially on the power play, with Erik Karlsson in the fold. A 4-2 season opening loss was followed up with two solid wins against two shaky opponents. The Pens move up slightly from last week.

16. Ottawa Senators (2-1-0, +4. CF%: 24, xGF%: 17)

They’ve won two straight and outscored their opponents 10-4; imagine what they could do with Shane Pinto in the lineup. Goaltending was their biggest question mark, and so far, it’s holding up.

17. Detroit Red Wings (2-1-0, +5. CF%: 20, xGF%: 8)

The Wings jump up five spots from last week with an impressive 6-4 win over the Lightning, and then showed off their offense again in a 4-0 win against the Jackets. That Dylan Larkin-Alex DeBrincat connection is legit; maybe Steve Yzerman’s onto something collecting all the Michigan boys.

18. Buffalo Sabres (1-2-0, -4. CF%: 19, xGF%: 26)

That supposedly elite offense is averaging just two goals per game. It’s early in the season, but it’ll be a tight race in the East, and the early litmus test shows that perhaps the Sabres just aren’t quite ready yet. Defense remains a problem.

19. Tampa Bay Lightning (1-2-1, -4. CF%: 22, xGF%: 29)

Following a season-opening win, the Lightning have dropped three straight and allowed at least three goals in all of four games. They miss Andrei Vasilevskiy badly, and I’m not sure if it’s ignorance or arrogance that Tampa hasn’t gone out and gotten someone to stop the bleeding yet.

20. Philadelphia Flyers (2-1-0, +1. CF%: 12, xGF%: 4)

Told you they wouldn’t be so bad! The Flyers jump seven spots from last week behind two strong performances from Carter Hart. It’s a tough schedule, but with Sean Couturier back and a deeper lineup, with the way John Tortorella’s teams keep grinding, they’ll be winning more games than anyone expected.

21. Vancouver Canucks (2-1-0, +6. CF%: 30, xGF%: 31)

Take away the goals scored for a sec, and you’ll realize the Canucks are allowing the fourth-most shots on goal with a 12-shot difference between shots-for and shots against. Their defense is still porous, and the big difference is they’re bending but not breaking. Perhaps they deserve a better ranking based on their record, but their underlying numbers aren’t good at all.

22. St. Louis Blues (1-0-1, even. CF%: 27, xGF%: 23)

There's far too little to go on, facing a Roope Hintz-less Stars in the opener and then facing the worst offensive team in the league in the Kraken. To his credit, Jordan Binnington looks good, and he’s yet to throw a punch.

23. Arizona Coyotes (1-2-0, -1. CF%: 26, xGF%: 22)

The Yotes don’t have the record to show for it, but they’re vastly improved. They had a great season opener pitting Logan Cooley against Jack Hughes, and they lost by just one goal against the Rangers and Islanders.

24. Washington Capitals (1-1-0, -3. CF%: 28, xGF%: 32)

A 4-0 loss to open the season against the rival Pens was not a good look, and neither was the shootout win against the Flames because Alex Ovechkin somehow ended up with zero shots on goal. How?! This team is old, and they can’t score.

25. Calgary Flames (1-1-1, -2. CF%: 11, xGF%: 24)

It started off really promising with a 5-3 win over the Jets, who are always a tough out, but then allowed seven goals over their next two games. Jacob Markstrom’s actually doing his job, but his team’s not scoring nor defending.

26. Nashville Predators (1-3-0, -5. CF%: 17, xGF%: 6)

I’m not sure why the Preds want to crimp Roman Josi’s style by playing Tyson Barrie with him on the power play, which has scored only twice in 17 tries. The Preds want to play faster and open up the offense, but with what offensive players, I pray tell?!

27. Columbus Blue Jackets (1-2-0, -4. CF%: 29, xGF%: 28)

Tough to get a read on the Jackets with coach Pascal Vincent playing around so much with the lineup. One thing that’s really worked out for them is Patrik Laine at center. Their offense comes and goes, and so does their defense. At least with their added depth, losing Zach Werenski doesn’t sting as much.

28. Seattle Kraken (0-3-1, -10. CF%: 14, xGF%: 18)

They’re the only team in the league to average less than a goal per game. It’s really feast-or-famine with this team on offense. You wait for the normalization between a really good team (last season) and a really poor one (season before last), but it just never comes. Not having that one elite player is actually hurting them. The Kraken drop the furthest this week, having been ranked No. 11 last week.

29. Anaheim Ducks (1-1-0, even. CF%: 31, xGF%: 21)

If they went back to the eggplant and jade, they’d go 82-0. That win against the Canes was impressive, thanks to Frank Vatrano’s hat trick, and if Lukas Dostal keeps this up, the Ducks should put John Gibson on the block and get a nice haul for him.

30. Montreal Canadiens (1-1-1, -3. CF%: 15, xGF%: 12)

What a blow losing Kirby Dach for the season due to ACL and MCL injuries, and he had been pushing Nick Suzuki to be the top center, too. It’s a tough league, and the Habs just don’t have enough high-end talent or quality depth to really compete.

31. Chicago Blackhawks (2-2-0, +2. CF%: 25, xGF%: 25)

Connor Bedard is off to a great start and, yes, the attention surrounding him is a little ridiculous. He has, however, been quite something to watch. In the cap era, only four rookie forwards have averaged over 20 minutes per game: Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Anze Kopitar and now Bedard. That’s great company.

32. San Jose Sharks (0-2-1, -7. CF%: 32, xGF%: 30)

Mackenzie Blackwood had the game of his life, and the Sharks still lost. They led 1-0 and then 3-2 against the Canes and still lost. Are you sensing the theme here?!