Are the Pittsburgh Penguins Back? Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MTk0NDQxOTM3OTM0MTAwMTQ1/usatsi_19609994.jpg] After two weeks in the top spot and five weeks in the top-three, the Devils’ hellish week with a 0-2-1 record sees them make a significant drop. Hopefully, it’s a short-term lull in an otherwise unexpectedly wonderful season, but perhaps no team at the top of the standings faces as much scrutiny as they do. They’re young and talented, sure, but the flip side of that coin is inexperience, and of the top 10 teams in this week’s Power Rankings, they have the least amount of playoff experience by a significant margin. The Bruins move back into the top spot for the fifth time this season when no other team has done so more than twice. It’s also the eighth week they’ve ranked in the top three, and with their league-leading 47 points and .839 points percentage, there should be little to no debate they’re the best team. It is the highest points percentage as of Dec. 14 since 2008-09 when the San Jose Sharks reached a .862 P%. But if the Bruins keep it up, they could have the highest points percentage in the cap era, with the record being .780 P% set during the 2018-19 season by the Lightning. Coincidentally, it was the last time the Bruins made the Stanley Cup final, but note that was also the season the Lightning were swept by the Blue Jackets in a historic opening-round upset. (All fancy stats are 5v5 and courtesy naturalstattrick.com. CF% stands for Corsi For Percentage [http://www.naturalstattrick.com/glossary.php?teams] and xGF% represents Expected Goals For Percentage.) 1. Boston Bruins (23-4-1, +49. CF% league rank: 5, xGF% league rank: 5) There’s little debate. Even their only loss last week felt like the hockey gods cried mercy for the Coyotes, who snapped a six-game winless streak despite getting outshot 46-16. Otherwise, the Bruins have lost in regulation just twice (!) since Oct. 20. 2. Tampa Bay Lightning (18-9-1, +17. CF%: 12, xGF%: 10) Thanks to a perfect 3-0-0 week and having lost just three times since Nov. 13 – twice to the Bruins – the Lightning climb back to the No. 2 spot the first time since the pre-season rankings. Anthony Cirelli has added some depth and offense, notching six helpers in five games. 3. Toronto Maple Leafs (19-5-6, +30. CF%: 16, xGF%: 12) What a run the Leafs have been on, and Kyle Dubas’ big gamble on both Matt Murray and Ilya Samsonov has paid off huge. Goal differential is usually a good indicator of a team’s strength, and the Leafs are third in the league right now. 4. Vegas Golden Knights (21-9-1, +19. CF%: 24, xGF%: 17) What’s interesting about the Knights’ season sweep of the Jets is that Adin Hill was the winning goalie in all three games. It’s been a bit of a mixed bag lately and the injuries are piling up, so don’t be surprised if the Knights falter in the rankings a little going forward, but they’re making it work so far. 5. Dallas Stars (17-8-5, +26. CF%: 9, xGF%: 15) They needed overtime to stave off the Sens and Wings, but it was an otherwise solid week for the Stars. Their only loss came against the Pens, no thanks to a last-minute goal by Evgeni Malkin, and they made a statement with a 4-1 win over the Devils. 6. Winnipeg Jets (18-9-1, +19. CF%: 18, xGF%: 18) Two straight losses to the Knights and Caps drop the Jets out of the top five, but their hold as one of the top three teams in the West remains intact. Josh Morrissey should be in the conversation for the Norris. 7. Carolina Hurricanes (16-6-6, +8. CF%: 1, xGF%: 1) The Canes maintain their seventh spot despite playing just two games over the past week, and the big takeaway has been Pyotr Kochetkov’s incredible season with two straight shutouts in just 11 starts. Now begs the question: what does their tandem look like when Freddie Andersen returns?! 8. New Jersey Devils (21-6-2, +33. CF%: 2, xGF%: 2) The Devils finished the week without a win and a minus-6 goal differential, and what hurt most were the two losses against their New York rivals. They’ve now lost five of their past 10 games after losing three through the first 19 games of the season. Is it a small blip or are the cracks really starting to show? 9. Pittsburgh Penguins (17-8-4, +18. CF%: 13, xGF%: 14) The Pens were one of six teams to finish the past week with an unblemished record, thanks to a power play that has suddenly come alive thanks to Evgeni Malkin. Tristan Jarry has also been perfect through December with a 5-0-0/.938/2.00 line. 10. New York Islanders (17-12-1, +11. CF%: 21, xGF%: 25) A win against the Devils was good, but a shutout loss to the Canes and then a shootout loss to the Bruins, their fifth loss in seven games, shows that the Isles still aren’t good enough to be in the top tier. The Isles slide down the ranks for the fourth straight week. 11. Minnesota Wild (15-11-2, +3. CF%: 15, xGF%: 11) The Wild are heating up with six wins in their past eight, with some thanks to strong goaltending performances. It’s nice the Wild no longer have to pretend Kirill Kaprizov is their only source of offense with Mats Zuccarello leading with five points and Matt Boldy leading with two goals and 17 shots over the past week. 12. Washington Capitals (15-12-4, +2. CF%: 14, xGF%: 16) What a turnaround thanks to Charlie Lindgren, who is turning out to be one of the best under-the-radar signings of the summer. Alex Ovechkin’s hat trick against the Hawks gives him 800 goals in his career [https://thehockeynews.com/news/alex-ovechkin-becomes-third-nhler-to-hit-800-career-goals] and is just one shy of tying Gordie Howe for second all-time. 13. Edmonton Oilers (17-13-0, +7. CF%: 19, xGF%: 22) The competition wasn’t tough – Coyotes, Wild x2, Preds – but Jack Campbell’s win provides a sigh of relief. Stuart Skinner is still their guy, and with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl continuing to do what they do, the Oilers are not in danger of missing the playoffs. 14. Florida Panthers (14-12-4, +4. CF%: 3, xGF%: 3) They just can’t find their footing. They allowed just one goal against the Wings and Jackets, but then nine against the Lightning and Kraken, whom they just beat 5-1 a week earlier. It’s literally night and day when either Spencer Knight or Sergei Bobrovsky are in net. 15. Seattle Kraken (16-9-3, +7. CF%: 8, xGF%: 7) All the goal scoring and analytics couldn’t convince me the Kraken were a good team. Their goaltending is all shades of déjà vu from last season, and they’ve lost four of their past five. Collecting more wingers should be rather low on their priority list. 16. Detroit Red Wings (13-9-6, -3. CF%: 28, xGF%: 27) That’s three straight losses and six of their past eight. If Dylan Larkin is out for a while, having left the game Tuesday against Carolina, it does not bode well for their playoff hopes. They’re now three points out of a wild card spot. 17. Buffalo Sabres (13-14-2, +12. CF%: 6, xGF%: 13) The losses seem secondary to what’s going on with the Sabres: the emergence of Tage Thompson as a top-tier No. 1 center and the continuing strong play of both Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power. No matter where the Sabres rank, this is the most optimistic the franchise has been since Chris Drury and Danny Briere. 18. New York Rangers (15-10-5, +8. CF%: 10, xGF%: 8) It’s kind of funny that the Rangers’ analytics regress and they rip off three straight wins against top-tier competition, as if they should just slack off and let Igor Shesterkin do all the work. It worked for them last year, right? 19. Colorado Avalanche (15-10-2, +9. CF%: 17, xGF%: 19) It’s the third straight week the Avs have dropped significantly in the rankings. Four straight losses, including two to the Bruins by a combined 9-1 score and another to the friggin’ Flyers, then two straight wins by just one goal… yeah, that’ll do it. Are they still a contender, though? If healthy, absolutely. Should Colorado Worry About Their Injury Woes? 20. Ottawa Senators (12-14-2, -3. CF%: 7, xGF%: 9) Still waiting for that big rip up, but it’s been uneven with only one winning streak lasting longer than three games (Oct. 18 to 24). Intrigue in a potential new ownership aside, it’s absolutely bizarre how they’ve lost key centers to shoulder injuries in consecutive seasons, including Shane Pinto last season, Josh Norris last season and this season and now Tim Stutzle. They literally can’t catch a break right now. 21. Montreal Canadiens (14-12-2, -13. CF%: 22, xGF%: 21) It was a slow week with a loss on Saturday and win on Monday following a three-day break, which means the Habs stay right where they are as a potential playoff team but also not bad enough to enter the draft lottery despite being in the midst of a rebuild. 22. Calgary Flames (13-11-5, -2. CF%: 4, xGF%: 4) They can’t score. Jacob Markstrom is getting back on track, but he gets zero support, and some of the losses are just flat-out inexcusable. Bad penalties, bad defensive coverage… these aren’t hallmarks of a Darryl Sutter team. 23. Vancouver Canucks (12-13-3, -12. CF%: 25, xGF%: 28) Their off-ice headlines have taken over their on-ice play, and after three straight overtime wins, they looked listless against the Wild in a 3-0 loss. The question now is whether the Canucks want to embrace the tank. 24. Los Angeles Kings (15-12-5, -12. CF%: 11, xGF%: 6) There’s nothing Todd McLellan can do about bad goaltending, but I’m a little surprised that we haven’t heard his name on the hot seat. We’re two months into the season and no coach has been fired, which must be a record of some sort, but the Kings really need to figure out their goaltending because it’s costing what otherwise would’ve been a pretty good season. Oh yeah… and they’re still third in the Pacific Division. 25. Columbus Blue Jackets (10-16-2, -35. CF%: 29, xGF%: 29) Patrik Laine has provided a big injection of life into their offense, scoring seven points in his past four games. He’s been scoring at a point-per-game pace with the Jackets since last season, which is hard to do when Boone Jenner and Jack Roslovic are your top centers. 26. St. Louis Blues (13-15-1, -23. CF%: 27, xGF%: 26) Good news: Jordan Binnington’s playing better. Bad news: They have a ton of ground to make up and they’re getting blown out a lot. They can’t find their rhythm, and it’s not going to get any easier the rest of the way facing only two opponents (Canucks, Blackhawks) with losing records to close out 2022. 27. Nashville Predators (12-12-3, -15. CF%: 20, xGF%: 20) That’s now four straight losses and yet the Preds are still at .500. Preds fans, how are you enjoying sports purgatory? 28. San Jose Sharks (10-16-5, -16. CF%: 23, xGF%: 23) The Sharks have won just five games over the past month, two of which came recently against the Coyotes and Ducks, two teams that are decidedly much worse than them. 29. Arizona Coyotes (9-14-4, -25. CF%: 31, xGF%: 31) Karel Vejmelka has this exceptional ability to steal a game here and there, including a shutout win against the Canes and then a surprise upset over the Bruins. 30. Philadelphia Flyers (9-14-7, -27. CF%: 26, xGF%: 24) You got to feel for them. No-talent roster and three straight one-goal defeats, including to Vegas and Colorado on the road. Something is really wrong when James van Riemsdyk is your leading scorer for the week. 31. Chicago Blackhawks (7-16-4, -36. CF%: 32, xGF%: 32) After winning four of their first six games, prompting loud whispers of a potential nobody-believes-in-us season where they exceed all expectations, they lost 18 of their next 21 games. 32. Anaheim Ducks (7-20-3, -60. CF%: 30, xGF%: 30) Thank you for making my job easy.
