I'm back behind the controls of the good ship Power Rankings. Feels
good. Natural. Right. So let's set the record straight as we sail into
2017 and the league closes in on the midpoint of what has been an
unpredictable season so far.
All
you have to do to secure the top spot in the rankings is win 15
consecutive games -- which the surprising Blue Jackets have done, capped
by a key road win on New Year's Eve over almost-as-hot Minnesota in the
State of Hockey.
The
Wild won 12 in a row before running into the buzz saw that is the Blue
Jackets. Still, Wild coach Bruce Boudreau's squad hit Jan. 1 one point
behind Chicago for the Central Division lead (with three games in hand)
and owns the top winning percentage in the Western Conference.
With
all the attention -- richly deserved -- focused on Columbus, it's been
easy to forget just how good Pittsburgh has been. Led by the league's
top goal scorer,
Sidney Crosby, the Pens went 12-1-2 in December and their 17 home wins are tops in the league.
The
Rangers are cooking once again, riding a three-game win streak. Their
13 road wins rank first in the NHL -- which is always a good barometer
of what separates the contenders from the pretenders.
Captain
Alex Ovechkin
keeps rolling toward 1,000 points and the Capitals picked up points in
11 of 15 December games as they try to keep Columbus, Pittsburgh and the
Rangers within sight in the Metro Division.
The
Blackhawks, bitten by the injury bug again, plateaued a bit as they
prepared to kick off 2017 with an outdoor tilt against division rival
St. Louis at Busch Stadium. Chicago has won just once in its last five
games.
The
Sharks -- whose nine December wins vaulted them to the top of the
Pacific Division standings -- are making life difficult for Edmonton,
Anaheim and Calgary.
Brent Burns continues to lead all defensemen with just under a point a game.
The Habs hit 2017 -- and a trip back to Nashville for defenseman
Shea Weber
-- tracking a little sideways, with just two wins in their last six
games. But the Canadiens still enjoy a comfortable lead atop the
Atlantic Division and rank fifth in the league in both goals-for and
goals-against per game.
The
Blues are hoping that hosting their first outdoor game will help
reverse a trend that has seen them struggle through the final days of
2016. St. Louis won just six of 14 December games.
The
Oilers have been very good on the road this season (10-5-5), but much
less successful (9-7-2) in their shiny new home in Edmonton. So it's not
necessarily a bad thing that they kick off '17 with four on the road --
although they'll have their hands full in Columbus on Tuesday.
The
Ducks began a five-game homestand with a shootout win over Philadelphia
on Sunday, vaulting them into second place in the very crowded Pacific
Division. Given how ordinary the Ducks have been on the road (8-8-6),
they'd better take advantage of that home ice at the Honda Center.
Mikael Backlund
is on fire and now leads the Flames with 11 goals as Calgary has moved
into the top wild-card spot in the Western Conference. They still give
up too much -- the Flames are 20th in goals allowed per game -- but have
rebounded nicely after a grisly start.
The Kings continue to be very much in the playoff discussion.
Jeff Carter is leading the way with 20 goals, including seven game winners. Imagine what will happen if
Anze Kopitar (three goals) gets going and
Jonathan Quick gets healthy.
The
'Canes have their work cut out for them to get into the playoffs, but
they have gone 5-2-1 in their last eight games and boast the league's
top penalty-killing unit. Carolina has been exceptional at home and
brutal on the road. It plays back to back in St. Louis and Chicago this
week.
It
wasn't that long ago that the Flyers were the toast of the NHL as they
reeled off 10 wins in a row. Oops. The Flyers have gone 1-4-2 since that
streak. They've dropped to the second wild-card spot in the Eastern
Conference and are in danger of falling out of the playoff picture
altogether.
Don't look now, but the Leafs have won five in a row after
Auston Matthews'
dramatic OT winner in the Centennial Classic on Sunday outdoors in
Toronto. Surely it's too soon for this young Leafs team to be a
realistic playoff threat. Isn't it?
The
Senators are just kind of meh, middle-of-the-road in the most important
statistics -- and yet they continue to surprise by holding onto a
playoff berth in the Atlantic Division. I honestly don't see that
lasting much longer.
The
Bruins, like Ottawa, are hanging around in the mediocre Atlantic in
spite of an off season statistically for three-time Frank J. Selke
Trophy winner
Patrice Bergeron. Excellent penalty killing and the solid play of goalie
Tuukka Rask has helped.
The Lightning are getting healthier and
Ondrej Palat and
Nikita Kucherov are helping to keep their otherwise disappointing team within hailing distance of the playoffs. No
Ben Bishop puts more pressure on goalie
Andrei Vasilevskiy -- although the latter has shown that he can handle the spotlight.
The Predators won just four of 14 games in December and will be without
P.K. Subban
for at least a couple more weeks. Nashville remains much in the playoff
picture in the Central Division, but the Preds need to be more
consistent if their preseason hype is to be fulfilled. They might want
to start on Tuesday, when they welcome Shea Weber home.
The
Stars keep waiting to turn the proverbial corner, but even with
improved play they still lack the consistency needed to be a playoff
team. If captain and emotional catalyst
Jamie Benn,
who was banged up in a New Year's Eve loss to Florida, is lost to
injury for any length of time, it could end Dallas' playoff hopes.
Whenever
I want to heap more dirt on the Canucks, they throw together an
impressive stretch of hockey. Like now. In spite of an ugly minus-20
goal differential, Vancouver has won three in a row and remains in the
hunt.
Jaromir Jagr,
second all-time in NHL scoring, keeps chugging away. The rest of the
moribund Panthers? Not so much. The defending Atlantic Division champs
have not won three in a row all season. Good thing they fired their
coach, though.
The
Jets aren't very good at home, where they used to be dominant, and are
worse on the road. It's pretty hard to make the playoffs that way. I
have to think that ownership is getting a bit antsy about a team that is
allowing just a hair under three goals a game.
The
Wings showed plenty of heart in coming back outdoors in Toronto on New
Year's Day to at least grab a loser's point for the overtime loss. But
Detroit's offense is still pop gun on most nights and its power play,
0-for-3 on Sunday, is dead last in the league.
The Islanders, who waived netminder
Jaroslav Halak
last week, are actually playing their best hockey of the season. That
they remain 13th in the Eastern Conference and have a league-low four
road wins tells you all you need to know about their wasted season.
The
Sabres are tied with Arizona for 29th in goals per game and haven't won
more than two games in a row since the first week of November. These
have been hard times under the Pegula family for pro sports teams in
Buffalo, with the Bills once again sitting out the NFL playoffs.
Injuries
are an issue for the Devils, but most hockey folks thought this team
would be much better than the one that managed just four wins of 15
games in December and fell out of the playoff race in the Eastern
Conference. The most shocking stat? New Jersey is 27th in goals allowed
per game. Ouch.
Tough
times in the desert for Dave Tippett's young crew. This team might not
be ready for prime time, but they should be better than they've shown
this season.
The
Avalanche and their league-worst minus-48 goal differential and
league-low 25 points are a tire fire. When does ownership take enough
interest to make meaningful changes?
No comments:
Post a Comment