A Small Sample Size and a Big Overreaction: NHL Power Rankings Week 1
Rookie Scoring Galore!
Biggest Jump: Edmonton Oilers, 16
Biggest Drop: New York Islanders, 23
1. Florida Panthers (2–0–0) (UP 7) — Playing an exciting up-tempo offense, the Panthers have opened their season with two wins against Metro opponents. Carter Verhaegae scored twice, including the OT game winner against Pittsburgh opening night, while Sam Bennett was the star of the show against the Islanders, potting a hat trick. Aaron Ekblad has picked up where he left off, as he scored twice against the Pens. Sergei Bobrovsky’s .967 save percentage speaks for itself. Tuesday’s night matchup in Tampa Bay is a must watch.
2. Pittsburgh Penguins (2–0–1) (UP 10) — Watchout world, the Penguins are still here to play, and boy, Head Coach Mike Sullivan has them playing fearless. Pittsburgh, not including empty netters, is averaging four goals a game without Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. First line Jeff Carter leads the way with four points for the Pens, who have taken down Tampa and Chicago, while keeping it close against Florida. Before hosting Toronto Saturday night for game three of an eight-game homestand, Pittsburgh plays Dallas tomorrow.
3. Edmonton Oilers (2–0–0) (UP 16) — Connor McDavid is unreal. McDavid, through his first two games, has been a part of five of Edmonton’s seven goals. McDavid threw two assists in game one versus Vancouver while he had a hat trick Saturday against Calgary. Jesse Puljujärvi has been excellent in two games, putting up four points. New Oiler Zach Hyman scored in his debut while providing great defense on the penalty kill. Edmonton closes out a three-game homestand against Anaheim Tuesday before heading to Arizona Thursday.
4. Boston Bruins (1–0–0) (UP 3) — Boston opened their season Saturday night versus Dallas, as the Bruins still look like world-beaters. Dominating the shot clock, Boston jumped on the scoreboard first with Brad Marchand scoring on a penalty shot, the first of two goals for Marchand. Dallas struggled against rookie goalie Jeremy Swayman, who saved all but one of 28 shots thrown his way. Jake DeBrusk notched the game winner, coming about five minutes into the third. Boston heads to Philly Wednesday before coming to Buffalo Friday.
5. Minnesota Wild (2–0–0) (UP 4) — After a sluggish opener against Anaheim on Friday night, the Wild took Los Angeles by storm with a much more inspired performance. Kevin Fiala has hit the ground running with a point in each game so far; Fiala is on a one-year prove it deal. Marcus Foligno netted the game winner in Anaheim with 7.2 seconds to go, while L.A. couldn’t tie Minnesota late. Cam Talbot has been outstanding, playing both games on the back-to-back, posting a .950 save percent. Winnipeg tomorrow.
6. Tampa Bay Lightning (2–1–0) (DOWN 5) — You want to go toe-to-toe with one of the best offenses? Sure. You want to play a low-scoring battle? Sure. After shaking off the rust of an ugly 6–2 (3 empty net goals) loss opening night to Pittsburgh, Tampa looks like Tampa once again. Tampa stormed back against Detroit, tying things up with three goals in the last six-ish minutes of the game before Ondřej Palát tapped in the OT winner. After a close OT win against Washington Saturday, Tampa hosts Florida tomorrow.
7. Carolina Hurricanes (2–0–0) (DOWN 2) — Carolina’s high-powered offense has feasted through two games, as they’ve put up nine goals (one empty net). The Canes opened at home versus Metro opponent New York (Isles), with Andrei Svechnikov and Teuvo Teräväinen having big games, posting three and two-point nights, respectively. Frederik Andersen played great in Nashville, stopping 38 of 40 shots; Andersen has a .926 save percent early on. Carolina heads to Montréal for the first time since Sebastian Aho was offer sheeted, Thursday.
8. Toronto Maple Leafs (2–1–0) (DOWN 2) — William Nylander continues to do what he’s always done, as he’s racked up four points in the first three games for Toronto. Willy scored the GWG against Montréal in game one, while providing a tally in a failed comeback effort in Ottawa. New Leaf Michael Bunting put away Ottawa Saturday, scoring his first with the team. Petr Mrázek went down in Ottawa, and is out two weeks minimum. Auston Matthews will make his debut tonight against the Rangers.
9. Washington Capitals (1–0–1) (UP 8) — Alex Ovechkin, age 36, is still kicking it and having a BLAST. Ovechkin scored twice in the Caps home opener against the Rangers, while notching another tally against Tampa on Saturday night. While the Caps did lose to Tampa in OT, Washington outshot them 33–24. Vitek Vanecek has looked sturdy, providing a .938 save percent. Evgeny Kuznetsov looks revitalized, with the Russian centering Ovechkin and Tom Wilson. Washington hosts Colorado tomorrow, while playing their first road game against New Jersey on Thursday.
10. Columbus Blue Jackets (2–0–0) (UP 15) — Columbus has opened the season strong, as they ride the back of Elvis Merzlikins, who in two games, has a .948 save percent. Merzlikins will be honoring Matiss Kivienieks, who passed away this offseason, by wearing number 80 (Pierre-Luc Dubois of Winnipeg, formerly of Columbus, will do the same). Columbus thrashed Arizona opening night, with Oliver Bjorkstrand totaling four points in the 8–2 victory. Patrik Laine kept Columbus undefeated, as the Finn recorded an overtime winner against Seattle on Saturday. Columbus heads to Detroit for their first road test tomorrow.
11. Seattle Kraken (1–1–1) (UP 3) — A roller coaster of emotion to start for a franchise just finding its feet. Opening night against Vegas didn’t go to plan, however, erasing a three-goal deficit has to show fans these Kraken are ready to compete. Seattle won their first game in franchise history against Nashville Thursday night, with Brandon Tanev netting two goals, including the GWG. Tanev provided all the scoring Seattle could muster against Columbus, as the Kraken lost 2–1 in OT. Seattle opens Climate Pledge Arena Saturday against Vancouver.
12. St. Louis Blues (1–0–0) (UP 3) — Winning against one of the favorites to win the Cup (albeit without their best player) isn’t a bad way to kick your season off. David Perron, 33 years of age, had two goals to kickstart his year. Offseason trade acquisition Pavel Buchnevich registered his first point with the Blues, an assist on Justin Faulk’s goal. Colton Parayko and Marco Scandella both did some heavy lifting for St. Louis, each providing at least 26 minutes of ice time. The Blues head to Vegas Wednesday.
13. Colorado Avalanche (1–1–0) (DOWN 12) — Playing their first two games (and potentially more) without Nathan MacKinnon, the Avs took down Chicago while falling to St. Louis. Darcy Kuemper was successful in his Avalanche debut, saving 32 of 34 shots, but looking average against St. Louis, stopping 23 of 27. Nazem Kadri leads Colorado in scoring through two matches, with four points. Bowen Byram scored his first career NHL goal against Chicago, with the Avalanche defense totaling five points in two games. Colorado gets Washington tomorrow and Florida Thursday.
14. Vegas Golden Knights (1–1–0) (DOWN 11) — After an excellent match welcoming in Seattle, the Golden Knights took one hard against the Kings Thursday night. Not only did they lose 6–2 to L.A., but Mark Stone and Max Pacioretty both went down with injuries; Stone is only day-to-day while Patches is out week-to-week with a broken foot. Will these injuries push Vegas to an Eichel trade? Robin Lehner was subpar against Seattle and more so against L.A., getting pulled. For a team in win now mode, things aren’t going smoothly to start.
15. Ottawa Senators (2–1–0) (UP 12) — After splitting a pair of games against Toronto (what is this, the North division?), Ottawa clinched a win against Dallas to get off on the right foot to start the year. Speaking of getting off on the right foot, Ottawa re-signed Brady Tkachuk to a seven-year deal. Anton Forsberg was great for the Sens against Toronto, posting a .935 save percent in the two games, stealing the first game from the Leafs. Ottawa hosts Erik Karlsson and the Sharks Thursday.
16. Detroit Red Wings (1–0–1) (UP 12) — Young and electric, the jovial children of Detroit are playing loose with a ton of energy. After Tyler Bertuzzi scored four goals for Detroit, the team blew a three-goal lead with just under seven minutes to play against Tampa Bay. This is a young team and mistakes will be made. In a game against a more experienced Vancouver, the Red Wings held on, with Thomas Greiss stopping 23 shots in the third. Moritz Seider is one to watch for the Calder.
17. Vancouver Canucks (1–1–1) (DOWN 1) — Vancouver is still a mystery box of a team, and through three games, they’ve shown why. Down two goals to Edmonton in the third, no problem. Blow a two-goal lead but recover in a shootout against Philly, why not? A bit of a shaky performance on the second half of a back-to-back against an up-and-coming Detroit, completely reasonable. New acquisition Conor Garland has three points while Alex Chiasson and Oliver Ekman-Larsson have two points to boot. Vancouver moseys on over to Buffalo Tuesday.
18. Philadelphia Flyers (0–0–1) (DOWN 8) — What a wacky start for Philadelphia’s season. After Joel Farabee opened the scoring for the Flyers, Vancouver scored three unanswered goals. The teams traded goals, leaving the Flyers down two entering the third. Credit to Head Coach Alain Vigneault for leaving Carter Hart in after a brutal first two periods; Hart stood on his head in the third and OT. After Travis Konecny notched one late, captain Claude Giroux tied the game with about a minute to go. Philly would lose in the shootout. Seattle tonight.
19. New Jersey Devils (1–0–0) (UP 7) — Couldn’t have asked for a more exciting home opener from the Devils. The big fish Dougie Hamilton scores his first goal as a Devil 17 seconds in and puts to bed any doubters of his prowess as an elite two-way defenseman. Jack Hughes was simply sensational for New Jersey, as he recorded a crafty goal off a takeaway, Hughes also recorded the overtime winner, with the celly of the year to boot. Let’s not talk about the blown lead though… New Jersey plays Seattle tomorrow.
20. New York Rangers (1–1–1) (DOWN 7) — Opening night for the Rangers couldn’t have gone worse, as they were shelled 5–1 by Washington. Forget that game ever happened. An overtime loss to Dallas at the home opener was a sign of progress. The Rangers rebounded with Alexis Lafrenière spoiling Montréal’s home opener with a goal in his hometown. With Ryan Strome out, and Kaapo Kakko hurt, the top-six will need Artemi Panarin to get out of his funk. Adam Fox looks fantastic on the blueline. New York plays in Toronto tonight.
21. Buffalo Sabres (2–0–0) (UP 11) — Buffalo, by fact, has not lost through two games. HOWEVER, Buffalo has defeated two subpar teams. Looking at Montréal, we see they came off the first half of a back-to-back before starting Sam Montembeault against the Sabres. Buffalo, highly emotional, came out and took advantage of the Habs, with Kyle Okposo showing great character during and after the match. And the Coyotes are just bad, someone had to win. Let’s see what tomorrow against Vancouver reveals. Even more so, Boston on Friday.
22. San Jose Sharks (1–0–0) (UP 8) — For one game, it’s not a bad performance from the Sharks. Adin Hill may have continued the San Jose tradition of not being able to stop a beach ball (.870 save percent), but he got the win against Winnipeg. Making their debuts, Jasper Weatherby and William Eklund both recorded their first NHL points. UFA to be Tomáš Hertl recorded a power play marker, as did Weatherby. San Jose heads to Montréal tomorrow before playing in Canada’s capital Thursday.
23. Los Angeles Kings (1–1–0) (DOWN 2) — The stars have come out to play in Los Angeles, as captain Anže Kopitar and loudmouth Drew Doughty have put up seven and six points, respectively. Captain Kopitar shined in game one against Vegas, as he had a hat trick and two assists; Doughty had a four-point night against the Golden Knights. Newcomers Phillip Danault and Viktor Arvidsson have both recorded their first goals as Kings, the pair have three points combined. It’s officially the Cal Petersen era, as #40 won opening night.
24. Anaheim Ducks (1–1–0) (UP 7) — Even without John Gibson Friday night against Minnesota, Anthony Stolarz stood on his head for Anaheim. Gibson and Stolarz have made Anaheim’s goaltending its greatest strength this season, as the two have combined to stop 74 of 77 shots through two games. John Gibson is out to prove he is the best American goalie, as he outmatched fellow American Connor Hellebuyck in Anaheim’s opener win over the Jets. Mason McTavish scored the first goal of his career against Hellebuyck. Anaheim hits Western Canada this week.
25. Dallas Stars (1–2–0) (DOWN 3) — After an opening night win against the Rangers, the Stars haven’t played exceptionally well, losing games to Boston and Ottawa. Miro Heiskanen’s winner against New York came in overtime, as the Stars blew a 2–0 lead. Dallas matched their goal total from their first game in their two losses, as Boston beat the Stars by two and Ottawa won by a goal. Braden Holtby has been steady in net with a .939 save percent. Dallas heads to the Steel City Tuesday.
26. Calgary Flames (0–1–0) (DOWN 8) — Opening your season against your rival on their ice typically never ends well. Calgary lost the first round of the Battle of Alberta, as they were crunched by Edmonton. Calgary’s penalty kill had a tough time dealing with Connor McDavid, as the PK went two for four. Andrew Mangiapane and Elias Lindholm scored for the Flames, although Edmonton responded quickly after Lindholm’s goal. Rasmus Andersson was fined $5k for roughing (essentially a headbutt but the NHL disagrees) Kailer Yamamoto. Calgary plays Anaheim tonight.
27. New York Islanders (0–2–0) (DOWN 23) — Expecting four goals through two games for the Islanders is reasonable. What isn’t is expecting them to allow 11 goals in those two games. It is abundantly clear that the Isles can’t keep up with high octane offenses in the regular season. They tried against Carolina and lost 6–3. Florida kept the Isles at bay all day. Ilya Sorokin has been abysmal, only saving 85.5 percent of shots. New York’s 13-game road trip to start will have year-long consequences. In Chicago Tuesday.
28. Winnipeg Jets (0–2–0) (DOWN 17) — Connor Hellebuyck, a perennial Vezina contender, simply hasn’t lived up to his standards, only producing a .900 save percent at 5v5. Special teams have been atrocious, as the Jets have yet to score a power play goal (they have allowed a shorthanded goal as well) and have only killed off 60 percent of penalties. The PK has certainly impacted Hellebuyck’s save percent negatively. The offense has been absent as well, with Winnipeg only scoring four goals. Winnipeg heads to Minnesota tomorrow before their opener Thursday.
29. Chicago Blackhawks (0–2–1) (DOWN 6) — Yes Seth Jones may be “a minute-eater” but good god has he been bad through the first three. Marc-André Fleury doesn’t just get yanked from games, that defense as a whole let him down in Pittsburgh, and it wasn’t gently. Kirby Dach and Dominik Kubalík, who scored a goal each to help Chicago recover a point in New Jersey, must step up for Chicago to do anything this year. Chicago has a winnable matchup versus the Islanders tomorrow before hosting Vancouver Thursday.
30. Nashville Predators (0–2–0) (DOWN 6) — What are the Nashville Predators? One night they play dynamic and the next is just off; see Juuse Saros’s two games; an .880 save percent versus a .935 in game two. Mysterious. While Matt Duchene hasn’t made it onto the scoresheet yet, Filip Forsberg and Ryan Johansen both have; Forsberg with three points while Johansen is one behind. Nashville did outshoot both Seattle and Carolina, however, keep in mind score effects. Nashville heads to Winnipeg Saturday after hosting L.A. and New York (Rangers).
31. Arizona Coyotes (0–1–1) (DOWN 2) — Designed to be a mess, that is exactly what the Coyotes were in game one of the season, as they got clobbered by the Blue Jackets, losing 8–2. Unexpectedly, Karel Vejmelka, showed out in his NHL debut against Buffalo, stopping 32 of 33 shots. However, the Yotes could not keep up with the Sabres in a shootout, keeping Arizona winless. Jakob Chychrun remains the workhorse for Arizona, averaging 25:25 of ice time through two games. Arizona heads home to host St. Louis tonight.
32. Montréal Canadiens (0–3–0) (DOWN 12) — If Montréal could score… that’s a giant if. Only three goals through three games, talk about a slow start. Jake Allen has been great in net, providing a save percent of .925 in two games. The Habs need forwards Cole Caufield, Christian Dvorak, and newly extended Nick Suzuki to pick up the offense if this team wants to make it to the playoffs for a third straight season. Seeing Jonathan Drouin perform with two goals is an amazing storyline. The Habs welcome San Jose tomorrow.
