The Montreal Canadiens made sure their first regulation loss of the season was a memorable one when they dropped a 10-0 defeat at the hands of the Columbus Blue Jackets last Friday night. However, the Canadiens bounced back with wins over the Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins and at 11-1-1 there are no doubts they deserve to remain at the top of our NHL power rankings. Meanwhile, the Chicago Blackhawks continued their hot streak by extending their win streak seven straight with a pair of overtime wins over the Dallas Stars and St. Louis Blues and suddenly they are back in the conversation among the NHL’s most dangerous teams. Here is a look at the top-five teams in the NHL right now.
1. Montreal Canadiens (11-1-1)
Last Week: 1
Stanley Cup Odds: +950
Montreal’s goals against took a hit when Al Montoya gave up 10 goals in the loss to Columbus but the Canadiens bounced back with a pair of wins over the Flyers and Bruins and look just fine despite their pace out of the gate slowing down a little bit. It helps that Montreal ranks fourth in the NHL with an average of 3.2 goals per game and it’s reasonable to expect more from the offense with Max Pacioretty and Tomas Plekanec stuck on a combined three goals between them. Carey Price is 8-0-0 with a 1.63 goals against average and .953 save percentage so it certainly helps that they have best goalie in the world between the pipes right now.
2. Pittsburgh Penguins (9-2-2)
Last Week: 2
Stanley Cup Odds: +950
Pittsburgh earned seven of a possible eight points on their road trip that took them through the west coast gauntlet of Anaheim, Los Angeles and San Jose and then came back from down 3-1 to beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 in their homecoming on Tuesday night. Matt Murray is 3-0-0 with a 1..33 goals against average and .957 save percentage and that means the Penguins have two quality goaltenders playing behind a loaded offense. Sidney Crosby has been on fire since making his season debut with eight goals and 10 points through his first seven games and as long as he continues that pace Pittsburgh will be right there with Montreal among the top teams in the NHL.
3. Chicago Blackhawks (10-3-1)
Last Week: –
Stanley Cup Odds: +950
Artem Anisimov’s 11-game point streak came to an end when he was injured in Chicago’s 2-1 overtime win against the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday but the fact that he is among the NHL scoring leaders with 17 points in 14 games is testament to the Blackhawks depth. Patrick Kane is tied for the team lead with 17 points while Marian Hossa has 12, Jonathan Toews has 10 and Richard Panik has 10. Chicago is getting contributions from across the board and ranks second in the NHL with an average of 3.4 goals per game. Meanwhile, Corey Crawford has lowered his goals against average to 1.91 while improving to 7-3-1 with a .939 save percentage. The Blackhawks are getting it done at both ends of the ice right now and suddenly their slow start is easy to forget about.
4. New York Rangers (10-4-0)
Last Week: 4
Stanley Cup Odds: +950
Nobody could have predicted that the Rangers would lead the NHL in scoring through their first 14 games but that has been the case as they have averaged an impressive 4.1 goals per game. Kevin Hayes, J.T. Miller, Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad, Rick Nash, Michael Grabner, Derek Stepan and Jimmy Vesey have each recorded 10 points or more with Hayes and Miller leading the way with 13 points each. Meanwhile, Henrik Lundqvist has looked just fine with a 2.39 goals against average even though Antti Raanta continues to flash his potential as a future franchise goaltender just waiting for his opportunity at 3-0 with a 2.32 GAA. New York had its five-game win streak ended with a surprising 5-3 loss to the Vancouver Canucks but at 10-4-0 they clearly deserve this spot on our list.
5. Edmonton Oilers (9-4-1)
Last Week: 3
Stanley Cup Odds: +1000
The Oilers were fortunate to hold off the Washington Capitals for the final spot on this list following a rough stretch in which they have posted a 2-3-1 record. Consistency was a problem for Edmonton on a three-game losing streak and after bouncing back with wins in New York and Detroit they dropped a 4-3 defeat to Pittsburgh in which they blew a 3-1 lead. There were bound to be rough patches for a young and inexperienced group so we will give them the benefit of the doubt after their first extended road trip of the season but they get back-to-back home games against the Stars and Rangers before heading on a road trip in which they will play Anaheim, Los Angeles and Dallas so they will need to prove themselves if they want to stay on this list for another week. Connor McDavid is tied for the NHL lead with 17 points in 14 games but he will need a little more help if Edmonton is going to make a return to the playoffs this season.
