A compacted NHL schedule has really created somewhat of an epidemic around the league as teams continue to deal with significant injuries. The Montreal Canadiens, Chicago Blackhawks and New York Rangers in particular have managed to overcome significant injuries to this point but it will be interesting to see how they respond without some key players in their lineup over the next couple of weeks. Here is a look at the top-five teams in the NHL right now.
1. Montreal Canadiens (17-6-3)
Last Week: 1
Stanley Cup Odds: +800
The Canadiens couldn’t hang on for a win in St. Louis on Tuesday night but still finished their five-game western road trip with a 2-2-1 record in order to maintain a share of the best record in the NHL. The fact that they their No. 1 center Alex Galchenyuk for the next 6-8 weeks is a tremendous blow and it doesn’t help that David Desharnais also went down with an injury that will keep him out for two months. Carey Price is tied for the league-lead at 14 wins with an 1.82 goals against average and a .942 save percentage and Montreal might need to lean on him even more with Galchenyuk out. The Canadiens need to find more ways to manufacture offense and it wouldn’t be a surprise if they looked to the trade route in an effort to find another top-six forward to help out. Montreal was already thin down the middle even with Galchenyuk and Desharnais so they will really be tested over the next couple of weeks.
2. Chicago Blackhawks (17-8-3)
Last Week: 3
Stanley Cup Odds: +900
The Blackhawks are also without their No. 1 center right now as Jonathan Toews is out with a back injury with no timetable for his return. Corey Crawford has been excellent for Chicago but even he will miss a couple of weeks after undergoing an appendectomy so the Blackhawks depth will be tested with Scott Darling in goal. Chicago is coming off a 4-0 win over the Arizona Coyotes but their schedule will get a lot tougher with home games against the New York Rangers and Dallas Stars before a three-game road trip that will include games against the Rangers, New York Islanders and St Louis Blues. That would be a tough schedule for the Blackhawks even if they were healthy so it will be very interesting to see how they respond.
3. Pittsburgh Penguins (16-7-3)
Last Week: 4
Stanley Cup Odds: +750
Pittsburgh is heating up again as they have averaged nearly seven goals per game over the course of three-straight wins. Sidney Crosby has wasted no time at all with a league-leading 17 goals in his first 20 games while Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel and Patric Hornqvist are all playing at a high level now that they are all healthy. There is some concern that the Penguins’ goalie controversy will become a distraction after the team committed to Matt Murray as their starting goaltender. The rumors of a Marc-Andre Fleury trade continue to swirl but only time will tell if Pittsburgh will find a worthy trade partner. For now the Penguins are scoring too many goals for it to matter all that much and they have certainly put Montreal on notice in the Eastern Conference.
4. New York Rangers (17-9-1)
Last Week: 2
Stanley Cup Odds: +750
Add the Rangers to the list of top teams dealing with injuries right now as the blueshirts are without Mika Zibanejad, Rick Nash, Chris Kreider and Pavel Buchnevich right now. New York has rotated wins and losses in each of its last nine games with some surprising defeats at the hands of the Buffalo Sabres and New York Islanders over that span. The inconsistency pushed them from No. 2 on this list to No. 4 but there are plenty of reasons to expect New York to bounce back. The Rangers still lead the NHL in goals per game and rank in the top-10 in goals allowed per game. New York will play four of its next six on the road so just like some of the other teams on this list their depth will be tested.
5. St. Louis Blues (15-7-4)
Last Week: 5
Stanley Cup Odds: +900
The Blues remain in the final spot on this list for the second week in a row following a gutsy comeback win over Montreal on Tuesday night to improve to 4-0-1 over their last five games. The biggest surprise for St. Louis is that all five of those games went to overtime or a shootout. The Blues are starting to score goals as they have averaged 3.6 goals per game over their last five games. Jaden Schwartz is heating up while Alex Steen has shown some flare since returning from injury to provide some secondary scoring behind the Vladimir Tarasenko line. Meanwhile, Jake Allen is now 13-3-3 with a 2.44 goals against average so he has been just fine handling a bigger workload as the No. 1 goaltender. St. Louis is set to play four in a row on the road so it will be interesting to see if they can stay hot and continue to get consistent efforts across the board up front.
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