Hey everyone, we here at Yahoo Sports are doing real power rankings for teams Nos. 1-31. Here they are, based on only how I am feeling about these teams, meaning you can’t tell me I’m wrong because these are my feelings and feelings can’t be wrong. Please enjoy the Power Feelings.
31. Los Angeles Kings (Last week: 27)
30. Ottawa Senators (LW: 29)
29. New York Rangers (LW: 28)
When you watched that Penguins game on Sunday afternoon you saw exactly what the Rangers’ problem is: They have talent everywhere but not enough of it, and most of it is on the old side. Georgiev can have a great start or three, sure, but this team isn’t built to compete with actual good clubs for the full 82.
The good thing was that basically the only players who looked any good in that game were the ones they’re gonna trade in the next week here, so you gotta respect it.
28. Detroit Red Wings (LW: 30)
Meanwhile I’ve been seeing a lot of stuff that’s like, “Well look the Red Wings need to make trades but they shouldn’t trade the following 14 pending UFAs.” And it’s like, “The Red Wings should trade everyone who’s not Dylan Larkin, and they should be listening to offers on Larkin.” Come on.
27. Anaheim Ducks (LW: 31)
26. Edmonton Oilers (LW: 25)
25. Chicago (LW: 23)
One thing that was conveniently not-discussed much in the seven-game winning streak was that three of those wins were after regulation (vs. the Islanders, Wild, and Canucks) and three more were against non-playoff teams (Buffalo, Edmonton, and Detroit). They beat Washington 8-5 and that was the only one that was like, “Okay, not bad,” and even then it was definitively a Weird One.
Anyway, this week they played the Bruins and Blue Jackets, lost by a combined score of 11-5, but beat New Jersey. See a pattern developing here?
24. New Jersey Devils (LW: 26)
23. Arizona Coyotes (LW: 24)
22. Vancouver Canucks (LW: 20)
21. Philadelphia Flyers (LW: 22)
It’s really crazy that they have two regulation losses in the last five-plus weeks. During that stretch they’re plus-17 in goals and minus-84 in shots. Which, hey, good goaltending is something they’re not accustomed to in Philadelphia and Carter Hart might just be the first guy in half a century or something (don’t @ me on this I don’t care) to reliably provide it.
That said, don’t get tooooooooo accustomed to .930-plus goaltending because that’s not what hockey is.
20. Florida Panthers (LW: 21)
I don’t think they’re all that good, but the Sasha Barkov goal alone was enough to get them bumped up a spot.
19. Minnesota Wild (LW: 18)
Bruce Boudreau guaranteed a playoff appearance on the morning of Feb. 15. That came following two straight regulation losses. Since then, they’ve lost in regulation and lost in overtime.
Their record in the last nine games is 1-5-3. They’ve scored 22 goals (2.44 a game) and conceded 34 (3.78 a game). I wouldn’t feel too good about that guarantee if I were you.
18. Buffalo Sabres (LW: 19)
17. Colorado Avalanche (LW: 17)
16. Dallas Stars (LW: 16)
15. Montreal Canadiens (LW: 14)
The Habs are now dead even in season-long goal difference but 10 games above .500. I can tell you for sure what I think is closer to their actual skill level.
They’re still holding onto a playoff spot for now but the way Carolina is moving these days, that doesn’t feel like it’s gonna last much longer.
14. Columbus Blue Jackets (LW: 11)
13. Pittsburgh Penguins (LW: 12)
One of the weird things with the Pens this year is that every time they go something like 2-2-1 over a five-game stretch, everyone freaks out like the team is irreparably broken and big changes need to happen ASAP. Then the team immediately goes about 3-0-2 in their next five and everyone calms down.
I think this team should be better than it is, but it’s neither blow-it-up bad nor make-a-big-add close to competing. Like, they’re probably good enough to come out of that division with this group right now today. But if they end up finishing eighth and playing Tampa, they’re not a Matt Duchene or Mark Stone away from beating them, and the winner of Boston/Toronto.
So, I dunno, feel free to make an add or two but probably don’t make it a big one because you’re just gonna end up with buyer’s remorse.
12. Carolina Hurricanes (LW: 13)
I said it in 31 Takes, but it didn’t take an incredible run of goaltending to get this team back into the playoff race in a meaningful way.
Since they began their 16-5-1 run on Dec. 31, the ‘Canes have given up 57 goals on 625 shots — about 2.6 goals on 28 shots a night, not an outrageous number. That’s a .909 save percentage. It’s league-average.
They’re definitely getting the bounces offensively, no doubt about that; they’ve scored 82 times on 699 shots, which is very high at an 11.7 percent conversion rate. But when you’re plus-74 in shots over 22 games, even league-average shooting percentages and save percentages are gonna get you where you need to go.
Call it a little bit of regression, I guess. Because before this run began, the team had a 6.6 percent shooting and .896 save percentage. Unsustainably low. Especially with their plus-371 shot difference over that stretch.
They’re good and have been good, and it’s easy to overlook because of the Storm Surge debate. Maybe it shouldn’t be… after all, you’re seeing a hell of a lot more celebrations in the last month and a half, y’know?
11. New York Islanders (LW: 10)
10. St. Louis Blues (LW: 15)
I still don’t buy Jordan Binnington, an average AHL goalie for his entire career, as the savior of the franchise but you can’t argue with the results. Winners of 10 straight, and closing on Nashville (six points back with three games in hand). This is an incredible turnaround.
9. Winnipeg Jets (LW: 9)
8. Washington Capitals (LW: 7)
7. Vegas Golden Knights (LW: 6)
6. Toronto Maple Leafs (LW: 5)
5. Boston Bruins (LW: 8)
Very very quietly, the Bruins are 7-0-3 in their last 10 games. That’s what you’re looking for, generally speaking, and while I’m not wholly convinced this is a better team than Toronto, they’re still really good. They do everything well, they have game-changing talent at every position, all that good stuff.
I still think they’d be better off finishing below Montreal just so they had an easy path to the Conference Final instead of having to go through Toronto and Tampa, but that doesn’t seem like it’s gonna happen now.
Oh well, just add Panarin I guess.
4. Nashville Predators (LW: 4)
3. Calgary Flames (LW: 3)
2. San Jose Sharks (LW: 2)
These guys went 6-3-0 without Erik Karlsson. Since the start of December, they’re also 17-5-2 with Karlsson.
Just insanely good.
1. Tampa Bay Lightning (LW: 1)
Your “absurd Tampa stat” for the week: They’ve scored at least five goals in a game 23 different times this season. That’s almost twice every five games.
The ENTIRE REST OF THE LEAGUE COMBINED has only done it 340 times. They score five goals or more at twice the average rate. That’s truly incredible.
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Ryan Lambert is a Yahoo! Sports columnist. His email is here and his Twitter is here.
(All stats via Corsica unless otherwise noted.)
