For the first time this season there was a major shakeup in the NHL top-five power rankings with the Pittsburgh Penguins ascending to the top of the list for the first time while a third team from the Metropolitan division joined the mix. Meanwhile, the St. Louis Blues found themselves on the outside looking in after dropping out of the fifth spot while the Columbus Blue Jackets, Washington Capitals and San Jose Sharks are right there with St. Louis just on the outside looking in. Here is a look at the NHL top-five power rankings for this week.
1. Pittsburgh Penguins (20-7-3)
Last Week: 4
Stanley Cup Odds: +800
The Penguins have won seven in a row to climb to the top of the NHL standings at 20-7-3 this season. Pittsburgh has scored four goals or more in each of those wins and now leads the NHL with an average of 3.5 goals per game on the season. Sidney Crosby has led the way with 21 goals and 33 points in 24 games while Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel and Kris Letang have provided some solid support. Matt Murray has established himself as the clear No. 1 goaltender for the Penguins as he is now 12-2-0 with a 1.93 goals against average and a .935 save percentage. Pittsburgh will continue to lean on its offense to lead the way but Murray’s rise has given them some stability in goal and there is no doubt at this point that the defending Stanley Cup champions are once again the team to beat in the NHL.
2. Montreal Canadiens (19-6-4)
Last Week: 1
Stanley Cup Odds: +900
Injuries and a lack of depth have contributed to the Canadiens’ inconsistencies of late as they have posted a 3-2-1 record over their last six games. Montreal is without Alex Galchenyuk and David Desharnais down the middle and after beating the New Jersey Devils and Colorado Avalanche by a combined 15-3 score they fell to the Boston Bruins 2-1 in overtime on Monday night. The Canadiens are off until Friday but their schedule is about to get a lot tougher as they will play San Jose, Washington, Anaheim and Minnesota over their next four games before heading out on a seven-game Christmas road trip that takes them through Florida and to stops in Nashville, Dallas and Toronto. This next month will be a real test to the team’s character, depth and resilience but they have already conceded the top spot on this list to the Penguins this week.
3. Chicago Blackhawks (19-8-4)
Last Week: 3
Stanley Cup Odds: +1000
The Blackhawks have leaned heavily on Scott Darling since Cory Crawford was injured and he has rewarded their faith in him by allowing one goal or fewer in four straight starts. Chicago has done an excellent job in front of him but ultimately Darling deserves a ton of credit for Chicago’s strong play of late. Meanwhile, the return of Jonathan Toews should help the Blackhawks but they are still leaning heavily on the top line of Patrick Kane, Artem Anisimov and Artemi Panarin. Chicago needs more from Toews and Marian Hossa in order to become a more consistent and balanced team but right now they are playing some pretty good hockey despite dealing with some significant injury issues.
4. New York Rangers (20-10-1)
Last Week: 4
Stanley Cup Odds: +800
The Rangers are another team that has been hit hard by the injury bug but have managed to stay on track thanks in large part to the excellent play of their backup goaltender. In this case, Henrik Lundqvist was actually benched in favor of Antti Ranta, who is 8-2-0 with a 1.69 goals against average and .941 save percentage. Those are solid numbers that look even better when compared to Lundqvist’s 2.55 GAA and .912 save percentage. New York should start to get some bodies back with Rick Nash, Mika Zibanejad and Pavel Buchnevich inching closer to returns and it will be very interesting to see what this team is capable of when they get back to full strength.
5. Philadelphia Flyers (19-10-3)
Last Week: –
Stanley Cup Odds: +2500
The latest addition to the top-five power rankings is a Philadelphia team that has won 10 in a row to send a message to the rest of the NHL that they can be a legitimate contender this season. The Flyers are scoring goals in bunches with four capable lines but it’s the top players like Wayne Simmonds, Jakub Voracek and Claude Giroux that are leading the way once again. The emergence of Brayden Schenn and Travis Konecny has added speed and balance to Philadelphia’s lineup and they are up to 3.2 goals per game, which is the fourth-highest mark in the NHL. The Metropolitan division is absolutely loaded with five of the top-eight teams in the Eastern Conference and right now the Flyers are right behind Pittsburgh and New York in our NHL power rankings.
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