Lightning bolts tend to be very popular in creating Halloween scenes, so it is only fitting that the Tampa Bay Lightning have been white hot in the month of October. They have just one regulation loss in their first 10 games and have a three-game cushion over Toronto for the Atlantic Division lead. It should come as no surprise that they lead off the final NHL Power Rankings of the premiere month of the season.
The bigger headline, however, may be with the rookies (what else is new?). While Clayton Keller has shined, he cannot help Arizona win. On the top level of the Pacific Division, however, Adrian Kempe is starting to lead the charge for the first place team in Los Angeles. He should be a heavy Calder Trophy candidate with Jeff Carter out for a while.
1. Tampa Bay Lightning: 17 points
Previously 3 (11 points)
It is not like Peter Budaj is an unreliable goalie. Andrei Vasilevskiy just will not lose. In nine starts, his only loss was at Florida, which was Tampa Bay’s second game of the season. This week, Vasilevskiy allowed just one goal each in comfortable wins over Pittsburgh and Carolina, and he shut out Columbus on 43 shots when the Tampa Bay offense miraculously had just 21. He is not the only Russian who remains hot, as Nikita Kucherov barely kept his season-opening point streak in tact with 11 goals and six assists. He has failed to score just once so far this season, and that was in Columbus on Thursday.
2. Toronto Maple Leafs: 14 points
Previously 1 (12 points)
The top offense in the NHL took a “step back” this week, scoring three times in each their two games this week. After Frederik Andersen crumbled in Ottawa, he and the Leafs recovered in a battle between two of the hottest teams in the NHL. Matt Martin had an early goal and a fight in the win over Los Angeles, and Andersen made 36 saves. Now it is time to check out the Golden State.
3. Pittsburgh Penguins: 13 points
Previously 2 (9 points)
I feel better having Pittsburgh near the top, now. I felt like I kept them this high because of their Stanley Cups, but it looks like they are starting to play like champions again. While Tampa Bay torched them in Florida, the Penguins continued to win close games, as they have now won five of their last six games decided by one goal. That run continued on Tuesday, when Phil Kessel took a feed from Evgeni Malkin (it was the opposite in New York last week) to score the overtime goal to sink Edmonton.
4. Los Angeles Kings: 15 points
Previously 4 (11 points)
LA’s first long road trip had a bump in the road. On Monday, LA became the final team to lose in regulation, falling 3-2 in Toronto. They recovered the next day with a shootout victory in Ottawa. A week after his first career hat trick, 2014 first-round pick Adrian Kempe continued to roll over opponents. After scoring against the Leafs, he forced overtime with a goal off a turnover with two minutes remaining in Ottawa. He ended it with a nifty shootout winner.
5. St. Louis Blues: 15 points
Previously 6 (10 points)
The Florida trip threatened to water down their hot start, but the Blues recovered nicely. With just three losses in the road-heavy start to the season, they can really take over the Central Division with six of their next seven games at home after Friday’s tilt in Carolina. Alexander Steen dominated the Flames on Wednesday, picking up a point on every non-empty net goal.
6. Chicago Blackhawks: 12 points
Previously 7 (9 points)
That 10-goal opener seems very far away. Chicago is struggling to put wins together, but that hot start keeps themselves firmly near the top of the Central Division. It would help, though, to beat someone other than Arizona with a slew of division opponents (and the two meetings with Philadelphia) on the horizon. Patrick Kane has goals in three straight games and points in six straight games.
7. Columbus Blue Jackets: 12 points
Previously 5 (10 points)
Anyone that starts a home stand with Tampa Bay and Los Angeles should not expect anything good to happen. That’s what happened to Columbus, but they did recover with an easy win over Buffalo on Wednesday. With underachievers like the Bruins, Panthers, and the Rangers coming up, the Jackets look to be in good shape for the second straight season. Seth Jones has been counted on to boost the Blue Jackets ever since he was traded from Nashville two years ago, and he kickstarted the Columbus rout with points on the first two goals against Chad Johnson.
8. Ottawa Senators: 12 points
Previously 9 (8 points)
Ottawa finally won a home game, but the struggles at home have become mystifying. Despite just one win at Canadian Tire Centre, the Senators have just one regulation loss to go with an overtime loss to the Devils and three shootouts losses. Craig Anderson and Mike Condon need to work on their shootout skills because the team’s playoff positioning may depend on it. It took just nine games for Nate Thompson to pass his goal total from last season. He scored twice in the last two games, including a late shorthanded goal (the seventh shorty of his career) to put the Kings on the brink.
9. Vegas Golden Knights: 14 points
Previously 13 (10 points)
Do crazy “Wichita State-like” mascots creep you out? Do you think teams with two injured goalies are in trouble? Look away because the Golden Knights are still winning with their third goaltender. Oscar Dansk, a former second-round pick by Columbus in 2012, made his NHL debut on Saturday. Since then, he has allowed just three goals in about 71 minutes and has two wins. Maybe the Knights have a future Henrik Lundqvist (Dansk is Swedish), but will the expansion team’s winning ways continue with a northeast swing starting Monday?
10. New Jersey Devils: 12 points
Previously 14 (10 points)
New Jersey’s light week ended on Friday following a back-
to-back. After a thrilling overtime win in Ottawa, the Devils were shut out at home by San Jose. They face Ottawa and Arizona before embarking to Western Canada. It would be a night to remember for first overall pick Nico Hischier, as he scored his first two career goals on Thursday. Taylor Hall added four assists in that game, including one on John Moore‘s overtime winner.
11. Anaheim Ducks: 9 points
Previously 12 (5 points)
Why win 6-2 in one game when you can do it twice? The Ducks turned things around in a big way this week, tripling up the Habs and the Flyers for two easy wins. Will that continue with stingier defense in the Southeast? Ondrej Kase and Derek Grant took turns being the star of the week. Both had a two-goal game and a one-assist night in those blowout victories.
12. Dallas Stars: 10 points
Previously 13 (6 points)
It should come as no surprise that the Stars had a four-game winning streak heading into Tuesday with the weakness of their schedule. After Colorado snapped their run, the Stars will head up to Canada for four games. Tyler Seguin has a five-game point streak in tact, which included two huge third-period goals to defeat Arizona on Thursday.
13. Washington Capitals: 9 points
Previously 8 (7 points)
After a fast start, the Capitals have slowed down significantly. They have lost three straight at home, including poor offense in the last two, and find themselves near the bottom of the division standings. It gets no better from here, as Matt Niskanen and Andre Burakovsky are out for at least a month. Even their Western Canada road trip may be a challenge considering how difficult the last two games were against Detroit and Florida. Alex Ovechkin scored the overtime winner in Detroit on Friday. Not only was it his NHL-high 10th goal of the season, but he passed Jaromir Jagr for the most overtime goals in NHL history with 20.
14. Carolina Hurricanes: 7 points
Previously 11 (5 points)
Carolina came up big in Alberta before losses to Dallas and Tampa Bay to finish off the week. Their schedule picks up with three games in four days starting on Thursday. Jeff Skinner continued his hot offensive start by contributing on both Carolina goals in the win over Calgary and provided two more netters in the loss to the Stars.
15. Calgary Flames: 10 points
Previously 10 (8 points)
Calgary’s offense has gone from decent to brutal in just one week. Even in their lone win, the Flames failed to score more than two goals in any of their four games. With just two games this week, Calgary could be in danger of playing catch-up in the Pacific Division again. The 3M line caught some life this week. Matthew Tkachuk scored to help the Flames force overtime in Nashville before scoring the shootout winner. The next day, Mikael Backlund scored two easy goals to provide to only offense in St. Louis.
16. Nashville Predators: 10 points
Previously 18 (7 points)
Pekka Rinne came close to having two shutouts this week, but the Flames solved him in the third period on Tuesday. At least he can brag about what he did on Thursday. He shut out the Flyers on 28 shots in a game where the offense was completely smothered. Following a loss despite just 15 shots allowed and Calgary’s comeback, however, the Preds could use a win over Chicago to retain confidence.
17. New York Islanders: 11 points
Previously 19 (5 points)
After three straight wins in New York (including the roadie in Manhattan), the Islanders rushed into the thick of the Metropolitan Division. Winning against two slumping teams in Minnesota and Nashville would be huge for an Isles squad with an amped attack and has huge match ups with Vegas and Washington coming up. John Tavares invaded the goal at Barclays Center this week, picking up seven points in two games and a hat trick against Arizona on Tuesday.
18. Edmonton Oilers: 5 points
Previously 15 (2 points)
Leon Draisaitl is back, but the Oilers continue to look bad. They played three games and the final score was 2-1 in all three. Only once did they end up on the right side, as Connor McDavid helped them win with a shocking no-look assist to Patrick Maroon in Chicago on Thursday. Mark Letestu scored the overtime winner on the power play, but that could not stop Edmonton from boasting the worst offense in the NHL through October 26. Yuck.
19. Winnipeg Jets: 8 points
Previously 16 (6 points)
Want a freak stat? Connor Hellebuyck has won all of his four starts, while Steve Mason has been clobbered in his three starts. We may never know how good this team would be if Hellebuyck started every game, but it looks like no goalie questions have been answered more emphatically than the one in Manitoba. In their lone game on Friday, Patrik Laine dominated the power play and the Jets controlled the offensive end in the third period, and Blake Wheeler‘s scored his 200th NHL goal on the game-winning shot.
20. Philadelphia Flyers: 10 points
Previously 20 (8 points)
In a week where offense was nonexistent for a huge portion of the three games at Wells Fargo Center, Anaheim sure took it hard on the Flyers. But actually, though. Kevin Bieksa pummeled Radko Gudas in a fight that basically summed up Anaheim’s rout on Tuesday. Wayne Simmonds struck again on Saturday, as his wrist shot was the game-winning goal against the Oilers.
21. Boston Bruins: 7 points
Previously 21 (4 points)
It was a slow week for the Bruins, but it was productive nonetheless. It would have been nice, however, if they had not blown a 4-1 lead to Buffalo and settled for one point on Saturday. Patrice Bergeron returned to action on Thursday and had a goal and three assists against Vancouver, and Anders Bjork added two goals of his own. Having guys like them at the same time as David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand is bound to cause plenty of goals, as Anders Nilsson can comprehend.
22. San Jose Sharks: 8 points
Previously 27 (4 points)
The Big Apple tour may have saved the Sharks following an awful start. The offense and defense clicked in their wins in Jersey and Manhattan. Martin Jones allowed just one goal in those two wins, including his first shutout of the season, and Logan Couture went off with a hat trick in San Jose’s loss to the Islanders. He added two more points in MSG.
23. Minnesota Wild: 6 points
Previously 22 (4 points)
While a win in Calgary helped matters, the wins are not coming consistently enough for the Wild. The offense had been in the top five in the NHL before they were shutout by the Canucks at home on Tuesday. Devan Dubnyk has tried, but he will now be without Zach Parise for another two months following back surgery. Luke Kunin, who was Minnesota’s first round pick last season, picked up his first NHL points, both assists, in the win in Calgary. It was just his third NHL game.
24. Colorado Avalanche: 10 points
Previously 24 (8 points)
After three straight losses, the Avalanche badly needed to stop the bleeding on Tuesday. Enter Matt Nieto. He put up his first career hat trick to keep the Stars at bay. It was his first points of the season. Alexander Kerfoot, a New Jersey fifth-round pick from 2012, had his first multi-goal game in the loss to St. Louis on Thursday.
25. Vancouver Canucks: 11 points
Previously 29 (5 points)
What is going on with the Pacific Division????? The two teams that were supposed to be really bad this season (Vegas and Vancouver) are flirting with first place in the Pacific Division. The Canucks have impressively ripped off four wins in five games on the road, and continued success against teams like Washington and Pittsburgh could make this team a real threat. Anders Nilsson had one awful start in Boston, but he also had two shutouts on the road trip. The second one was a 29-save shutout in Minnesota with Vancouver clinging to a 1-0 lead.
26. Detroit Red Wings: 9 points
Previously 25 (8 points)
That hot start faded quickly. Too bad. Playing in Tampa Bay will not do them any favors, but perhaps they can regain some needed confidence with Florida and Arizona coming up afterward. Tomas Tatar forced overtime against Washington with two third period goal, including one of the craziest tip-ins we will see this season.
27. Florida Panthers: 6 points
Previously 23 (4 points)
The Panthers were in trouble with their schedule, and two losses to Pittsburgh and another one in Montreal have them sinking fast. Anaheim and Tampa Bay are next, and Florida could be at the bottom if the Canadiens heat up. Vincent Trocheck led a balanced attack in Florida’s win over Washington on Saturday, and he joins three others for Panthers with at least seven points but no more than eight.
28. Buffalo Sabres: 8 points
Previously 28 (4 points)
It is an improvement to get more wins in three games than in the first eight. That comeback win in Boston may be a break though for the Sabres. On the other hand, that 5-1 loss on national TV did not do them any favors, either. Jake McCabe picked a great time for his first points of the season, as he assisted on both third period goals in Boston to force overtime.
29. New York Rangers: 6 points
Previously 26 (3 points)
The Rangers do not have a road trip longer than two games until January, but the struggles at MSG continue. They collected three points in as many home games this week, with the only win coming against Nashville. A loss to Arizona to close out the home stand would be crippling. Kevin Hayes, who was one of many to struggle out of the gate, carried New York in that win with a breakaway that resulted in a Jesper Fast put back and his second goal of the week one period later.
30. Montreal Canadiens: 5 points
Previously 30 (2 points)
The situation is getting dire in Montreal. The Alex Galchenyuk rumors are swirling, fingers are being pointed, and the Habs’ offense and defense are very close to the cellar. The Kings, Blackhawks, and Senators await, and they will not go easy on them. Shea Weber was one of the many disappointments to the season’s start, but he scored twice to help the Habs crush Florida and end their seven-game losing streak on Tuesday.
31. Arizona Coyotes: 1 point
Previously 31 (1 points)
Is it possible to not win the Calder Trophy because your team is that awful? Everything that was supposed to work for the Coyotes is just not. They have now lost seven straight regulation games and have yet to find the win column. Every other team is at least four points ahead of them. Clayton Keller has been the only consistent offensive threat for the lottery-bound team (too early?), as his six goals are triple the next best scorers on the team.
BOLD PREDICTIONS:
Last week:
Henrik Lundqvist shuts out the Nashville Predators. A win is a step in the right direction, though.
Cam Atkinson nets a hat trick against Los Angeles on Saturday. Not a good start to Atkinson’s season.
The Red Wings allows less than 20 shots on goal against Buffalo on Tuesday. Off again. The Buffalo offense still struggled to get past Jimmy Howard, though.
This week:
Evander Kane scores at least twice against the Sharks on Saturday.
Connor Hellebuyck holds Pittsburgh to one goal on Sunday.
Vancouver pots two power play goals against New Jersey on Wednesday.