Bruins Take Top Spot in NHL Power Rankings
Pastrnak's return makes a difference.
NHL POWER RANKINGS
1 Boston Bruins (8-1-2)
7-0-1 in the past eight games and the return of David Pastrnak is a big scoring boost.
2 Tampa Bay Lightning (8-1-1)
Five straight wins for the defending champs.
3 Montreal Canadiens (8-2-2)
Loss to Senators knocks Habs from top spot but still a great start to the season.
4 Vegas Golden Knights (7-1-1)
After a Covid break, the Golden Knights have won back-to-back games.
5 Carolina Hurricanes (7-3)
Sometimes dominant. Sometimes lose to the likes of Detroit, Chicago, and Columbus.
6 Colorado Avalanche (7-3-1)
The silver lining to the Avs Covid pause is that Nathan MacKinnon should be closer to returning when they are finally cleared to play.
7 Toronto Maple Leafs (10-2-1)
Seven wins in the past eight games and Auston Matthews leads the league with 11 goals in 13 games.
8 Dallas Stars (5-2-2)
Started strong, but late, and now one win in the past five games.
9 Winnipeg Jets (7-3-1)
An impressive start and the lineup gets a lift from the arrival of Pierre-Luc Dubois.
10 Florida Panthers (6-1-2)
Chris Driedger is going to take the starting job in net, isn’t he?
11 Philadelphia Flyers (8-3-2)
Headed for a hiatus, the Flyers are 8-1 in games that don’t involve the Boston Bruins.
12 Washington Capitals (6-3-3)
Depleted lineup has dropped three straight but getting a break that might allow them to get some bodies back in the lineup.
13 St. Louis Blues (7-4-2)
Winless in three and getting some time off with the Wild on the schedule. Just finished four in a row at home against Coyotes and their next action will be three more against the Coyotes.
14 Calgary Flames (5-5-1)
Doing just enough to stay competitive. At the moment, it looks like the Battle of Alberta could be for the fourth playoff spot in the North.
15 Chicago Blackhawks (5-4-4)
One regulation loss in the past nine games. Goaltending makes a difference.
16 Arizona Coyotes (6-5-1)
Coyotes have won four of the past five and winger Conor Garland is emerging as a legit playmaker.
17 New York Islanders (5-4-2)
Not sure if they can score enough but three of their five wins have been shutouts for Semyon Varlamov.
18 Pittsburgh Penguins (5-5-1)
One win in the past five games. Can the Penguins get healthy on the blueline, find an answer in goal, and become a contender or is a rebuild on the horizon?
19 Edmonton Oilers (7-7)
Four wins in the past five games is good but three of them coming against Ottawa, well, we will have to see how it goes.
20 Minnesota Wild (6-5)
The Wild Covid list grows and they are looking at a couple of weeks off by the time they return to action.
21 Buffalo Sabres (4-4-2)
Same goes for the Sabres, who were showing some positive signs before getting shut down.
22 New Jersey Devils (4-3-2)
Another team with an unwelcome break and a long Covid list.
23 Columbus Blue Jackets (6-5-3)
Playing competitively but it took four games before John Tortorella had to bench the one big-ticket scorer on the roster and Mikko Koivu has retired so that’s not great either.
24 Nashville Predators (5-7)
Opened the season with back-to-back wins and have now gone 10 straight without a regulation win.
25 Vancouver Canucks (6-10)
Lost five straight at Montreal and Toronto, getting outscored 26-10.
26 New York Rangers (4-5-2)
A little progress after a slow start but still waiting on Mika Zibanejad and Alexis Lafreniere to get going offensively.
27 San Jose Sharks (4-5-1)
The Sharks are spending a lot of money on goaltending and defense for not very good results in that end of the ice.
28 Anaheim Ducks (5-5-3)
The Ducks don’t have anyone with more than six points in 13 games while Trevor Zegras toils in the American Hockey League.
29 Los Angeles Kings (3-6-2)
Losers of four straight, the Kings could really use some better results with a home set against the Sharks coming up.
30 Detroit Red Wings (3-8-2)
Snapped an eight-game losing streak with a win at Florida.
31 Ottawa Senators (2-10-1)
There have been some signs of more competitive play though it probably just means not having awful goaltending.
MONDAY STARS
STL C Ryan O’Reilly 2 G, 1 A i na 4-3 SO loss to Arizona.
TB C Anthony Cirelli 2 G in a 4-1 win at Nashville.
NYI G Semyon Varlamov had a 30-save shutout in a 2-0 win at the N.Y. Rangers.
TOR G Frederik Andersen stopped 31 of 32 shots in a 3-1 win vs. Vancouver.
MONDAY GAMES
N.Y. Islanders 2 N.Y. Rangers 0
NYI LW Matt Martin 1 G, 1 A
NYI G Semyon Varlamov had a 30-save shutout. (.932 SV% in 8 starts)
Carolina 2 Columbus 3
CBJ G Joonas Korpisalo saved 22 of 24 shots for the win. (.901 SV% in 9 starts)
CBJ LW Patrik Laine was benched for the final 26:19 of the game.
CBJ D Dean Kukan also benched.
Tampa Bay 4 Nashville 1
TB C Anthony Cirelli 2 G (3 G, 3 A in past 5 GP)
Edmonton 3 Ottawa 1
EDM C Leon Draisaitl 1 G, 1 A (8 G, 12 A during a 10-game point streak)
Vancouver 1 Toronto 3
TOR G Frederik Andersen stopped 31 of 32 shots for the victory.(.904 SV% in 11 starts)
Arizona 4 St. Louis 3 (SO)
STL C Ryan O’Reilly 2 G, 1 A (5 G, 6 A in past 9 GP)
STL RW David Perron 1 G, 1 A (5 G, 7 A in past 9 GP)
ARZ LW Clayton Keller 1 G, 1 A (2 G, 2 A in past 2 GP)
ARZ C Christian Dvorak 1 G, 1 A (6 G, 2 A in past 5 GP)
ARZ C Nick Schmaltz 2 A (2 G, 4 A in past 5 GP)
ARZ D Jakob Chychrun 2 A (2 G, 3 A in past 5 GP)
MONDAY SHOTS/EXPECTED GOALS
TUESDAY GAME PROBABILITIES
TUESDAY VALUE DFS PLAYS
VGK C Cody Glass $4300 vs. ANA
WPG C Pierre-Luc Dubois $4000 at CGY
LAK RW Adrian Kempe $3900 vs. SJ
VGK RW Alex Tuch $4200 vs. ANA
SJ LW Ryan Donato $3300 at LA
OTT LW Tim Stutzle $4000 vs. EDM
EDM D Evan Bouchard $3100 at OTT
SJ D Erik Karlsson $4800 at LA