NHL Power Rankings- Week 4

* Note: This post was done before Saturday October 26th. 

San Jose: San Jose is the best team in the early part of this season. Neimi looks like the Vezina candidate of last season and the Shark’s defense is limiting chances against. They have gotten points in 9 of 10 games and are tied for 2^nd most in the NHL. The Goal Differential is also a huge plus for the Sharks at +23, the highest in the NHL.

Penguins: Sidney Crosby is on an insane start of the season having 18 points in 10 games and looks like to be the early favorite for the Art Ross Trophy. Marc-Andre Fluery has returned to his winning ways as he has played well during the early part of this season. With the return of former Norris Trophy Candidate, Kris Letang the Penguins will be a very dangerous team going forward.

Chicago: Before Thursday’s game against Tampa, the Hawks were only able to put up about 3 goals. With that in mind, the Hawks only have 1 regulation loss. This team is too good with players such as Toews, Kane, Hossa, and Sharp to only be average 3 goals a game. They will eventually start scoring more goals.

St. Louis: Since the last rankings, the Blues have had a very difficult schedule playing the Sharks, Hawks, Jets and Canucks. They were able to get points in 3 of the 4 games but only won 1 game. They are still one of the best teams in the West despite losing to a shootout in Winnipeg.

Colorado: With a league best record, Colorado continues to get points against very tough teams. Through 10 games, the combo of Varlamov and J.S. Giguere has the lowest GAA at 1.40. Many questioned the defensive ability of Colorado going into this season and right now, they have played very good defensive hockey. Patrick Roy is a good candidate for Coach of the Year.

Boston: Having won 4 straight games, the Boston Bruins are playing very good hockey. They have a +14 goal differential and the top line of Lucic, Krejci and Iginla is starting to click. The loss of Eriksson to Concussion puts a hole on their 2^nd line but the Bruins should be fine and will continue to win until Eriksson returns.

Phoenix: The Yotes have played really good hockey and have been keeping pace with the difficult Pacific division. Despite the 7-4 loss to the Kings, the Coyotes have won most of their previous games and have scored about 4 goals a game. Also Goalie Mike Smith scored a goal; that helps too when your goalie can score.

Toronto: Comeback player of the year, Mason Raymond has contributed with solid secondary scoring while David Clarkson was serving his 10 game suspension. Now with Clarkson back, the Leafs will be a very dangerous team with a very good top 6 and some depth players that can help with scoring.

Ducks: The Ducks had 7 straight wins before losing to Toronto and Montreal earlier this week. They have won on great 5 on 5 hockey. The problem is that the team’s power play is one of the worst in the NHL. With players such as Getzlaf, Perry, Selanne and other, the power play shouldn’t be at the bottom of the league. If they can’t fix this, the Ducks might fall out of the playoff picture.

Los Angeles: The Kings has struggled as a team to play consistent hockey this year. They have alternated wins and losses for the past 2 weeks. They still have a solid top 6 led by Kopitar and Brown and Jonathan Quick is still one of the best goalies in the NHL. The Kings will find their way and return to their winning ways.

Vancouver: The Canucks have had a weird season. They have gotten wins but they haven’t played that well. The scored on themselves against the Canadiens and since that game, they have won 5 of 7, most of them in OT or S/O. This team has a very good top 6 and should be able to win games once Burrows returns from injury.

Montreal: Montreal has played well enough to still be in playoff position. They beat Winnipeg, Columbus, and the Duck but lost to Nashville, Edmonton, and San Jose. If they continue to play like this, it might be difficult for them to reach the playoffs. Carey Price will need to improve his play if they want to make it to the playoffs.

Nashville: With Pekka Rinne out for a month, it will be difficult for the Predators to make the playoffs. Seth Jones has proven he can play top minutes in the NHL and against high skilled guys. The Predators will need great goaltending from Carter Hutton and Magnus Hellberg if they will to stay afloat while Rinne is recovering from his injury.

Detroit: The Detroit Red Wings have hovered around .500 hockey this season and may continue to do so. They have some question on defense with the absence of Niklas Lindstrom who left 2 seasons ago. They should still make the playoffs by the end of the season but this could be an end of a dynasty.

Minnesota: After losing 3 straight on the road, the Wild were able to win against Nashville, Carolina and Chicago. With the injury to Jonas Brodin, the defensive unit will face more challenges. The Offensive unit led by Zach Parise and Mikko Koivu will have to keep scoring if they wish to continue their winning ways.

Columbus: After losing 4 straight against “playoff teams,” the Columbus Blue Jackets have beaten Vancouver, New Jersey, and Toronto averaging 4 goals a game and only letting in at most 2. Sergei Bobrovsky will have to continue is outstanding play if they wish to continue winning.

Carolina: Losing Cam Ward to injury will hurt the Hurricanes chances of winning games. With Ward out, Skinner, Pitkanen, and Khudobin are all injured. With so many key pieces out with injuries, it will be difficult for them to win games.

Ottawa: The Senators has struggled a bit losing 3 of their last 4. Craig Anderson will have to improve his play if the Senators want to make the playoffs. Robin Lehner might see more starts with the struggles Anderson is having.

New York Islanders: The Islanders have been playing .500 hockey these past few weeks and lost 3 of their last 4. They will continue to struggle with Nabokov letting more than 4 goals a game in those last 4 games.

Calgary: The Flames have returned back to normal as they have lost 4 of six these past 2 weeks. Karri Ramo and Joey MacDonald have both struggled and have GAA over 3 and SV% under .900. With both goalies struggling, the Flames will continue to see their way to the bottom of the standings.

Dallas: The Stars are playing .500 hockey and they have lost most of their last games played. Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin have led the offense both with 12 points. Kari Lehtonen has played well this season but only has 4 wins in 7 games but is injured. Dan Ellis and Jack Campbell have struggled leading to the multiple losses for the Stars.

Winnipeg: Ondrej Pavalec has struggled this season with a GAA over 2.5 and a SV% under .910. With only 4 wins in 12 games played, the Jets will only go as far as he carries them. The offense has been decent and the team has had goaltending and defensive issues.

Capitals: Alexander Ovechkin is on an scoring goals left and right. He has scored 10 goals in 11 games. The problem with the Capitals is that Braden Holtby has struggled and is unable to make easy stops. The Capitals should be one of the top teams in the Metropolitan division but due to Holtby’s struggles, they are not.

Florida: The Panthers have not played well and they have also had injury problems. Starting goalie, Tim Thomas is injured and it looks like Jacob Markstrom looks like he isn’t ready for full time NHL duties. Until Thomas returns, it looks like the Panthers will be an easy team to beat.

Tampa: Stamkos (18 points) and St. Louis(14) are leading this team offensively. Defensively, they have struggled and Ben Bishop has played alright but has enough offensive support to win games as he has let in more than 2 goals in the past 3 games.

Edmonton: Devin Dubnyk has struggled and is like swiss cheese. He has let in a lot of goals and the Oilers are not playing good defensive hockey. With Taylor Hall out for a few more weeks, the offense might struggle but they should be fine with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, David Perron, Jordan Eberle, and Nail Yakapov.

New Jersey: They finally got their 1^st win of the season when the beat the Rangers 4-0 last Saturday. They play Boston tonight and other than that 1^st win, they have struggled. Cory Schneider is out so Brodeur will have to play great to make sure they win some games.

New York Rangers: The Rangers have played pretty bad during this 9 game road trip. They have lsot against teams they could of beaten and they end their trip against a good Detroit Team. With Lundqvist injured, they will have to rely on rookie Cam Talbot with Martin Biron retiring.

Buffalo: The Young Sabres team has struggled and have lost most of their previous games. If they continue to lose, it looks like they will make a move to acquire more draft picks to improve their future.

Philadelphia: The Flyers have struggled this season but were able to beat the Rangers on Thursday. They play the Islanders tonight and they will need Claude Giroux to step his game up and start scoring some points if they wish to remove themselves from the bottom of the Metropolitan Division.