NHL Power Rankings: Avalanche show superiority with playoff push set to begin
The Avs stand atop the NHL as the playoff push begins
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1 min read
As the NHL closes the book on February, the next two months will be an all-out sprint toward the playoffs. Every team's schedule is loaded in March and April, and that will make for games with massive postseason implications every night.
The Western Conference has five teams within six points of the second wild-card spot, so expect battles with serious playoff intensity over the next two months. The packed schedule means some teams could catch fire and shoot up the standings, but it also means a team could sink like a stone if it goes cold.
Even for the top teams, whose playoff spots are all but locked up, fans will get some fantastic playoff previews between March and April. Off the ice, those clubs could provide some fireworks as they try to get an upper hand at the trade deadline.
As the NHL gets ready to ramp up the intensity, here are the updated NHL Power Rankings:
Biggest Movers
5
Canadiens
5
Rangers
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | | When the Avalanche flip the switch, they can overwhelm any opponent. They showed that in their 6-3 win over the Jets. After the first period, the Jets held a 3-0 lead, but that quickly evaporated. Colorado woke up and scored six straight goals to win the game. No lead is safe against this Avs team. | 1 | 19-2-6 |
| 2 |  | Matthew Tkachuk is going to be a restricted free agent after this season, and the size of the bag he is about to collect increases with every game. Tkachuk leads the Flames in expected goals at five-on-five with 13.35, and he is playing well ahead of a point-per-game pace with 59 in 51 games played. | 1 | 10-15-4 |
| 3 |  | This past week was perhaps the first time that the Panthers looked mortal. They lost three games in a row, and an old Achilles heel might be rearing its head. Since Jan. 23, Sergei Bobrovsky ranks 76th in the NHL in goals saved above average at -6.67. The one thing that could sink this Florida team could be goaltending. | 2 | 12-12-2 |
| 4 |  | In the midst of a five-game winning streak, the Hurricanes' point percentage has surged to .750, which is second to only the Avalanche. Carolina will be a team to watch as the trade deadline approaches because it has the firepower to win it all, but some upgrades here and there could put it over the top. | 4 | 16-8-2 |
| 5 |  | Now that he's fully healthy, Nikita Kucherov is starting to look like his old self. He has a goal and an assist in each of his last three games, and Kucherov takes an already imposing Tampa Bay offense and makes it even more lethal. | 1 | 16-9-2 |
| 6 |  | Auston Matthews is throwing up some truly ridiculous numbers these days. In his last three games, Matthews has scored four goals and tallied nine total points. Even with Jack Campbell struggling, the Leafs will have a chance every night when Matthews is as hot as he is right now. | 1 | 13-11-3 |
| 7 |  | Evan Rodrigues got off to a blazing start in the 2021-22 season, and he has already set new career highs in goals and points. However, Rodrigues has just four points since Jan. 8. Fortunately for the Penguins, other players have gotten healthy and picked up the slack throughout the lineup. | 2 | 14-7-5 |
| 8 |  | With the team on a four-game winning streak, Jordan Kyrou has surpassed the 20-goal mark this season. His 21 tallies are seven more than last season in seven fewer games played. Additionally, his 49 points are 14 more than a year ago. | 2 | 9-12-7 |
| 9 |  | To this point in the season, the Rangers rank 27th in the NHL in expected goals for at five-on-five with 21.59. That lack of offense has cost the team on more than one occasion recently. The Rangers have scored 11 goals in their last six games, and they need to find a way to give more support for Igor Shesterkin. | 5 | 15-12-2 |
| 10 |  | Very few teams can say they have really dominated the Avalanche this season, but that's what happened on President's Day. Boston trounced Colorado, 5-1, and it controlled 69.92% of the expected goals at five-on-five. It was an impressive effort, and it could serve as a spark for the Bruins. | 1 | 16-13-0 |
| 11 |  | The Wild have been sliding in the wrong direction over the last month. Since Feb. 1, the team ranks 23rd in expected goals for (23.90) and 25th in expected goals against (31.28) That has allowed the Blues to jump them for the No. 2 spot in the Central Division standings. | 4 | 15-8-5 |
| 12 |  | The Kings acquired Viktor Arvidsson for a second-round pick and a third-round pick in the offseason, and that looks like a bargain right now. Arvidsson has been integral in Los Angeles' turnaround, and his 35 points are more than he tallied in either of his final two seasons with Nashville. | 3 | 12-8-7 |
| 13 |  | Dallas is 4-0-1 in its last five games, and it has managed to pull that off while Jason Robertson has gone cold. Over that five-game stretch, Robertson has just one point, but he won't stay quiet for long. It has to be encouraging for the Stars to know that they can win without nightly contributions from Robertson, which wasn't happening earlier in the season. | -- | 19-5-5 |
| 14 |  | I keep waiting on the Golden Knights to get rolling, but that has yet to happen. Back-to-back losses to the Coyotes and Avalanche dropped Vegas to third in the Pacific Division, and it's fair to wonder whether this team isn't quite as strong as it looks on paper. | 2 | 13-6-8 |
| 15 |  | The Predators got some badly needed wins over the Panthers and the Stars, but there are still some very troubling trends with the team. Since Feb. 1, Nashville is 28th in the NHL in expected goals share at five-on-five (43.53%). With the Stars heating up, the Preds have a very tenuous grip on their playoff spot. | 2 | 10-13-4 |
| 16 |  | Alex Ovechkin has accounted for 18.5% of the Capitals' goals this season. If he isn't finding the back of the next, Washington has trouble generating offense. That lack of depth scoring - along with unreliable goaltending - may be what undoes the Capitals this spring. | 2 | 17-9-3 |
| 17 |  | Quinn Hughes is having an incredibly productive season for the Canucks. He has 41 points in 50 games played, and while Hughes has done half his damage on the power play, Vancouver has fared very well with him on the ice at five-on-five. In those situations, the Canucks have scored 39 goals and given up just 29 goals. | 2 | 10-15-3 |
| 18 |  | Edmonton had a brutal schedule last week, and it didn't really help the team's playoff chances. A win over the Panthers was nice, but the Oilers also suffered losses to the Lightning and the Hurricanes. With a game every other day in March, Edmonton can either make up ground or fall even further behind. | 2 | 12-11-5 |
| 19 |  | As it turns out, when Patrik Laine isn't single-handedly carrying the Blue Jackets' offense, the team has issues lighting the lamp. Laine's heater came to an end against the Hurricanes and the Penguins, and the Blue Jackets lost both of those games while scoring a combined two goals. | 2 | 13-9-5 |
| 20 |  | Winnipeg dropped three of its four games last week, including a key overtime loss to the Stars. The Jets now have four teams between them and a playoff spot, and they are staring down the barrel of 16 games in 31 days next month. | 2 | 14-12-1 |
| 21 |  | Anaheim is 2-5-0 in the month of February, and their chances of making the playoffs have slipped considerably. Considering the expectations for the Ducks prior to the season, it's an accomplishment to even be in the playoff discussion at this point. | 1 | 17-10-1 |
| 22 |  | It's not often you see a team score seven goals and still lose, but the Red Wings pulled off that impressive feat in a 10-7 loss to the Maple Leafs. Both teams used two goals in that game, and none of them had a save percentage above .800. | -- | 14-11-3 |
| 23 |  | Matt Murray deserves a lot of credit for getting his season back on track. He got off to a miserable start, but in the last month, Murray ranks fourth in the NHL with 5.04 goals saved above average. | -- | 13-10-4 |
| 24 |  | There are rumors that the Islanders are shopping veteran forward Cal Clutterbuck ahead of the trade deadline, but I have some questions about how much they will get for a 34-year-old winger with five goals in 49 games. | -- | 15-10-3 |
| 25 |  | Don't look now, but the Canadiens are on a five-game heater. After struggling all season under Dominique Ducharme, Cole Caufield has caught fire under Martin St. Louis. Caufield has six goals and 10 points in his last eight games. It's too early to tell whether St. Louis has unlocked something or he is the beneficiary of Caufield carrying an unsustainably low shooting percentage for most of the season. | 5 | 14-9-3 |
| 26 |  | Brandon Hagel, a sixth-round pick by the Sabres in 2016, has become a pleasant surprise for the Blackhawks. After his hat trick against the Devils, Hagel is up to 17 goals and 30 points on the year. It looks like Chicago has found a reliable middle-six forward. | 1 | 12-9-6 |
| 27 |  | When Nick Bonino signed with the Sharks in the offseason, the team was hoping that he could improve the forward depth, but that hasn't quite worked out. Bonino has six goals and 12 points in 51 games, and he is pacing for his least productive season since 2011-12. A 7.3% shooting percentage that is nearly five points lower than his career average probably has something to do with that, though. | 1 | 13-13-3 |
| 28 |  | Despite what the traditional numbers might suggest, Carter Hart is not having a terrible year in net. The 2.90 goals against average is a little misleading because Hart ranks 16th in goals saved above average at five-on-five (5.80), and the Flyers' penalty kill is one of the worst in the league. | -- | 15-8-3 |
| 29 |  | The Devils scored 11 goals in back-to-back games against the Penguins and Blackhawks, but they went 1-1-0 in those games. That's because New Jersey surrendered eight goals in a loss to Chicago. As it turns out, Jon Gillies is not the answer in goal either. | -- | 16-11-1 |
| 30 |  | The Coyotes have eight picks in the first two rounds of the 2022 NHL Draft, and they will be adding even more before the trade deadline. Phil Kessel, Jakob Chychrun, and Lawson Crouse all have varying degrees of value on the trade market. | 1 | |
| 31 |  | Buffalo has dropped six straight games, and it has allowed at least four goals in five of those games. While the Sabres' forward group has improved somewhat this season, the defensive group remains a mess. | 4 | 11-13-4 |
| 32 |  | The Kraken's winless streak has been extended to seven games, and it has picked up just one point in that stretch. In February, Seattle ranks 28th in team shooting percentage (7.72%) and 26th in team save percentage (88.06%). Nothing is working for them right now. | -- | 11-8-6 |
