The defending Stanley Cup champions finally look a little like Stanley Cup champions, this season's early favorites are in their biggest rut and the New York Rangers are quickly shedding their status as one of the NHL's cellar dwellers.

It's time for another weekly spin around hockey, and you can't start your NHL pecking order without the Tampa Bay Lightning, who are in the midst of their roughest stretch of 2017-18 and yet boast maybe the league's most enviable top line. The Pittsburgh Penguins, meanwhile, are on the upswing after finally putting everything together in a victory over those Lightning, and so, too, are the Nashville Predators and Columbus Blue Jackets -- contenders whose winning streaks have sent them into the top five of our latest power rankings:

Biggest Movers
9 Rangers
15 Senators
Rk
Teams
  
Chg
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1 Lightning In the middle of their biggest slump of the year, they have the firepower to steady themselves. -- 11-10-5
2 Blues The one thing they've done all season is bounce back. This team has resiliency (and, lest we forget, Brayden Schenn!). 1 13-10-1
3 Blue Jackets They're the best-looking work in progress in the NHL. 3 8-14-4
4 Predators Filip Forsberg is playing like he's still trying to make up for a quiet Stanley Cup Final. 5 12-12-0
5 Golden Knights Who knew that the return of Malcolm Subban would be so sweet and satisfactory? 5 16-5-5
6 Maple Leafs Just keep scoring. Just keep scoring. Just keep scoring, scoring, scoring. 4 12-6-4
7 Jets A big test against the Wild arrives early in the week. 3 14-8-2
8 Kings Good for Anze Kopitar stepping it up this season. And good for L.A. getting a much-needed win over Anaheim. 3 14-4-3
9 Islanders So it's looking more and more like they should trade for John Tavares help rather than trade Tavares himself. 2 10-7-6
10 Devils No matter how this season finishes, the Devils are ahead of schedule. 2 11-10-1
11 Rangers Henrik Lundqvist is alive, and so are the Rangers! 9 18-4-1
12 Capitals Alex Ovechkin has already had a season for the ages. 1 12-8-2
13 Blackhawks As long as the top lines can keep pouring it on, Chicago should be in the mix. 1 7-16-0
14 Penguins Finally, it all comes together vs. the Lightning. How typical of the Pens, playing up to their competition. 1 11-10-3
15 Sharks Martin Jones and Co. are sneakily dominant. 1 6-17-2
16 Wild They haven't looked the prettiest lately, but they're still a force to be reckoned with when Devan Dubnyk is on his game. 1 8-10-4
17 Flames Hats off to David Rittich on a hot debut. Now, who are these Flames? 1 10-11-3
18 Red Wings You have to wonder how much of the core will be intact after the deadline -- and how this club will look by then. 6 13-7-3
19 Canucks Let's see who's paired with Brock Boeser in a few years. 4 16-8-1
20 Stars Once again, we're reminded that when they're on, they're really on. They don't lack for scoring power. 1 14-6-3
21 Avalanche The Avs: Masters of surrendering crunch-time goals as of late. 5 15-7-2
22 Hurricanes If anyone needed a big upset, it was them. 3 14-9-1
23 Ducks They have a lot of problems -- plenty of them worse than a nude Ryan Kesler video. 2 10-14-0
24 Flyers Maybe they're closer to a rebuild (or the need for a rebuild) than we thought. 2 13-10-2
25 Bruins In a year where Edmonton has largely been garbage, the Bruins found a way to lose to them. 1 17-4-3
26 Senators What a drop-off. Do they miss Kyle Turris yet? 15 9-10-0
27 Panthers Of all the lowliest teams, these guys will be one of the most interesting to watch under Bob Boughner in a few years. -- 14-8-2
28 Oilers Still wondering if there's anything dramatic Peter Chiarelli can do to help. 1 9-12-1
29 Canadiens Finally, we get a reminder that Carey Price is still Carey Price. 1 11-11-3
30 Sabres They just can't find the "it" factor when they need it. Jack Eichel is still magical, though. -- 10-13-2
31 Coyotes Let's see what Dylan Strome adds to the mix. -- 13-9-2