NHL Power Rankings – Oct 20th

The NHL season has gotten off to a hot start. Sidney Crosby is leading the league with 9 points, while Frederik Andersen has lived up to the billing early leading league with 5 wins. Andersen should pick up win number 5 Wednesday against the bad Buffalo Sabres.

Buffalo looks to be deep in the hunt for that top lottery pick for next years prized prospect Connor McDavid. Rounding out the bottom few teams that seem to be in the running are Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Carolina.

Here’s a look at this this weeks power rankings. (last week’s rating)

1.  Los Angeles Kings – 9 pts – (1)

The Kings had a rough opening to their season losing 4-0. As embarrassing as that loss was, Los Angeles has bounced back, they’re riding a four game winning streak. The streak should go to 6 after this week.

Los Angeles has the top three players in +/- rating. Tyler Toffoli and Jeff Carter both have 9, while Tanner Pearson rounds it out with 7 points.

Schedule this week: Thur/Buffalo, Sun/Columbus

2.  Anaheim Ducks – 10 pts – (5)

Anaheim is off to a blazing start led by the goaltending of Frederik Andersen. Ryan Getzlaf is one off the pace for leading assists with 6. They have three home games this week to set a high tone in the Pacific Division.

Wed/Buffalo, Fri/Columbus, Sun/San Jose

3.  Chicago Blackhawks – 7 pts – (2)

The lone loss for Chicago came in overtime against the Flames. They’ll have their hands full this week with 4 games on schedule. Jonathan Toews will need to find the net soon this week.

Tue/Philadelphia, Thur/@Nashville, Sat/@St. Louis, Sun/Ottawa

4.  Montreal Canadiens – 10 pts – (18)

Off to a red hot start, the Canadiens look to challenge again for the wide open Eastern Conference. Carey Price is second in wins with 4, and should get at least one more this week.

Tue/Detroit, Sat/NYRangers

5.  San Jose Sharks – 9 pts – (11)

After a convincing season opening win in Los Angeles and shutting their opponents for 7 straight periods, the Sharks are on the rise. This will be a good week to find out how real the sharks are, with three playoff teams on the schedule.

Tue/@Boston, Thurs/Columbus, Sat/Buffalo, Sun/@Anaheim

6.  Nashville Predators – 8 pts – (15)

Pekke Rinne has been healthy and superb to start the season. Rocking a solid 1.22 goals against, and .948 save percentage, Rinne will keep the Preds in the playoff race all season if he’s healthy.

Tue/Arizona, Thur/Chicago, Sat/Pittsburgh

7.  Washington Capitals – 8 pts – (14)

Ovi has been on point to start the season, 5 goals. The Caps have proven they can score, but do they have the goaltending to keep up all season long? Let’s just see how this Canadian road trip plays out.

Wed/@Edmonton, Sat/@Calgary, Sun/@Vancouver

8.  New York Islanders – 8 pts – (26)

I was completely off about the Islanders, I guess it was out of spite. Nevertheless; John Tavares is playing out of this world, and leads the league with 7 assists. The goaltending is something to worry about though. Jaroslav Halak has been less than stellar posting a 2.70 GAA and .913 save percentage.

Tue/Toronto, Thur/@Boston, Sat/Dallas

9.  Ottawa Senators – 8 pts – (27)

The surprise story to the start of this season. The Senators ride a league best 4 game winning streak, and look lengthen the streak this week. The combination of Craig Anderson and Robin Lehner has been a good one. Both goalies have a 2.00 GAA or lower.

Wed/Toronto, Sat/New Jersey, Sun/@Chicago

10.  Tampa Bay Lightning – 7 pts – (10)

I’m keeping the Lightning neutral at 10. This Canadian road trip with 4 games this week will be a major test for this team. We’ll see if Ben Bishop can keep up with his hot start.

Mon/@Edmonton, Tue/@Calgary, Fri/@Winnipeg, and Sun/@Minnesota

11.  Detroit Red Wings – 7 pts – (18)

Playing all-around solid hockey this team may be poised to make noise in the East.

Tue/@Montreal, Thur/Pittsburgh, Sat/@Philadelphia

12.  Pittsburgh Penguins – 6 pts – (6)

Marc-Andre Fleury is ranked 30th in goalies GAA with 2.50. The Penguins are missing one piece from being the dominant team in the East, and thats the goalie position. Crosby and the offense is holding it down, it’s up to MAF with how far this team goes.

Wed/Philadelphia, Thur/@Detroit, Sat/@Nashville

13.  Boston Bruins – 6 pts – (4)

My pick to win the East has had a shaky start at home, 1-2-0. The offense is 26th in the league, only averaging 2.00 goals a game. Tuukka will keep them in these close games, at some point the offense will have to wake up.

Tue/San Jose, Thur/NYIslanders, Sat/@Toronto

14.  Columbus Blue Jackets – 6 pts – (13)

Boasting a more potent offense, the Jackets have yet to make the next step, in standing out against opponents. 3.00 goals a game on offense is nice, but they’ll have to keep it up all season.

Thur/@San Jose, Fri/@Anaheim, Sun/@Los Angeles

15.  St Louis Blues – 5 pts – (3)

One of the better defenses in the NHL (4th), the Blues are finding their struggle on offense. At 2-2-1 they need to turn it around before the rest of the west pulls away.

Thur/Vancouver, Sat/Chicago

16.  Vancouver Canucks – 6 pts – (17)

The Canucks picked up their first loss of the season yesterday. Having a top 10 offense and Ryan Miller between the pipes should make this an interesting team out west.

Tue/@Dallas, Thur/@St Louis, Fri/@Colorado, Sun/Washington

17.  New Jersey Devils – 6pts – (19)

This is a streaky team. Three wins followed by two losses have to make you question this team. A top 5 offense with a bottom 5 defense, and mixed in the middle is Cory Schneider.

Tue/NYRangers, Thurs/Dallas, Sat/@Ottawa

18.  Calgary Flames – 8 pts – (23)

I’m not sold on this team yet. After a tough six game road trip going 4-2. I’ll wait to see if they can skate on home ice before calling this team an early contender.

Tue/Tampa Bay, Thurs/Carolina, Sat/Washington

19.  Dallas Stars – 7 pts – (9)

Can not get a read on this team. Lose a close one to Chicago, beat Pittsburgh, then lose to Philadelphia. Until they figure it out it’ll be the middle of the pack for them.

Tue/Vancouver, Fri/@New Jersey, Sat/@NYIslanders

20.  New York Rangers – 6 pts – (12)

3-3 after a big win Sunday against San Jose. Henrik Lundqvist ranked 43rd in goalies GAA. If the rangers want a chance to return to the cup, they’ll need King Henrik to return to court.

Tue/@New Jersey, Sat/@Montreal

21.  Toronto Maple Leafs – 5 pts – (20)

1-3 at home, and Jonathan Bernier is ranked 43rd. Too many problems for this storied franchise, whose fan base is ready to explode.

Tue/@NYIslanders, Wed/@Ottawa, Sat/Boston

22.  Minnesota Wild – 4 pts – (8)

The Wild have given up 4 goals in 4 games, yet they’re 2-2. Going to be have to win those games when you average only 1 goal against per game.

Thur/Arizona, Sat/Tampa Bay

23.  Colorado Avalanche – 3 pts – (7)

The defending Central Division champs are 1-4-1 and number 1 goalie Semyon Varlamov is hurt, it helps to have 4 of 5 at home in the Pepsi Center.

Tues/Florida, Fri/Vancouver, Sun/@Winnipeg

24.  Philadelphia Flyers – 4 pts – (21)

Putting all your eggs in the Steve Mason basket gets you 3.78 GAA and .865 save percentage. Better luck next year Flyers

Tue/@Chicago, Wed/@Pittsburgh, Sat/Detroit

25.  Arizona Coyotes – 4 pts – (22)

Allowing 18 goals in 4 games is unacceptable. Maybe Arizona just isn’t a spot for hockey.

Tue/@Nashville, Thur/@Minnesota, Sat/Florida

26.  Winnipeg Jets – 2 pts – (28)

8.5% chance at drafting Connor McDavid.

Tue/Carolina, Fri/Tampa Bay, Sun/Colorado

27.  Florida Panthers – 4 pts – (25)

Game time #Sens #Panthers pic.twitter.com/WR0Vwb2l0H

— Bruce Garrioch (@SunGarrioch) October 13, 2014

9.5% chance at drafting Connor McDavid.

Tue/@Colorado, Sat/@Arizona

28.  Buffalo Sabres – 2 pts – (30)

11.5% chance at drafting Connor McDavid.

Wed/@Anaheim, Thur/@Los Angeles, Sat/@San Jose

29.  Edmonton Oilers – 1 pts – (24)

13.5% chance at drafting Connor McDavid.

Mon/Tampa Bay, Wed/Washington, Fri/Carolina

30.  Carolina Hurricanes– 2 pts – (29)

20% chance at drafting Connor McDavid.

Tue/@Winnipeg, Thur/@Calgary, Fri/@Edmonton,