NHL Power Rankings: Here Comes Anaheim

After a six-game losing skid, the Ducks have taken flight, winning their last eight games and soaring to the top of the Pacific Division.

“Quack, quack, quack, quack …” Sorry, I’m busy living out my Mighty Ducks fantasy after Anaheim won its eighth consecutive game. Now if we could just convince the team to go back to its original logo …

The Maple Leafs are also surging with wins in nine of their last 10 games, while the Blues and the Canucks are sliding. The Penguins in particular look lifeless after three straight losses, though they reportedly have a new owner on the horizon.

Here’s where every team stands.

Orlando Ramirez/USA TODAY Sports

32. Arizona Coyotes

Last Week: 32
Record: 2-13-1

While the Coyotes managed an improbable win Tuesday against the Blues, despite missing seven players due to injury and two due to COVID-19 protocols, they remain four points behind the next closest teams in the standings.

31. Ottawa Senators

Last week: 30
Record: 4-10-1

Due to a COVID-19 outbreak within the team, the NHL postponed three of Ottawa’s games this week. The Senators will not retake the ice until Nov. 22 at the earliest.

30. Montreal Canadiens

Last week: 31
Record: 4-12-2

Jonathan Drouin returned to the lineup Tuesday for the first time since taking a puck to the head against the Red Wings on Nov. 2, but even with the skilled forward back in the lineup, Montreal lost its third straight game, 3–2 to the Rangers.

29. Vancouver Canucks

Last week: 27
Record: 5-9-2

General manager Jim Benning and coach Travis Green’s seats are getting hotter by the minute after the Canucks dropped every game on their three-game road trip and gave up at least five goals in each one.

28. Seattle Kraken

Last week: 28
Record: 4-10-1

While the Kraken are in the midst of a four-game losing streak, they have allowed the fourth-fewest scoring chances in the league, led by top defensive pairing Mark Giordano and Haydn Fleury.

27. Chicago Blackhawks

Last week: 29
Record: 4-9-2

After an 0-7-2 start to the season, Chicago has gone 4-2-0 in its last six games. The team still has abysmal possession stats and the third-lowest scoring average in the league (2.13 goals per game), but the Blackhawks are trending up.

26. Detroit Red Wings

Last week: 23
Record: 8-8-2

The Red Wings rank 26th in the NHL in goals allowed (3.33 per game) and rank the same in puck possession (46.4% even-strength shot differential), so that seems like a fair ranking here.

25. Buffalo Sabres

Last week: 26
Record: 7-6-2

A 2–1 road win Tuesday against the Penguins might seem impressive, but 1) Pittsburgh has been in freefall, with a 2-6-2 record in its last 10 games, and 2) Buffalo needed goalie Dustin Tokarski to make a career-high 45 saves to eke out the victory.

24. San Jose Sharks

Last week: 20
Record: 8-6-1

After winning their first four games of the season, the Sharks have looked middling at best. But they could improve now that forward Kevin Lebanc and defensemen Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Radim Simek have returned after spending 14 days in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocols

23. Columbus Blue Jackets

Last week: 21
Record: 8-5-0

Rookie forward Yegor Chinakhov, the No. 21 pick in the 2020 draft, recorded his first goal in Monday’s 5–3 win against the Red Wings. The 20-year-old rookie missed on 20 shots this season before finally finding the net. If he can find his scoring touch, Columbus would reap the benefits.

22. Dallas Stars

Last week: 22
Record: 6-6-2

The Stars’ top line of Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz and Joe Pavelski is hitting its stride. The trio has five goals and four assists combined in Dallas’s two-game winning streak.

21. Los Angeles Kings

Last week: 24
Record: 8-5-2

Andreas Athanasiou missed the first 10 games of the season with a hand injury, but the 27-year-old forward has five points in five games since returning to the lineup.

20. Pittsburgh Penguins

Last week: 17
Record: 5-6-4

A three-game losing streak would be bad enough, but the Penguins’ three losses have come against the woeful Senators, the downward-trending Sabres and their bitter rivals, the Capitals.

19. New Jersey Devils

Last week: 18
Record: 7-4-3

While the Devils have dropped their last two games, 20-year-old rookie forward Dawson Mercer has emerged as a force for the team. He sits third in the league in rookie scoring with five goals and six assists in 13 games and is tied for first on the team with 11 points.

18. New York Islanders

Last week: 14
Record: 5-6-2

A new home awaits the Islanders as they return from their 13-game season-opening road trip. But while UBS may be fresh and sparkling, the team looks ragged.

17. Nashville Predators

Last week: 19
Record: 9-6-1

While goalie Juuse Saros did yeoman’s work for the Predators on Tuesday night, the team was outmatched in a 3–0 loss to the Maple Leafs. Saros has a .928 save percentage this season, which has helped Nashville steal wins during its current 8-2-1 streak.

16. Philadelphia Flyers

Last week: 15
Record: 8-4-2

With a 2–1 overtime win Tuesday against the Flames, the Flyers avenged their embarrassing shutout loss to Calgary at the end of October. However, Philadelphia must continue to make do without top-line defenseman Ryan Ellis, who has missed 10 of the last 11 games and was placed on injured reserve with a lower-body injury on Tuesday.

15. Anaheim Ducks

Last week: 25
Record: 10-4-3

After a six-game losing skid, the Ducks have taken flight, winning their last eight games and soaring to the top of the Pacific Division. Gordon Bombay would be proud.

14. Calgary Flames

Last week: 11
Record: 8-3-5

The Flames have lost six of their last eight games, but Oliver Kylington has provided a bright spot. The 24-year-old defenseman has 11 points so far this season, including two goals and one assist in the last three games.

13. Winnipeg Jets

Last week: 16
Record: 9-3-3

The Jets went 5-1-1 in their seven-game homestand, capping it with a 5–2 win Tuesday against the Oilers, the same team they sent packing with a four-game sweep in the first round of the playoffs last season.

12. Minnesota Wild

Last week: 12
Record: 10-5-0

The Wild has gone 2-for-16 on the power play in its last six games. Both successes came against the Coyotes, but in the next game, Minnesota went 0-for-6 against the Golden Knights.

11. St. Louis Blues

Last week: 5
Record: 8-5-2

The Blues have dropped four straight games, including a 3–2 loss Tuesday against the lowly Coyotes, who had just one victory in their first 15 games of the season.

10. Vegas Golden Knights

Last week: 10
Record: 9-7-0

The Golden Knights allow 3.13 goals per game, which puts them in the bottom third of the league in that category. Robin Lehner made 38 saves Tuesday against the Hurricanes but the team still lost 4–2. Vegas needs to shore up its defense if it wants to be considered among the league’s elite.

9. New York Rangers

Last week: 13
Record: 10-3-3

The Rangers have won four games in a row, led by Chris Kreider, who has four goals during the streak, plus the deciding score in the seventh round of Sunday’s shootout win against the Devils.

8. Colorado Avalanche

Last week: 8
Record: 6-5-1

No Nathan MacKinnon, no problem? That’s been the case for Colorado in the two games since MacKinnon went down with a lower-body injury. The Avalanche beat the Canucks 7–1 and then the Sharks 6–2 without the star center, who was placed on injured reserve Saturday and will be out at least until early December.

7. Boston Bruins

Last week: 9
Record: 8-5-0

Jakub Zboril started the season as the Bruins’ seventh defenseman but has wormed his way into the lineup, and he has made an impact even with limited ice time. He had two hits and three blocked shots in Saturday’s win against the Devils followed by an assist in Sunday’s win against the Canadiens.

6. Washington Capitals

Last week: 6
Record: 9-2-5

An overtime loss to the seemingly unstoppable Ducks snapped a four-game winning streak for the Capitals. Still, Washington salvaged a point even with five forwards missing from the lineup, four due to injury and Lars Eller because of COVID-19 protocols.

5. Toronto Maple Leafs

Last week: 7
Record: 11-5-1

The third line has stepped up for Toronto. Forwards David Kämpf and Ondrej Kase have four points each in the last four games, providing scoring depth for the surging Leafs.

4. Florida Panthers

Last week: 3
Record: 11-2-3

The Panthers crushed the Islanders 6–1 on Tuesday, but the high of the win was tempered by the early exit of center Aleksander Barkov, who left the game with a knee injury early in the second period.

3. Tampa Bay Lightning

Last week: 4
Record: 8-3-3

The defending Stanley Cup champs are 6-0-2 in their last eight games, including a 3–2 win against the Panthers and a 2–1 overtime loss to the Hurricanes.

2. Edmonton Oilers

Last week: 2
Record: 11-4-0

A 5–3 win against the Bruins last Thursday provided the highlight of an otherwise pedestrian five-game road trip, but the Oilers have back-to-back home games up next to get back on track.

1. Carolina Hurricanes

Last week: 1
Record: 12-2-0

Everything the Hurricanes touch turns to gold this season. Since cracking the lineup seven games ago, rookie forward Seth Jarvis has looked at home on the top line, and the 19-year-old notched the game-winning goal in Tuesday’s 4–2 win against the Golden Knights.