Edmonton's offensive juggernaut tops this week's Power Ranking

By Sportlogiq Staff (@Sportlogiq)

Edmonton might not have had the best possible week, going .500, but with the Panthers going winless and the Hurricanes scoring just six goals in a 2-1-0 week, it is the Oilers now sitting atop our Power Rankings.

Edmonton is an absolute offensive juggernaut, led by the two best scorers in the NHL in Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid. Mikko Koskinen has taken over the starting role in net and done well, posting a .915 save percentage over nine starts.

Despite a two-place drop, the Toronto Maple Leafs are now the second-best Canadian team in our rankings. They are still held back by their goal differential, which sits 17th, but they’ve been steadily climbing up over the past few weeks.

Since an Oct. 27 win against the Blackhawks, Toronto has the most wins in the NHL and a plus-11 advantage in goals over their opponents. Things are trending in the right direction for Toronto, despite a slight hiccup against the Kings last week.

Calgary had a decent 2-1-1 week, but it was not enough to keep their place in the top three, as other teams, like the Ducks and Capitals, are white-hot at the moment. The Flames’ two wins came against the Canadiens and the shorthanded Senators, so not exactly the stiffest of competition. An overtime loss to the Maple Leafs on Friday drops them just below Toronto in our rankings.

Calgary winger Andrew Mangiapane continues his explosive start to the season. He scored three goals in four games last week to bring his total up to 10, tying Connor McDavid for eighth in the NHL. He is also third on the Flames in scoring chances with 44, only three behind leader Matthew Tkachuk, despite playing fewer than15 minutes a night.

Winnipeg makes it four Canadian teams in the top 10, as they just made the cut after a solid 2-1-0 week. Their expected goal differential, while still subpar for the season, has been trending up in each edition of our Power Rankings, going from -0.94 and dead last in the first ranking of the year to -0.17 now, 17th in the league. They still need to tighten up the defence, as they rank 27th with 24.6 scoring chances against per game, but their offence has made up for it so far.

On the bright side, Montreal is now ahead of two other Canadian teams in our rankings. On the flip side, they are once again sitting in the bottom five with just one win in four games over the past week. While they are keeping games closer than before, they can’t seem to close the deal, with two overtime defeats.

The Canadiens have been ravaged by injuries all year and have seen Mike Hoffman miss time this week, while goalie Jake Allen was taken out of action after a collision with Red Wings forward Dylan Larkin on Saturday night. If there is one encouraging sign, it’s their expected goals differential that, while still negative, has gone up from last week and sits in the top 20. Overall, a tough season for last year’s Stanley Cup finalists.

Vancouver started things off with an overtime loss to the red-hot Ducks, but that was, unfortunately, the high point of their week. The Canucks gave up 19 goals over their next three games, a defensive performance that would sink any team. Vancouver gives up 15.5 slot shots per game this season, tied for 31st in the NHL. They’ll have to tighten up significantly on defence if they want any shot at making noise this year.

Bringing up the rear among Canadian teams are the Ottawa Senators, who got their first and only win of November against the Penguins on Saturday. Ottawa has been hit hard by the COVID-19, with 10 players out against the Flames on Sunday, including leading scorer Drake Batherson, who was coming off a four-point effort the previous game against Pittsburgh.

It was a tough week for Ottawa, but even the best teams would struggle with over half their lineup missing.

Around the NHL, preseason favourites continue to climb closer to their expected position, as Colorado (+12) and Vegas (+8) make the two biggest jumps in our Power Rankings this week. In two games, the Avalanche blitzed their opposition by a combined 13-3 score, while Vegas has won five of their last six games, including the last three in a row.