By Sportlogiq Staff (@Sportlogiq)
There’s a new king of the National Hockey League castle. The Vegas Golden Knights sit atop our Power Rankings, ending Colorado’s four-week reign as top team.
The Golden Knights have won six straight games and have a good opportunity to keep the streak alive this week with two games against the San Jose Sharks followed by a Saturday tilt with the Anaheim Ducks.
The Avs and Golden Knights, currently tied with 64 points, play twice next week. Those games could go a long way towards deciding which team finishes atop the West Division.
The Avalanche went 3-0-0 last week and still rank first in goal differential and expected goal differential. They are right behind Vegas as these two teams have started to pull away from the pack in our rankings.
A non-playoff team sits fourth in our Power Rankings. Yes, you read that correctly. The New York Rangers jump four spots, from eighth to fourth, thanks to four straight wins against the New Jersey Devils.
Our model has liked the Rangers for quite some time as their underlying numbers have been strong for much of the season. The Rangers rank fifth in goal differential and expected goal differential, and are finally starting to convert on their chances at a rate we would expect.
New York’s +33 goal differential is best in the East Division, yet the Rangers sit in fifth place, four points back of the Boston Bruins who have also won four straight. The Rangers are a team to keep an eye on.
The Toronto Maple Leafs drop three spots, from second to fifth, this week. After starting the month of April with five straight wins, the Leafs have now lost four in a row.
The Leafs are still a well-above-average team, ranking sixth in goal differential and second in expected goal differential, but their lead atop the North Division is far from secure. The Winnipeg Jets are four points back and the Jets and Leafs face each other twice this week.
The Edmonton Oilers move up a couple of spots from 10th to eighth. Edmonton played just one game last week, a tidy 3-0 win over the Jets. The Oilers face the Canadiens twice this week before a couple more games against Winnipeg as Edmonton continues to nip at the heels of the Jets for second spot in the North.
A 2-2-0 week has dropped the Jets from 11th to 13th in our rankings. Thanks to elite shooting talent and goaltending, the Jets continue to outperform our expected goals model, where they sit 21st in goal differential. In actual goal differential, Winnipeg ranks sixth. They get outchanced often, but the Jets can finish and stop the puck at rates most teams can’t.
The Calgary Flames move up a few spots from 20th to 16th thanks to a 2-1-0 week. Calgary has a positive expected goal differential that ranks 12th but a negative actual goal differential that ranks 19th.
Three of the Flames' next four games are against the Montreal Canadiens who are six points ahead of them for the final playoff spot in the North. The Flames will need a clean sweep of those games to have a realistic shot at making the postseason.
As for the Habs, they continue to drop in our rankings, falling from 14th to 20th. Montreal finished last week 2-2-0 and ranks middle of the pack in goal differential and expected goal differential. While Montreal can look like a team to be reckoned with some nights, they can also look quite pedestrian.
The Vancouver Canucks check in at No. 21 on our list this week, though their ranking comes with an asterisk. Our model weighs a team's recent performance in addition to their overall results and Vancouver has only played one game this month – a feel-good win Sunday against the Maple Leafs.
The Ottawa Senators remain in 30th spot in our Power Rankings after a 2-1-0 week that included wins over the Jets and Canadiens. The Sens are in Calgary Monday night and finish the month with four consecutive games against the Canucks.