Hurricanes top power ranking, Leafs still lead Canadian teams

By Sportlogiq Staff (@Sportlogiq)

Toronto only had a single game this past week, but it was a big one against the Oilers. Auston Matthews led the way with two goals, including his 20th of the season, in a 5-1 win for the Maple Leafs on the road. Like many around the league, Toronto’s upcoming games have now been postponed through the Christmas break.

There were no games for Calgary this past week, as they were one of the first teams to experience the COVID-19 outbreak. Our emphasis on recent play hurts the Flames in these rankings, as they’re 25th in points percentage over the past 21 days. Combined with teams around them rising, Calgary drops five spots despite their inactivity.

The Oilers started off the week with the loss against Toronto, but they bounced back in a big way, scoring five goals in each of their next two games, winning both.

Of those 10 goals, nine were scored by players not named Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl, which is encouraging until you see that the two superstars assisted on seven of those tallies. The Oilers have seen their games postponed like many other teams, but the post-Christmas break schedule doesn’t get any easier for them, with their next six games on the road.

What a stretch it has been for Vancouver under new head coach Bruce Boudreau. The Canucks are undefeated since the coaching change, winning six straight. They’ve generated more expected goals at even strength than their opponents in all six wins, which is an encouraging sign.

It has also been good to see Brock Boeser finding the back of the net again. He has four goals in his past six games after scoring just four in his first 22. He also leads the Canucks with 15 scoring chances during the winning streak.

A 1-2-0 week in Winnipeg was overshadowed by the resignation of head coach Paul Maurice. It was his ninth year behind the bench and the team is still competitive, but he felt his players needed a new voice.

The Jets only needed two games to get interim coach Dave Lowry his first win, beating the Blues on Sunday. They’re hanging on to fifth in the Central Division, six points away from third place, but also seven points away from seventh. The season can still go either way for the Jets.

Ottawa continues to play troublemaker, with a big 8-2 upset win against the Panthers, before dropping a close, 2-1 decision to the Lightning in a rematch of last week’s upset. The duo of Brady Tkachuk and Josh Norris has been especially effective in the nation’s capital. Only McDavid has more slot shots than Norris’ 25 in December, while Tkachuk is 12th with 19 and they both rank top 10 in goals.

Montreal finally snapped a seven-game losing streak to notch their first win under Jeff Gorton, beating the Flyers 3-2 in a shootout. It was also the Canadiens’ first win of December. The Habs continue to be ravaged by injuries, with Joel Armia and Mathieu Perreault placed on injured reserve, while Artturi Lehkonen and Laurent Dauphin entered COVID protocol.