Canucks, Leafs and Jets occupy Top 5 in NHL Power Ranking

Canadian teams are rocketing up our Power Rankings, with three teams sitting in the top five spots. 

The Vancouver Canucks have almost reached the summit, but the defending champs are still in top spot on our list.

Vegas is one of two teams to rank top-five in goal differential, expected goal differential and points percentage – the Los Angeles Kings are the other. There are few, if any holes in the Golden Knights roster, which is one reason they are such a tough team to play against. Vegas ranks in the top five in slot shots for and against, and are in the top 10 in most key performance metrics both offensively and defensively. 

The Canucks are up three spots from fifth to second following a 3-0-1 week. Thirty-two games into the season, Vancouver is showing it can still score at an above-expected rate relative to the chances it generates.

The Canucks are a solid defensive team with great goaltending on top of it. Brock Boeser continues to light the lamp with five goals in his last four games and is tied with Auston Matthews for the NHL lead in goals with 23. 

Up five spots from ninth to fourth are the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Maple Leafs capped off a 2-0-2 week with a 7-0 beating of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Leafs have the sixth best points percentage in the NHL, made all the more impressive when you consider they are without their top goalie due to injury and have had to overcome injuries to key defencemen throughout the season. Matthews missed Toronto’s last game with an illness and Max Domi stepped up, recording three points while playing second-line centre. 

The Winnipeg Jets, owners of the best points percentage in the Central Division, are up three spots from eighth to fifth. The Jets are coming off impressive wins against the Kings and Avalanche, outscoring them by a combined score of 11-4.

Connor Hellebuyck is playing some of the best hockey of his career right now. Hellebuyck has allowed two or fewer goals in 10 straight games. Hellebuyck has posted a quality start (goals saved above expected is greater than goal differential in the game) in 12 straight starts, the longest streak of any goalie this season. 

Following a pair of multi-goal losses to the Lightning and Panthers, the Edmonton Oilers fall out of the top 10, dropping from sixth to 11th.

While the Oilers' losses this season are certainly not all on their goalies, the recipe for success for Edmonton is simple: get average of better goaltending and the Oilers win. Edmonton has finished 10 games this season with a positive goals saved above expected and has won all 10 of those games – the only team with a perfect record in this situation. The issue for the Oilers is they have had below-expected goaltending in 64 per cent of their games, most of any team.

The biggest drop in our Power Rankings among Canadian teams comes from the Ottawa Senators who fall from 11th to 20th. The Senators have lost four straight games and the road back to the win column isn’t an easy one with games in Arizona on Tuesday and Colorado on Thursday.

The Senators' transition game is a mess right now as the team is producing 22 per cent fewer chances in its last five games compared to their season average while allowing 35 per cent more. Ottawa does have games in hand, but the recent skid also has the Sens sitting with the second worst points percentage in the Eastern Conference. 

Following a 5-3 win against the New York Islanders, the Montreal Canadiens are up one spot from 26th to 25th. Josh Anderson doubled his goal output for the season Saturday night, scoring twice in the win. Cole Caufield also ended a goal drought by scoring his eighth goal of the season. The Canadiens will play their next seven games on the road, starting with a tough test against the Jets on Monday night. 

Dropping three spots from 24th to 27th on our list, the Calgary Flames. Winners of one of their four games last week, the Flames rank 24th in goal differential, 23rd in expected goal differential and 25th in points percentage.

Calgary faces a tough test Monday night against the Florida Panthers, a stout defensive team that ranks top five in shots and goals against per game.