Everything seems to be going right for the Winnipeg Jets these days.
After a disastrous start to the 2017-18 NHL season, where they sat dead-last during Week 2 of TSN’s 7-Eleven Power Rankings, the surging Jets are 6-1-3 in their last 10, Canada’s top team of the week and No. 3 overall in the weekly power rankings, according to consensus rankings formulated by the TSN Power Ranking panel of Ray Ferraro, Jeff O’Neill, Jamie McLennan, Craig Button and Darren Dreger.
Steve Mason, signed during the off-season to start for Winnipeg but supplanted in net by the solid play of Connor Hellebuyck, also pulled out of a slump to help the Jets climb higher, stopping 29 shots Saturday to rally his team past the Arizona Coyotes and improve to 9-4-3.
The Tampa Bay Lightning remain the top-ranked team for a second straight week, with the league’s best record (14-2-2), top-two scorers in Steven Stamkos (31 points) and Nikita Kucherov (30, including a league-best 16 goals), and stellar goaltending from Andrei Vasilevskiy, who still leads the NHL in wins with 13.
The St. Louis Blues, who remain atop the Western Conference standings, are still No. 2 in the power rankings for a third straight week, while the surprising No. 4 New Jersey Devils, winners of two in a row, move up a spot from No. 5. The Los Angeles Kings, who have lost two straight, slip to No. 5 from No. 3 a week ago.
Following the Jets this week as Canada’s best teams are the Ottawa Senators, who improve to No. 7 in the rankings from No. 10 a week ago after two wins against the Colorado Avalanche in Sweden. Despite missing injured star Auston Matthews for the last three games, the Toronto Maple Leafs make a big leap to No. 8 from No. 16 a week ago, riding a four-game win streak on the strength of tighter defensive play to land as the third-best team in the country.
The red-hot New York Rangers, with six straight wins, make the biggest jump of the week, skyrocketing to No. 11 from No. 21, while the slumping Vancouver Canucks have the worst drop in the rankings, tumbling all the way to No. 22 from No. 8 last week.
Languishing in the basement for a fifth straight week are the Arizona Coyotes, while the Florida Panthers, who were in 18th spot in Week 3 of the rankings, continue their descent to sit at No. 30. The Buffalo Sabres (No. 29) are third-last, followed by the Boston Bruins and the Carolina Hurricanes (stuck at No. 27) to round out the bottom-five teams.
Check out TSN Hockey's full list below.