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MORE From TSN'S Hockey COLUMNISTS

Dec 18, 2017

The 7-Eleven Power Rankings: Lightning, Preds unanimous No. 1, No. 2 picks

Heading into the NHL’s Dec. 24-26 holiday break, members of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Nashville Predators are likely going to be pretty laid-back spending time with family and friends.

Forsberg shoots on Vasilevskiy

Heading into the NHL’s Dec. 24-26 holiday break, members of the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Nashville Predators are likely going to be pretty laid-back spending time with family and friends.

The Lightning reached the 50-point mark at the earliest time of the season in their team history, they're first overall in the standings, have won seven straight games and are the best team this week in TSN’s 7-Eleven 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.

The Predators, reigning Western Conference champs, allowed just one goal in their three-game sweep of Western Canada teams, Pekka Rinne and Juuse Saros earned shutouts and Nashville has won 13 of its last 15 games to move up to No. 2 this week from No. 6 a week ago.

Moreover, both the Lightning and Predators are the unanimous No. 1 and No. 2 picks respectively of our power ranking panel the week before Christmas.

Rounding out the top five this week are the St. Louis Blues, who are stuck at No. 3, followed by the sizzling Washington Capitals, who move up four spots from No. 8 last week and No. 12 two weeks ago, and the slumping Los Angeles Kings who drop three places following three straight losses after being ranked No. 2 a week ago.

The No. 8 Winnipeg Jets are the highest-rated Canadian team, moving up one spot this week after being first overall two weeks ago. They’re followed by the Toronto Maple Leafs, who started the season at No. 10, vaulted to No. 1 by Week 3 and slip six places to No. 10 this week. The Calgary Flames drop to No. 19 from No. 15 a week ago, while the Edmonton Oilers, Montreal Canadiens and Vancouver Canucks rank No. 23, 24, 25, respectively.

Despite two straight wins and a slight bump up to the No. 28 spot, the Ottawa Senators are the fourth-worst team in the NHL this week, one place below the No. 27 Detroit Red Wings. The NHL’s three bottom-feeding teams this week include the Florida Panthers at No. 29, the No. 30 Buffalo Sabres and the Arizona Coyotes, who return to the lowest rung on the ladder after being second-worst a week ago.

TSN’s 7-Eleven Power Rankings will return early in 2018. Happy holidays and Merry Christmas!

Tampa Bay Lightning
1. Tampa Bay Lightning

  • 2017-18
    24-6-2
  • LAST 10
    8-2-0
  • LAST WEEK
    1
They’ve won seven in a row; reached 50 points the earliest in club history; and Mikhail Sergachev scored his fifth game-winning goal, tied for second most all-time (Dion Phaneuf – 7) for a rookie D.
Nashville Predators
2. Nashville Predators

  • 2017-18
    21-7-4
  • LAST 10
    7-1-2
  • LAST WEEK
    6
The Predators, No. 27 in Week 2 of the rankings, couldn’t have been much better in Western Canada. They won all three, two by shutout, and outscored Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary 13-1. 
St. Louis Blues
3. St. Louis Blues

  • 2017-18
    22-11-2
  • LAST 10
    5-4-1
  • LAST WEEK
    3
Carter Hutton needed to do something special to get a win, and he did just that, setting a St. Louis record for most shots faced (48) in a shutout when he blanked the Winnipeg Jets 2-0.
Washington Capitals
4. Washington Capitals

  • 2017-18
    21-12-1
  • LAST 10
    8-2-0
  • LAST WEEK
    8
They've won eight of their last nine and Alex Oveckhin, with the 99th of his career, scored the latest winner, moving him into ninth alone all-time, breaking a tie with Bobby Hull and Guy Lafleur.
Los Angeles Kings
5. Los Angeles Kings

  • 2017-18
    20-10-4
  • LAST 10
    7-2-1
  • LAST WEEK
    2

A trip to the East put a damper on an eight-game winning streak. They allowed 13 goals in losses to New Jersey (5-1 to the Devils), the New York Rangers and the New York Islanders (overtime).  

Vegas Golden Knights
6. Vegas Golden Knights

  • 2017-18
    21-9-2
  • LAST 10
    6-3-1
  • LAST WEEK
    5
They could lose every game for the rest of 2017-18 and still have more wins than expansion clubs (since 1968) Washington, Ottawa, the Islanders, Thrashers and Sharks had for their entire first season.
New Jersey Devils
7. New Jersey Devils

  • 2017-18
    18-9-5
  • LAST 10
    5-4-1
  • LAST WEEK
    10

Brian Boyle has five goals (of his eight total) in his last eight games, Stefan Noeson has six points (of eight in total) in his last six, and Blake Coleman has four of his eight points in his last five games.

Winnipeg Jets
8. Winnipeg Jets

  • 2017-18
    19-10-5
  • LAST 10
    4-4-2
  • LAST WEEK
    9
Connor Hellebuyck ended the slide in style with a 4-0 win over St. Louis. They had just one win in their previous six, and had scored one or zero goals in three of them, including a 2-0 loss to the Blues.
Columbus Blue Jackets
9. Columbus Blue Jackets

  • 2017-18
    20-12-1
  • LAST 10
    5-5-0
  • LAST WEEK
    7

It’s feast or famine for Columbus. Over their last six games they had a six-goal game and a five-goal game. In three other games, however, they scored just one goal, and in the last game they scored two.

Toronto Maple Leafs
10. Toronto Maple Leafs

  • 2017-18
    20-13-1
  • LAST 10
    5-5-0
  • LAST WEEK
    4
Scoring just four goals in their last four games without Auston Matthews isn’t going to get it done. A 2-0 loss to the Wild Thursday was the first time they had been shut out in more than a year.
Chicago Blackhawks
11. Chicago Blackhawks

  • 2017-18
    17-11-5
  • LAST 10
    5-3-2
  • LAST WEEK
    17

It seems to be a thing that when a goalie returns from an injury the team goes on a W streak (Carey Price). Corey Crawford’s return has sparked a five-game winning streak, their longest of 2017-18.

New York Rangers
12. New York Rangers

  • 2017-18
    18-12-3
  • LAST 10
    6-3-1
  • LAST WEEK
    14
The Rangers are on a nice home stretch of 11-1-1, in their last 13. The problem is they’ve already played 21 home games, most by any team, and have played just 12 on the road.
San Jose Sharks
13. San Jose Sharks

  • 2017-18
    17-10-4
  • LAST 10
    6-2-2
  • LAST WEEK
    13
It took Brent Burns a while – he didn’t score his first of the season until the 20th game – but now that he’s going, watch out. He has six since that game, five of them in his last five games.
New York Islanders
14. New York Islanders

  • 2017-18
    18-12-3
  • LAST 10
    4-5-1
  • LAST WEEK
    12

The trio are on fire again. In nine-December games, Josh Bailey (4-8-12) John Tavares (3-9-12) are tied for first in team scoring points and Anders Lee (7-3-10) is tied for first in goals. 

Pittsburgh Penguins
15. Pittsburgh Penguins

  • 2017-18
    17-14-3
  • LAST 10
    6-4-0
  • LAST WEEK
    11

The Penguins are just 4-4 for the month of December, but don’t blame the penalty killing. They’re the only team with a perfect PK percentage for the month, killing off all 23 short-handed situations.

Minnesota Wild
16. Minnesota Wild

  • 2017-18
    17-13-3
  • LAST 10
    6-4-0
  • LAST WEEK
    19

Five of their last seven wins have come in extra time, three in overtime and two in a shootout. Former Leaf Alex Stalock blanked his old team Thursday for his first NHL shutout in three seasons.

Boston Bruins
17. Boston Bruins

  • 2017-18
    15-10-5
  • LAST 10
    6-3-1
  • LAST WEEK
    16

The Bruins, who were 28th five weeks ago, lost to Washington, which wasn’t a big surprise considering it was their 11th straight loss to the Capitals, their longest current losing streak against any team.

Philadelphia Flyers
18. Philadelphia Flyers

  • 2017-18
    14-11-7
  • LAST 10
    6-2-2
  • LAST WEEK
    22

The Flyers became the third team in history to win six or more games following a winless stretch of 10 or more games. The 1966-67 Leafs hold the record with seven wins, and they won the Cup that year. 

Calgary Flames
19. Calgary Flames

  • 2017-18
    17-14-3
  • LAST 10
    4-4-2
  • LAST WEEK
    15
A four-point night was a welcome contribution from Sam Bennett in a 6-1 defeat of Vancouver to end a three-game Flames skid, especially considering he had just 11 in 33 previous games this season.
Dallas Stars
20. Dallas Stars

  • 2017-18
    18-14-2
  • LAST 10
    5-4-1
  • LAST WEEK
    18

The Stars have scored just two power-play goals in 38 opportunities, fewest in the NHL, after Nov. 18. That's good for a 5.26 per cent success rate, also worst in the league over that time span. 

Anaheim Ducks
21. Anaheim Ducks

  • 2017-18
    14-11-8
  • LAST 10
    4-2-4
  • LAST WEEK
    20

The Ducks have lost four of seven. But they also have a streak of seven straight games in which they’ve earned a point (3-0-4). Ryan Getzlaf returned from injury to notch two assists in two games.

Carolina Hurricanes
22. Carolina Hurricanes

  • 2017-18
    14-11-7
  • LAST 10
    4-3-3
  • LAST WEEK
    24

Not much has been going right for them, so they’ll take what they can get. They finished off a six-game road trip with wins in the final two games, and then scored a 2-1 win in their first game back home. 

Edmonton Oilers
23. Edmonton Oilers

  • 2017-18
    14-17-2
  • LAST 10
    6-4-0
  • LAST WEEK
    25
Lately, the Oilers prefer playing in the road. They’ve won just one of their last six at home, but have won five of their last six on the road. In those five wins they’ve scored 27 goals, including seven in Columbus.
Montreal Canadiens
24. Montreal Canadiens

  • 2017-18
    14-15-4
  • LAST 10
    6-3-1
  • LAST WEEK
    23

The Canadiens had a poor start to their seven-game road trip, losing 3-0 outdoors in Ottawa. They play three in Western Canada, and then after Christmas visit Carolina, Tampa Bay and Florida. 

Vancouver Canucks
25. Vancouver Canucks

  • 2017-18
    15-15-4
  • LAST 10
    4-6-0
  • LAST WEEK
    21

The Canucks have lost five of their last six games and surrendered 26 goals for an average of 5.2 per game. Rookie scoring leader Brock Boeser injured his left foot Sunday and could miss some time.

Colorado Avalanche
26. Colorado Avalanche

  • 2017-18
    15-15-2
  • LAST 10
    4-6-0
  • LAST WEEK
    26
The Avs have been blah, but Nathan MacKinnon hasn’t. He’s had consecutive two-goal games, and has seven goals in his last seven. Gabriel Landeskog had a hat trick and two assists in a loss to the Bolts.
Detroit Red Wings
27. Detroit Red Wings

  • 2017-18
    12-13-7
  • LAST 10
    2-4-4
  • LAST WEEK
    28
Detroit earned at least a point in their last three games and they beat the Leafs Friday. But they have just two wins in their last 12 games (nine of them were at home) and their next four are on the road.
Ottawa Senators
28. Ottawa Senators

  • 2017-18
    11-13-7
  • LAST 10
    3-6-1
  • LAST WEEK
    29

The Senators fared poorly on their seven-game road trip, winning once and getting shut out three times, but in two home games since then they’ve won them both, including a 3-0 shutout of Montreal outdoors.

Florida Panthers
29. Florida Panthers

  • 2017-18
    12-16-5
  • LAST 10
    3-4-3
  • LAST WEEK
    27

The Panthers (29 points) visited Vegas (44 points) and faced players they let go to the expansion team, Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith. Marchessault had three points, and Smith had two.

Buffalo Sabres
30. Buffalo Sabres

  • 2017-18
    8-18-7
  • LAST 10
    2-5-3
  • LAST WEEK
    31

Jack Eichel scored two of his three goals against Carolina over a 10-second span in the third to tie the game, then for the fifth consecutive time they lost in overtime. Evander Kane had three assists.

Arizona Coyotes
31. Arizona Coyotes

  • 2017-18 RECORD
    7-23-5
  • LAST 10
    1-7-2
  • LAST WEEK
    30

They’re on a six-game skid, the last five in regulation, and their goal high in those six games was two. They came close to a win against the Pens, tying it in the third only to lose 4-2 in the last 15 seconds.