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

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).  

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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

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. 

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. 

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.

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. 

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.