With just seven days left in the NHL regular season, there will be plenty of can’t-miss games to keep you fused to your screen during the final week of play.
The Nashville Predators and the Boston Bruins are in a tight battle for first overall and the right to claim the Presidents’ Trophy for home-ice advantage throughout the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Backed by Connor Hellebuyck’s stellar goaltending, the Winnipeg Jets are trying to fend off the expansion Vegas Golden Knights for second place in the Western Conference standings and a better playoff seeding.
The Tampa Bay Lightning, who have been one of the league’s top teams all season but have struggled lately, are keeping close tabs on several Eastern Conference teams, including the surging Washington Capitals, who clinched the Metropolitan Division title for a third straight year with their win over the two-time defending Cup-champion Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday.
And you can’t forget the Taylor-Hall led New Jersey Devils, currently perched in the final wild-card spot in the East as they attempt to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2012.
The Predators, also chasing the Central Division title, were ranked No. 2 last week and are the top team in the NHL 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.
Nashville set a franchise record for points last week and move past the Bruins, who fall to No. 2 after our panel named them the league's best a week ago. Rounding out the top five this week are the No. 3 Jets, who climb one spot, the No. 4 Lightning, who sat at No. 3 for two consecutive weeks but lost key “statement” games to both the Bruins and Predators last week, and the Toronto Maple Leafs, who remain at No. 5 as they pursue their franchise record for points in a single season with three games remaining.
The Golden Knights are next at the No. 6 spot after clinching first place in the Pacific Division last week. They will finish off their incredible inaugural season among the top three teams in the West.
The Jets are still Canada’s best team, followed closely by the Leafs. The other Canadian teams? They’re just vying for the best NHL draft lottery odds these days, with the big event set for April 28 in Toronto. The No. 23 Edmonton Oilers are Canada’s third-best team this week, just ahead of the Calgary Flames (No. 24).
The Vancouver Canucks, who announced on Monday that star forwards Daniel and Henrik Sedin will retire at the end of this season, were ranked dead last just two weeks ago but move up two spots to No. 26 after four straight wins. The Montreal Canadiens (No. 28) and Ottawa Senators (No. 31) continue to languish in the NHL’s basement.
The No. 12 Philadelphia Flyers, riding an eight-game point streak, and the Devils (No. 14), the bottom-feeder in the East last season, both had a good week as they move up four spots from the previous week’s rankings. The Colorado Avalanche, who are trying to remain in a wild-card spot with just three games remaining and without Semyon Varlamov in the lineup, had the biggest drop of the week, slipping four spots to No. 17 from No. 13 last week.
The worst teams in this week’s rankings include the No. 27 Detroit Red Wings, who move up three spots from second last a week ago, the Canadiens, Buffalo Sabres, edging up to No. 29 from last overall, the No. 30 New York Islanders, slipping three spots, followed by the dreadful Senators at the bottom of the pile.