The 7-Eleven Power Rankings: Preds back on top, Bruins move up

The Nashville Predators, one of the league’s best teams for much of the season, sit in first place overall with 104 points and 11 games remaining, two points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning. They were also the first team to clinch a playoff spot. The Lightning nailed down a berth over the weekend.

What a difference a year makes. Last season, the Preds secured the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference and, as we all recall, went on a crazy run all the way to the Stanley Cup Final. The Predators, who were No. 2 last week, are back on top 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 Lightning, who have 10 games left, drop to No. 3 after leading the pack last week as they try to fend off the surging Boston Bruins (No. 2), who are just four points back in the Atlantic Division in the race for the Eastern Conference crown with two games in hand. The injury-riddled Bruins shut out the Bolts Saturday in Tampa minus star centre Patrice Bergeron and their top blueline pairing of Zdeno Chara and Charlie McAvoy.

On the strength of 19-year-old Patrik Laine’s goal scoring (his 43 goals are tied with 32-year-old Capitals sniper Alex Ovechkin) and Connor Hellebuyck’s play in net (third-most wins with 37 and a .925 save percentage), the Winnipeg Jets remain at No. 4 this week with 96 points, while the red-hot Toronto Maple Leafs (No. 5) move up a spot to round out our panel’s top-five teams. The Leafs have won 12 straight at the Air Canada Centre – a franchise record. The Vegas Golden Knights slip a spot to No. 6 after losing four of their last five on home ice. After a 17-2-1 run at home to start the season, they’ve gone 8-7-1 in Vegas.

The Jets still have the best record in Canada, followed closely by the Leafs. The No. 20 Calgary Flames, who have a subpar 15-17-4 record at home, are the third-best team in the country. The Ottawa Senators are next, moving up six spots in the rankings to No. 24 from second-last overall a week ago to make the biggest leap of the week. Connor McDavid and his Edmonton Oilers slip a spot to No. 25 to round out the top-five Canadian teams.

The defensively challenged New York Islanders, sliding all the way to No. 29 this week to hit the bottom five from No. 22 a week ago after going 1-7-4 in their last 12, and the road-weary Dallas Stars, spiraling to No. 18 from No. 11 last week, had the biggest drops of the week.

As for the other cellar dwellers, the Buffalo Sabres move up to No. 27 from last overall last week, followed by the No. 28 Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings at No. 30 and the Vancouver Canucks, who are the NHL’s worst team this week.