Week:
The first week of the NHL season is well underway. Teams are getting their sea legs or, in the case of the Buffalo Sabres and Carolina Hurricanes, their Connor McDavid legs under them. Sidney Crosby is in a dogfight with Brock Nelson (we know, who the heck is Brock Nelson?) for the scoring lead, and the Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers are playing like two teams that played well into June might be expected to look. What do the Power Rankings have to say about all this? Read on.
| 2014-2015 Power Rankings: Week 1 | ||||
| RANK | TEAM / RECORD | TRENDING | COMMENTS | |
| 1 | 14 Last Week: 15 | My good friend Pierre LeBrun has the Habs in the Cup finals in June. With three straight road wins to start the season, who can argue at this point? | ||
| 2 | 4 Last Week: 6 | We have the Wild advancing to the Western Conference finals in the spring, and so far, so good for Darcy Kuemper, who has turned in back-to-back shutouts over defending Central Division champion Colorado to start the season. | ||
| 3 | 8 Last Week: 11 | Kudos to coach Todd McLellan and his band of less-than-merry men as they begin the season with back-to-back shutouts (one each for beleaguered Antti Niemi and Alex Stalock), including a small measure of revenge against the Kings on opening night. | ||
| 4 | 3 Last Week: 7 | The Pens are 2-0, and the big guns are lighting it up early, including defending Hart Trophy winner Sidney Crosby, who has back-to-back three-point nights. | ||
| 5 | 3 Last Week: 2 | The Blackhawks are also 2-0, although beating up on Buffalo in the first game of an early four-game homestand is not necessarily a true test of preparedness. | ||
| 6 | 17 Last Week: 23 | Fire-wagon hockey is alive and well in New Jersey, where the Devils are off to a 2-0 start and have scored 11 times along the way. | ||
| 7 | 11 Last Week: 18 | It's been an emotional start to the final season on Long Island, and the new-look Isles have responded with a 2-0 start. Brock Nelson is jelling with John Tavares and has six points, and welcome to Long Island, Johnny Boychuk. | ||
| 8 | 8 Last Week: 16 | One of five Metropolitan Division teams without a regulation loss in the first week, the 2-0 Blue Jackets have been impressive given their significant injury woes. | ||
| 9 | 5 Last Week: 14 | Another team that underwent significant offseason upheaval is off to a good start. Still nothing yet from Mike Ribeiro, although Derek Roy has made an immediate impact in the Preds' two victories. | ||
| 10 | 7 Last Week: 17 | Lots of NHL folks felt there was more to Vancouver than met the eye before the season, and a 2-0 start supports that line of thinking. | ||
| 11 | 2 Last Week: 13 | The 1-0-1 Caps have given up just two goals early in the Barry Trotz era, and Alexander Ovechkin notched two in Saturday's impressive 4-0 win over Boston. | ||
| 12 | 8 Last Week: 4 | Brian Elliott got both starts for the 1-1-0 Blues, and Paul Stastny is already having an impact after signing on in the offseason. | ||
| 13 | 4 Last Week: 9 | The Lightning let one get away in a shootout loss to Ottawa on Saturday, though that's hardly cause for concern. | ||
| 14 | 11 Last Week: 3 | The Ducks got a strong rebound, beating Detroit at Joe Louis Arena on Saturday after getting rocked in Pittsburgh in the opener. Frederik Andersen was solid in the Ducks' first win. | ||
| 15 | 5 Last Week: 20 | Offense has come slowly in the early going for the Red Wings, although they have allowed just four goals through two games, which is a good sign for those concerned about Jimmy Howard. | ||
| 16 | 5 Last Week: 21 | The Coyotes get a new majority owner and a nice bounce-back win over Los Angeles after being shelled by Winnipeg in their opener. | ||
| 17 | 16 Last Week: 1 | It's been an unimpressive start for the defending Cup champs. They were pounded at home following the raising of their Stanley Cup banner and then blew an early lead to Arizona to lose in OT. They did get their first win of the season Sunday over lowly Winnipeg. | ||
| 18 | 9 Last Week: 27 | The Sens came up with a nice home win over Tampa Bay and former Ottawa netminder Ben Bishop on Saturday. | ||
| 19 | 14 Last Week: 5 | The Bruins have dropped two in a row and have just three goals in three games to start the season. | ||
| 20 | 10 Last Week: 10 | The Stars' high-powered offense is sputtering early in the regular season with three goals in two games. | ||
| 21 | 8 Last Week: 29 | After a big opening-night win in Arizona, the Jets dropped the next two games of a season-opening three-game road trip. They are off until Friday, when they will start a five-game homestand. | ||
| 22 | 10 Last Week: 12 | The Rangers have again been slow out of the blocks. Henrik Lundqvist was yanked in Sunday's 6-3 home loss to Toronto and has allowed eight goals in the two games in which he has appeared. | ||
| 23 | 3 Last Week: 26 | The Flames are off to an up-and-down start. Expect that flight pattern to be repeated throughout the season. | ||
| 24 | 5 Last Week: 19 | They got a huge win over the Rangers on Sunday, helping to calm the frazzled nerves of Leafs fans. However, Jonathan Bernier's rocky start and an overall lack of team defense won't do much to quell the uncertainty surrounding the team and the future of coach Randy Carlyle. | ||
| 25 |
--
Last Week: 25 | New netminder Roberto Luongo was yanked in the home opener as the Devils spanked the Panthers. Ouch. | ||
| 26 | 2 Last Week: 24 | Raise your hand if you think the Oilers, who have allowed 10 goals in two games, have solved their goaltending issues. Thought so. | ||
| 27 | 19 Last Week: 8 | Lots of folks expected a step back for one of last season's surprise teams, but getting shut out twice to start the season against Minnesota suggests lots of work to do for an Avs team that spent the offseason building to be a better playoff team. | ||
| 28 | 2 Last Week: 30 | As expected, the winless 'Canes are in trouble early. Don't expect this prognosis to change much in the coming weeks. | ||
| 29 | 1 Last Week: 28 | The Sabres simply can't stay with top-level talent and have allowed nine goals in two games. | ||
| 30 | 8 Last Week: 22 | A year ago, Peter Laviolette was fired after the Flyers lost three straight to open the season. Craig Berube likely isn't going anywhere, but the winless Flyers have looked ugly. | ||
| ||||
No comments:
Post a Comment