Current NHL Power Rankings: Can't stop the Habs

By Scott Burnside (posted Oct. 26,2015)
 Updated: October 26,2015, 3:44PM,EDT




Once again, the unsullied Montreal Canadiens remain atop the list -- how could they not? Things are starting to return to normal for the Los Angeles Kings, while the Philadelphia Flyers and New Jersey Devils are making things interesting in the congested Metropolitan Division. Interesting is another way to put what's happening with the Anaheim Ducks, but you'll have to scan pretty much to the bottom to find out more.
Now the chaos train will pull out of the station in a week when Pierre LeBrun takes over the rankings.

2015-2016 Power Rankings: Week 3
RANK	TEAM / RECORD	TRENDING	COMMENTS
1	Montreal 9-0-0	-- Last Week: 1	The Habs remain perfect at 9-0 with an NHL-record nine straight regulation victories. Carey Price was busy in Saturday's demolition of Toronto but didn't seem to mind. When will Michel Therrien get appropriate credit for his work behind the Montreal bench?
2	Washington 6-1-0	10 Last Week: 12	The Caps are cooking with a 6-1 start and are currently riding a five-game win streak with a nice plus-11 goal differential, which is second in the league. Evgeny Kuznetsov picking up where he left off in the playoffs -- can you say magician?
3	Nashville 6-1-1	2 Last Week: 5	The Preds are proving they can win pretty much any way you like: close-checking and wide open, shootout, regulation.
4	Dallas 6-2-0	1 Last Week: 3	OK, a bit of a setback against Florida on Saturday reminds us that this is still a team searching for a defensive identity. Still, tied for fourth in goals per game, which covers up lots of mistakes.
5	Chicago 5-3-0	10 Last Week: 15	The Blackhawks are adjusting to life without Duncan Keith (and Brandon Saad, Patrick Sharp, Brad Richards, Johnny Oduya and Kris Versteeg) with a three-game winning streak on the go.
6	New York 5-2-1	-- Last Week: 6	The Isles continue to impress with a nice road win Saturday in St. Louis. Maybe fans in Brooklyn will take note, as the Islanders are 3-1-1 at Barclays Center.
7	St. Louis 5-2-1	3 Last Week: 4	Speaking of the Blues, could they have any worse luck, losing Jaden Schwartz with a broken ankle when Paul Stastny and Kevin Shattenkirk are already on the shelf? Still a tough out.
8	Winnipeg 5-2-1	-- Last Week: 8	The Jets continue to impress, although they got a pretty good scare from Minnesota on Sunday nearly blowing a 5-1 lead (they won 5-4). Still, a win is a win. Blake Wheeler leads the Jets with 11 points in eight games.
9	Los Angeles 5-3-0	12 Last Week: 21	The Kings have now won five in a row after edging Edmonton on Sunday night. Imagine if Marian Gaborik (one goal, no assists in eight games) actually begins to produce.
10	Minnesota 5-2-1	3 Last Week: 7	The Wild didn't get what they needed from backup Darcy Kuemper on Sunday (four goals on 18 shots). But a 5-2-1 start is not too shabby. Zach Parise scored his seventh of the season in a losing cause Sunday.
11	New York 6-2-2	9 Last Week: 20	The Rangers made short work of Calgary on Sunday, spotting the Flames a goal and then scoring four unanswered to run their record to 6-2-2 -- good enough for the top spot in the Metropolitan Division.
12	Tampa Bay 5-2-2	2 Last Week: 10	With an early long road trip to test their mettle, the Lightning are more than surviving. They did drop their Stanley Cup finals rematch against Chicago on Saturday, which must have burned a little bit. Umm, about that new Steven Stamkos contract ...
13	Philadelphia 4-2-1	11 Last Week: 2	The Flyers are off to a surprising start under Dave Hakstol in spite of being tied for 24th in goals per game. What will the loss of Michal Neuvirth, who was outstanding in relief of Steve Mason, mean to this group?
14	New Jersey 4-3-1	13 Last Week: 27	The Devils have quietly put together a four-game winning streak and are finding unexpected sources of offense like Lee Stempniak's seven points and Adam Henrique's six goals. Can they keep it up? Good on rookie head coach John Hynes if they can.
15	San Jose 5-3-0	13 Last Week: 2	The Sharks have cooled off a little with one win in four games after a red hot 4-0 start. Blame Pierre LeBrun for his fine piece on Martin Jones.
16	Pittsburgh 4-4-0	3 Last Week: 19	The Penguins are 4-1 after an 0-3 start, which is a testament to Marc-Andre Fleury's play given that they rank 29th in the league in goals scored per game. Phil Kessel and Sidney Crosby getting new linemates: Is the experiment dead or just taking a breather?
17	Arizona 4-3-1	1 Last Week: 16	The Coyotes got a nice win against Ottawa on Saturday after being whipped by the Rangers -- good for Anders Lindback to get his first win as a Coyote -- and they are a surprising 4-3-1 and 3-1-1 on the road.
18	Florida 4-3-1	5 Last Week: 13	The Panthers will miss Aleksander Barkov (hand), but coming off an emphatic win over previously scorching Dallas, not all bad news in South Florida.
19	Detroit 4-3-1	5 Last Week: 14	The Wings have one win in their past five after starting 3-0. They've scored just 10 times over that five-game stretch and are riddled by injuries. Challenging times for rookie head coach Jeff Blashill.
20	Boston 3-3-1	2 Last Week: 18	The Bruins are 3-0-1 after their 0-3 start and still are without a win at home. Is the fact they are 29th in goals allowed per game (4.14 per game, yowza) a function of poor defense or poor goaltending? Discuss amongst yourselves.
21	Ottawa 3-3-2	10 Last Week: 11	The Senators can't get much traction going early on (it's a familiar story, just look back to any Power Rankings in the first quarter of last season). The Sens are winless in four, winless at home and tied for 24th in goals allowed per game.
22	Edmonton 3-6-0	-- Last Week: 22	Watching the Oilers get schooled by Washington on Saturday was a reminder of the long road ahead for this team (they followed that up by a close loss Sunday against Los Angeles). Yes, Connor McDavid is a rare treasure. But this is still a team that is a long way away.
23	Vancouver 3-2-3	14 Last Week: 9	After starting 3-0-1, the Canucks are winless in four, which is more of what we'd expected from the in-transition Canucks.
24	Calgary 2-6-0	5 Last Week: 29	The Flames may have shed one goalie in sending Karri Ramo to the minors but they apparently have not solved their goaltending woes as Jonas Hiller was lit up for four goals on 21 shots before being lifted by Joni Ortio. Next?
25	Colorado 2-4-1	2 Last Week: 23	Is it possible that the Avs simply aren't very good? Fair question when you end up allowing Columbus to sneak into the win column for the first time this season and you are in last place in the Central Division.
26	Carolina 2-6-0	2 Last Week: 28	Good news for the Canes is that they've only played two games at home. The bad news is that they are the Carolina Hurricanes and it really doesn't matter where they play.
27	Toronto 1-4-2	3 Last Week: 24	The Leafs are one of three teams in the NHL with just one win, proving you can't take moral victories to the points department in this league.
28	Buffalo 2-6-0	2 Last Week: 26	Tim Murray is going to have to address his goaltending situation or we could be talking about another first-round draft pick sweepstakes for the Sabres who are a woeful 2-4 at home. The loss of Evander Kane to injury after a disappointing start is another blow for the hard-luck Sabres.
29	Anaheim 1-5-1	4 Last Week: 25	The Ducks continue their perplexing start to the season by getting shut out by Minnesota on Saturday with just six goals scored in seven games. Earth to Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf, please report to the Honda Center.
30	Columbus 1-8-0	-- Last Week: 30	The Blue Jackets finally got into the win column as John Tortorella made his presence felt behind the Columbus bench. Still a mighty deep hole from which to climb.
Biggest Jump: 13 Biggest Drop: 14