Current NHL Power Rankings: Capitals take over

By Joe McDonald (posted Dec. 7,2015)

I've jumped over the boards and will attack ESPN.com's December shift of Power Rankings with reckless abandon. It's going to be a challenge to keep up with colleagues Scott Burnside (October) and Pierre LeBrun (November), but I'm scrappy and will grind it out for the next few weeks. This week's rankings:

2015-2016 Power Rankings: Week 9
RANK	TEAM / RECORD	TRENDING	COMMENTS
1	Washington 18-5-2	1 Last Week: 2	The Capitals' six-game winning streak ended with Saturday's 2-1 OT loss to the Jets, but they continue to prove why they are a Stanley Cup contender. Before their loss to the Jets, the Capitals had defeated the Canadiens 3-2 Thursday night in Montreal.
2	Los Angeles 17-8-1	3 Last Week: 5	The suddenly hot Kings have won four straight, including wins over the Blackhawks, Canucks, Penguins and Lightning. L.A. begins a six-game road trip Tuesday in Columbus.
3	Dallas 20-5-2	2 Last Week: 1	The Stars went 1-0-2 last week with a win over the Canucks, a 2-1 OT loss to the Oilers and a 4-3 shootout loss to the Flames. But that's only a minor hiccup for the high-flying Stars.
4	Minnesota 14-7-4	5 Last Week: 9	The Wild have won three straight, with victories over the Blackhawks, Maple Leafs and Avalanche, but goaltender Devan Dubnyk suffered a minor groin strain in Saturday's 3-0 victory over Colorado and he's expected to miss at least one game.
5	Montreal 19-6-3	2 Last Week: 3	The Canadiens suffered back-to-back regulation losses this week for only the second time this season. Montreal went 10-2-0 in October and followed that with an 8-2-3 November. The Canadiens started December 1-2-0 and will host the Bruins on Wednesday night in what is always a big game.
6	Boston 14-8-3	6 Last Week: 12	The Bruins have made a huge jump, going 6-0-2 in their past eight. They went 1-0-2 on their recent Western Canadian trip through Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver, though.
7	Ottawa 14-8-5	1 Last Week: 8	Led by the stellar play of two-time Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson, the Senators have earned at least one point in nine of their past 12 games, going 7-2-2 in that span. Karlsson, who scored the game-winning goal in a 3-2 OT win over the Islanders on Saturday, has 20 points in his past 13 games.
8	Florida 13-10-4	10 Last Week: 18	Thanks to solid goaltending from Roberto Luongo, the Panthers jump significantly. Before losing 4-2 to the Devils on Sunday, Florida had a five-game winning streak, and the veteran goalie was in net for four of those wins.
9	Detroit 15-8-4	4 Last Week: 13	The Red Wings have been racking up the points, earning 17 of a possible 20 in their last 10 games. They are receiving contributions throughout the lineup, pushing them up in the rankings. Detroit is 3-0-0 to start December.
10	New York 15-8-5	6 Last Week: 16	The Islanders have earned points in seven consecutive games, going 5-0-2. They had a huge 2-1 shootout win over the Rangers at Barclays Center on Wednesday.
11	Philadelphia 11-11-5	13 Last Week: 24	Before Saturday's 4-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Flyers had won four straight games. Maybe it has something to do with the newest installment of the Rocky movies, "Creed," being released, but Philadelphia is playing inspired hockey of late.
12	New Jersey 14-10-3	2 Last Week: 14	The Devils start December 2-1-1. With Sunday's 4-2 win, they snapped the Panthers' win streak at five games. Goaltender Cory Schneider has started 22 of the Devils' 27 games.
13	New York 18-7-3	6 Last Week: 7	The Rangers had lost five of six games before an impressive 4-1 win over the Senators on Sunday. Still, they are 2-4-1 in their last seven games.
14	Chicago 14-9-4	8 Last Week: 6	The defending Stanley Cup champions begin December with a 1-1-1 record. Patrick Kane is in the midst of a 22-game point streak, which is stealing attention away from the team's misfortunes last week.
15	Winnipeg 13-13-2	5 Last Week: 20	The Jets begin December with a 2-1-0 record. They posted an impressive 2-1 OT victory over the Capitals on Saturday. Rookie goalie Connor Hellebuyck made 37 saves, including six in OT, in only his third NHL game.
16	Tampa Bay 13-12-3	1 Last Week: 17	After back-to-back wins against the Ducks and Sharks, the Lightning lost 3-1 to the Kings on Sunday. Tampa has won three straight only twice this season. Goalie Ben Bishop suffered an eye injury during Saturday's 4-3 win over the Sharks and was removed from the game, but fortunately for Tampa he's fine.
17	Pittsburgh 14-10-2	2 Last Week: 15	The Penguins are 1-2-0 on a four-game road trip that concludes against the Avalanche.
18	St. Louis 15-8-4	14 Last Week: 4	The Blues began December 0-2-1, including a 4-1 loss to the struggling Maple Leafs on Saturday.
19	San Jose 14-12-0	8 Last Week: 11	Inconsistency continues to haunt the Sharks, who lost three straight and scored a total of four goals. Three of those four goals came in Saturday's 4-3 loss to the Lightning. At least the Sharks believe they're starting to create quality scoring chances.
20	Edmonton 11-15-2	10 Last Week: 30	Heads up, the Oilers have won three straight over the Bruins, Stars and Sabres. It's only their second three-game winning streak this season.
21	Anaheim 11-12-5	1 Last Week: 22	The Ducks are off to a 2-1-0 start in December. This team is too talented to be this low on the depth chart. But it needs a big-time winning streak in order to gain confidence and climb the West standings.
22	Calgary 10-14-2	7 Last Week: 29	For only the third time this season, the Flames have recorded back-to-back wins. Calgary posted a shootout win over the Stars, before the Flames beat the Bruins in OT. A win over the Sharks on Monday would give the Flames their first three-game winning streak of the season.
23	Buffalo 11-13-3	-- Last Week: 23	The Sabres earned seven of a possible eight points before losing 4-2 to the Oilers on Sunday. Despite their place (13th) in the East standings, there's a lot to be excited about for the Sabres.
24	Carolina 10-13-4	1 Last Week: 25	A pair of emotional wins over the Canadiens and Coyotes should have the Hurricanes feeling pretty good about themselves as they begin a tough four-game road trip.
25	Nashville 13-8-5	15 Last Week: 10	The good news for the Preds: They scored 10 goals in their last three games. The bad news: They went 1-2-0.
26	Toronto 9-13-5	2 Last Week: 28	Did new coach Mike Babcock finally get through to forward Nazem Kadri? Kadri scored twice to lead the Maple Leafs to an impressive 4-1 road victory over the Blues on Saturday. Not that anyone expects great things from the Leafs this season, but a win like that could help bolster team confidence.
27	Colorado 11-15-1	-- Last Week: 27	After a pair of big wins over the Devils and Rangers, the Avalanche suffered a 3-0 loss to the Wild. Colorado could have its revenge as it finishes a home-and-home series with Minnesota Monday night.
28	Columbus 11-16-1	2 Last Week: 26	After veteran forward Scott Hartnell was a healthy scratch, he responded with a goal and two assists to help the Blue Jackets to a 4-1 win over the Flyers, snapping Philadelphia's win streak at four games.
29	Arizona 13-13-1	10 Last Week: 19	After a three-game winning streak, the Coyotes have dropped four in a row. The worst of them had to be a 5-2 loss to the Sabres on Friday.
30	Vancouver 9-11-8	9 Last Week: 21	It's only getting worse for the Canucks. They've lost five straight and have only three wins in their last 16 games. Changing goaltenders didn't help as veteran Ryan Miller watched from the bench as Jacob Markstrom suffered a 4-0 loss to the Bruins on Saturday.
Biggest Jump: 13 Biggest Drop: 15