Updated: March 28,2016, 1:58PM,EDT
ESPN IllustrationWith 14 days remaining in the 2015-16 regular season, teams continue to battle for postseason positioning. The top teams are cementing themselves, while others are trying to secure a playoff berth. We've learned in the past that the regular-season standing really don't matter once the puck drops on the Stanley Cup playoffs, but these top teams have been impressive down the stretch.
Once again, we have some movement in the rankings this week.
| 2015-2016 Power Rankings: Week 25 | ||||
| RANK | TEAM / RECORD | TRENDING | COMMENTS | |
| 1 | 1 Last Week: 2 | Clinched Eastern Conference title. Caps have eight games remaining and will next face the Blue Jackets on Monday. Still waiting to clinch the Presidents' Trophy and with a win against the Blue Jackets on Monday, Washington can clinch home-ice advantage throughout the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs. Capitals forward T.J. Oshie has missed the last two games with the flu. | ||
| 2 | 4 Last Week: 6 | Clinched a playoff berth. On Saturday, Mattias Janmark scored twice to lead the Stars to a 4-2 win over the Sharks. It was their fourth win in the past five games. Dallas has six games remaining in the regular season and faces the Predators on Tuesday. | ||
| 3 | 2 Last Week: 5 | The Blues are getting hot at the right time, producing a four-game winning streak -- all shutouts -- and going 8-2-0 in their past 10 games. They have an identical record to the Stars, but Dallas has a 43-40 advantage in the ROW tiebreaker and remains atop the Central Division. The Blues have six regular-season games remaining and face the Avalanche on Tuesday. | ||
| 4 | 1 Last Week: 3 | The Penguins continue to roll without key players, and have won eight of the past nine games to move within three points of the Rangers for second place in the Metro. The Penguins are getting major contributions from Sidney Crosby, while teammate Phil Kessel has seven points in the past two games. | ||
| 5 | 4 Last Week: 1 | Clinched a playoff berth. The Kings have seven games remaining and next face the Sharks on Monday. They are 6-3-1 in the past 10 games. On Saturday, the Kings snapped a three-game losing skid with a 6-4 win over the Oilers. Tyler Toffoli had two goals and two assists in the win. | ||
| 6 | 1 Last Week: 7 | The defending champions clinched an eighth consecutive postseason berth with a 3-2 win over the Canucks on Sunday. Chicago is four points back of the Stars and Blues for first place in the Central Division. The Blackhawks have six games remaining and next face the Wild on Tuesday. | ||
| 7 | 5 Last Week: 12 | The Rangers have played inspired hockey of late. On Saturday, they recorded their third consecutive victory with a 5-2 win over the Canadiens. Chris Kreider scored a goal and added an assist, matching a career-high for points in a game. It was his sixth career multi-goal game. New York earned a point Sunday against the Penguins, but lost 3-2 in overtime. | ||
| 8 | 5 Last Week: 13 | Sitting atop the Atlantic Division, the Panthers will face the Maple Leafs on Tuesday. Roberto Luongo is 32-18-6 on the season, three wins shy of his own single-season franchise record, set in 2005-06. Jussi Jokinen has four goals and four assists in the past five games. | ||
| 9 | 5 Last Week: 4 | Clinched a playoff berth. The Ducks have eight games remaining and next face the Oilers on Monday. Forward Rickard Rakell has reached the 20-goal plateau for the first time in his NHL career. | ||
| 10 | 1 Last Week: 9 | Captain Steven Stamkos is on a five-game point streak, with five goals and two assists in that span. Tampa has seven games remaining and faces the Maple Leafs on Monday. Tampa lost defenseman Anton Stralman to a broken leg over the weekend and will be without him for the remainder of the regular season. The team hopes the veteran D-man will return at some point during the playoffs. | ||
| 11 |
--
Last Week: 11 | The Predators have recorded a point in 10 consecutive games at home (7-0-3). Forward James Neal has reached the 30-goal plateau for the second time in his career. The Preds have seven games remaining and will next face the Avalanche on Monday. | ||
| 12 | 6 Last Week: 18 | The Wild have begun to separate themselves in the wild-card race. They've won five consecutive games and are now five points ahead of the Avalanche for the final wild-card position in the West. Minnesota has six games remaining and next will face the Blackhawks on Tuesday. Wild forward Erik Haula has three goals and five assists for eight points in the past eight games. | ||
| 13 | 1 Last Week: 14 | The Islanders have scuffled of late and entered Saturday's game with four losses in their previous five, but New York posted a 4-3 win over the Hurricanes. The Islanders remain in the first wild-card spot in the East. | ||
| 14 | 4 Last Week: 10 | On the verge of clinching a postseason berth. Have seven games remaining and will face the Kings Monday night. | ||
| 15 |
--
Last Week: 15 | The Bruins snapped a five-game losing skid with a 3-1 win over the lowly Maple Leafs on Saturday. Boston has six games remaining and will next face the Devils on Tuesday. | ||
| 16 | 8 Last Week: 8 | The Flyers got a scare when captain Claude Giroux tumbled head-first into the boards over the weekend, but he could be in the lineup Monday against the Jets. A loss to the Coyotes prevented the Flyers from gaining ground in the wild-card race, though. They face the Capitals and Senators this week. | ||
| 17 | 1 Last Week: 16 | Five points could be too much ground to make up with only seven games remaining in the regular season for the Avalanche. It won't get any easier for Colorado, which faces the Predators, Blues and Capitals this week. It doesn't help that the Avalanche are without Nathan MacKinnon and Matt Duchene due to injury. | ||
| 18 | 1 Last Week: 17 | While the Red Wings remain on the bubble in the Eastern wild-card race, veteran forward Pavel Datsyuk became the fifth player in franchise history to reach 600 assists when he registered one helper during Saturday's 7-2 loss to the Penguins. | ||
| 19 | 2 Last Week: 21 | Forward Victor Rask, 23, reached the 20-goal plateau for the first time in his NHL career with a pair of tallies during Sunday's 3-2 win over the Devils. | ||
| 20 |
--
Last Week: 20 | The Devils have six games remaining and are 5-4-1 in last 10 games. New Jersey faces the Bruins and Panthers this week. | ||
| 21 | 2 Last Week: 23 | Well out of the playoff structure with seven games remaining, the Coyotes are in the midst of a three-game winning streak. Arizona has also won six of its past eight games. The Coyotes are 10 points out of the second wild-card spot in the West. | ||
| 22 | 3 Last Week: 19 | The Sens have six games remaining and will face the Jets, Wild and Flyers this week. | ||
| 23 | 2 Last Week: 25 | Jack Eichel now has 23 goals and 27 assists to become the ninth rookie in franchise history to record 50 points. | ||
| 24 | 2 Last Week: 22 | Not too much to get excited about with the Blue Jackets these days, but defenseman Dalton Prout inked a two-year contract extension last week. | ||
| 25 | 1 Last Week: 24 | The Flames have dropped three in a row and have seven games remaining. | ||
| 26 |
--
Last Week: 26 | Rookie sensation Connor McDavid extended his point streak to seven games (1 G, 9 A). He ranks fourth among rookies with 45 points (15 G, 30 A), despite playing only 41 games this season. | ||
| 27 |
--
Last Week: 27 | The Habs have dropped two in a row and are 4-6-0 in the past 10. Montreal has six games remaining in the regular season. | ||
| 28 |
--
Last Week: 28 | The Jets are 4-5-1 in the past 10 and have seven games remaining in the regular season. Forward Mark Scheifele reached a career-high for points in a season with 50 (24 G, 26 A) in 64 games. | ||
| 29 |
--
Last Week: 29 | The Leafs are 6-3-1 in the past 10 and have eight games remaining. | ||
| 30 |
--
Last Week: 30 | The Canucks have lost eight in a row. | ||
Patrick Stancel ·
Blues
go the whole week without even giving up ONE GOAL, catch the Stars in
the standings, and the Stars pass the Blues in the power rankings.
16
Erick Ahlstedt ·
Yes. The Stars are better than the Blues. Deal with it.
Marvin Simpson
I
don't quite get that, either. The Stars have tended to be the team
lower in these rankings than our record for quite a while, and that's
fine. But having us leapfrog the Blues that have been even hotter than
us? I have to disagree with it, too. That said, Go Stars!
Bradley Willette
Marvin
Simpson power rankings are stupid anyway. I personally think the stars
have more scoring ability than the blues but overall they both play
extremely hard and are super talented teams. Is gonna be one hell of a
playoff year at the rate we are going so I'm just trying to enjoy it. GO
BLUES!!
Ayman Aboshihata ·
Erick Ahlstedt na
Jakob Lagerstedt ·
Amazing, your season is basically over.
Patrick Stancel ·
Erick Ahlstedt Not saying the Stars aren't a great team, but the Blues are 4-1 vs them this year
Chase Ross ·
Patrick
Stancel, 3 of those Blues wins were in OT or a shootout, and all but 1
of the games between the two came when the Stars were on the second
night of a back-to-back. The only exception was the first game of a
home-and-home on consecutive nights. The season series between both
teams has been incredibly close, and both teams are on fire. Over the
last two weeks, I think both teams have identical records if I'm not
mistaken. Also, don't forget that Dallas is playing without Tyler
Seguin, Jason Demers, and Kris Russell. It will be interesting to see
who comes out on top at the end of the regular season.
Charles Franklin ·
Erick Ahlstedt thay should be number 1 thay are the best team in the N.H.L
Patrick Stancel ·
Chase Ross No arguing that. Haha, I didn't say the Stars were 1-4, just never said 1-1-3!
Carlton Blood ·
Chase
Ross Blues are playing without Steen (currently and for longer since
Seguin has been out) and have had the most Player Games Lost due to
Injury this year. Yes, they were close this season series, but 4-1 is
still 4-1 and you cannot play the injury card with an argument comparing
the Blues to Stars. Both teams are great and should (emphasis should)
make runs.
Raylan Harper
Bradley
Willette Agreed. A matchup between our teams would be great. The
Blues size worries me a lot and I think they would ultimately beat us up
too much over a series. Nevertheless, good luck to the Blues unless
they have to go through Dallas. GO STARS!
Bradley Willette
Raylon
the thing for me is the stars can score in an instant. I must say I'm
so happy at the way the blues have been playing I mean four straight
shutouts is nuts. I can't wait for the playoffs to start and see how
this whole thing shakes out.
Tommy Harrington
The
Predators are 11th? They have the best record in the NHL since Feb 12
at 14-2-5. The only other team besides Dallas with 2 30 goal scorers.
One of the top D squads in the league. Haters going to hate.
Chase Ross ·
Your
Preds are hot right now. I would for sure put them in the top 8 at
least. Rinne is on fire too. I'm looking forward to their game here in
Dallas tomorrow night.
Eric Johnson ·
The
Predators are fourth in their division and have a losing record against
all three teams in front of them. Their 11th place ranking is the
result of playing in the toughest division in hockey and not
consistently beating the teams they are chasing.
Austin Nivison ·
Eric Johnson Yeah even though they are 5-0-0 in their last five division games, they aren't beating the teams they are chasing
Eric Johnson ·
Austin
Nivison Two of those 5 games weren't against teams they are chasing,
they were against teams behind them. And again, over the course of the
whole season, they have a losing record against the three teams in front
of them.
They are 4th place in their division, I don't have much of an issue with them being 11th, although they could have been bumped up a few spots.
They are 4th place in their division, I don't have much of an issue with them being 11th, although they could have been bumped up a few spots.
Scott Brooks ·
Chase
Ross, that should be a good game. You'll probably get to see our
backup goalie, Hutton, since Rinne will most likely get the start
tonight against Colorado at home. It'll be interesting to see how that
game goes if we're able to wrap up a playoff spot tonight at home. That
game has the potential to be an emotional black hole for us if we
clinch a playoff spot tonight. Classic trap game. I personally would
love to see a Preds v. Stars first round matchup. I think it would be
an exciting series.
Eric Johnson, you've make a couple of good points. And if you're looking at the season ...See More
Eric Johnson, you've make a couple of good points. And if you're looking at the season ...See More
George Pevarnik
What
is the value of indicating that they have 2 30 goal scorers? The
interesting thing then becomes the drop off after Forsberg/Neal - the
next highest goal scorer is at 19 goals. Finally, if Malkin isn't
injured (27 goals/57 games) he most likely has more goals than Crosby's
32 (only 9 goals in October, November and December). I still ask, what's
the value of cherry picking stats!?
Tommy Harrington
Stats have no part in a power rankings article, how dare I bring them up, my bad.
Kevin Nestra ·
Works at Music City Tents & Events
Scott
Brooks no we need to play huts tonight n play rinne tom. we play dallas
two more times n beat them couple weeks ago like 5-2. we could pull
within 6 from dallas after tom or fewer if they lose
Chris Cline ·
Chase
RossWhats wrong with record since New Years or Feb 1st. Fans always
pick random dates to make it seem like they are on top like Pens have
won 9 of 10 or Best record since January 11th night games? Alot if good
team but nobody is hotter than Blues or Caps. Dallas, Pittsburgh, Kings,
Rangers all playing inspired hockey. Oh yeah Nashville also
Lee Stinson ·
"Sitting
atop the Atlantic Division, the Lightning will face the Maple Leafs on
Tuesday. Roberto Luongo is 32-18-6 on the season, three wins shy of his
own single-season franchise record, set in 2005-06. Jussi Jokinen has
four goals and four assists in the past five games." - Lightning,
Panthers, what's the difference?
Matt Kleffman ·
Joe,
I'm not here to flame you, just to suggest that in the future your
power rankings include some insight/opinion beyond a simple "record over
last 10 games, they lost to xyz team but beat abc, they have x games
remaining". For example, nothing about Corey Crawford potentially
missing the start of the playoffs with an UBI? That alone could change
the complexion of the West if the Hawks get bounced in the first round.
Share your thoughts on the teams, not just their records! Just my two
cents.
Doug Pippen
I
think the Hawk's main problem in the playoffs is their lack of Blueline
depth. I think that is more likely to get them tossed out in the 1st
round (espeically if they play the Blues), even if Crawford can play.
Martin Wilbur
They also need to get Patrick Kane going again. He's been pretty average recently.
Joseph Martin
I
agree. I got bored reading these. I can look at the standings myself to
see how they've fared in the last 10. I enjoy reading their opinions
instead.
Paul Georgiou ·
Doug Pippen They won the cup last year with basically 4 DMen. They'll be fine. 3 of the 4 DMen are Olympians.
Carlton Blood ·
Things I think I know (and will surely get trashed by other people on here):
-The Hawks are screwed without Crawford and I laughed when the commentor below said they'll still with the division. (Really? You believe that? What a Homer). Good team, but are sliding and barely beat a team that Stars/Blues both destroyed recently.
-The Blues and Stars are maybe the best in the West, but all is for not if you cannot prove it when it matters. Kings, Ducks, Hawks are a 1A tier and then Nash, Minn, SJ are like a 2nd level tier. Not saying much as it's going to be a slugfest again to get out of the West.
-Who knows what will happen in the East. With the injuries in TB, surging NYR/Pitt and the history of Caps (see Blues/Stars point), it should be interesting to see what happens.
-These 'rankings' lack consistency and methodology. Wish it was better.
-The Hawks are screwed without Crawford and I laughed when the commentor below said they'll still with the division. (Really? You believe that? What a Homer). Good team, but are sliding and barely beat a team that Stars/Blues both destroyed recently.
-The Blues and Stars are maybe the best in the West, but all is for not if you cannot prove it when it matters. Kings, Ducks, Hawks are a 1A tier and then Nash, Minn, SJ are like a 2nd level tier. Not saying much as it's going to be a slugfest again to get out of the West.
-Who knows what will happen in the East. With the injuries in TB, surging NYR/Pitt and the history of Caps (see Blues/Stars point), it should be interesting to see what happens.
-These 'rankings' lack consistency and methodology. Wish it was better.
Kevin Nestra ·
Works at Music City Tents & Events
umm
chicago isnt as good n nashville is not a 2nd tier team ur crazy. u
might wanna take a look at that team again n how thyre playing now. if
the the playoffs started tom n it was preds vs hawks, when they BARELY
beat us last year, i would bet that the preds win in 6 or 7.
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