Dec 3, 2018
The 7-Eleven Power Rankings: Reloaded Maple Leafs back on top
After signing William Nylander to a six-year deal Saturday and with the return of Auston Matthews to the lineup last week, the Toronto Maple Leafs are ready to send shivers through the NHL with an even more lethal lineup as they move up three spots to No. 1 in TSN's weekly 7-Eleven Power Rankings.
After finally signing William Nylander to a six-year deal on Saturday and with the return of star centre Auston Matthews to the lineup last week (four points in his first two games), the Toronto Maple Leafs are reloaded and ready to send shivers through the NHL with an even more lethal lineup.
Led by Mitch Marner’s 38 points – good enough for the No. 4 spot in the scoring race – and Frederik Andersen’s league-leading 15 wins in net, the Maple Leafs have won four straight as they continue a road swing that has them playing seven of their next eight on the road (they’re 10-3 away from Scotiabank Arena) following Saturday’s 5-3 win over the Wild in Minnesota.
Toronto, which our panel ranked first two weeks ago, moves up three spots to No. 1 in our weekly 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 Leafs own the NHL’s third-best power play and are second in the overall NHL standings with 38 points, a point back of the No. 2 Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Lightning move up one spot after going 2-1-0 last week while the Nashville Predators drop one position to No. 3 after a 1-2-0 week. Last week’s No. 1 team, the Buffalo Sabres, slip to No. 4 after going 1-1-1 last week as their 10-game winning streak came to an end in Tampa. Rounding out our panel’s top five this week is the on-a-roll Colorado Avalanche at No. 5 after an impressive 3-0-1 record in their last four games.
The red-hot Anaheim Ducks make the biggest climb of the week, jumping 13 places after four straight wins, including rallying from a 5-1 deficit to edge the No. 7 Washington Capitals 6-5, to land in the No. 9 spot. The Minnesota Wild have the biggest drop of the week, falling seven places to No. 13 from No. 6 a week ago after losing three straight.
Aside from the top-ranked Leafs and the No. 6 Winnipeg Jets, the other top Canadian teams this week include the No. 8 Calgary Flames (rising two places from a week ago) and the surging Edmonton Oilers at No. 16, moving up five spots after going 3-0-0 last week under new head coach Ken Hitchcock, who is now 4-1-1 in Edmonton.
The Montreal Canadiens drop five spots to No. 18 this week while the Ottawa Senators rise six places to No. 22 after a 3-1-0 week. Canada’s worst team this week is the No. 29 Vancouver Canucks, who drop two spots after managing just one win in their last 12 games to sit among the NHL’s five worst teams this week. The Canucks acquired forward Josh Leivo from the Leafs on Monday and are hoping the winning pedigree he brings from Toronto will pay dividends on the West Coast.
The other struggling clubs this week include the New Jersey Devils at No. 27, the No. 28 Chicago Blackhawks, who have lost four straight and are just 3-8-2 under new coach Jeremy Colliton following the firing of Joel Quenneville last month, the Los Angeles Kings at No. 30, finally picking themselves off the basement floor after four straight weeks at No. 31, and the injury-riddled St. Louis Blues, who sit dead last this week after losing three of their last four.
1. Toronto Maple Leafs
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RECORD19-8-0
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LAST 108-2-0
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LAST WEEK4
A late goal in Minnesota gave the Maple Leafs their fourth consecutive win, outscoring their opponents 20-8 during the streak. William Nylander signed just before the deadline on the same night.
2. Tampa Bay Lightning
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RECORD19-7-1
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LAST 107-3-0
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LAST WEEK3
Louis Domingue has done the job filling in for Andrei Vasilevskiy, with a 7-3-0 record in his absence. It helps that the Lightning, winners of five of their last six, have averaged 5.2 goals per game in the wins.
3. Nashville Predators
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RECORD18-8-1
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LAST 105-5-0
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LAST WEEK2
Losing consecutive games at home is unusual for the Preds, although it should be noted they were sandwiched between seven wins. They’ve also had problems on the road, losing their last four (0-3-1).
4. Buffalo Sabres
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RECORD17-7-3
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LAST 108-1-1
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LAST WEEK1
A franchise-best tying 10-game winning streak finally ended with a 5-4 loss in Tampa Bay. Jeff Skinner led the way with 10 goals in the 10 games, and Jack Eichel led in helpers, also with 10.
5. Colorado Avalanche
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RECORD16-6-5
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Last 108-0-2
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LAST WEEK5
Colorado’s current 11-game (9-0-2) point streak features a 6-0 record on the road and 4.0 average goals scored. Not once during the streak have they allowed more than three goals.
6. Winnipeg Jets
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RECORD16-8-2
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LAST 106-3-1
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LAST WEEK9
The Jets trailed 3-0 going into the third period against the New York Rangers on Sunday, but scored three times to tie it and then won in the shootout. They’ve won four of their last five games.
7. Washington Capitals
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RECORD15-8-3
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LAST 108-2-0
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LAST WEEK7
The Capitals ended their seven-game winning streak in a big way, blowing a 5-1 lead and losing 6-5 to Anaheim. During their winning streak the Capitals outscored their opponents 30-16.
8. Calgary Flames
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RECORD16-9-2
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LAST 106-3-1
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LAST WEEK10
The Flames are on a 6-1-1 run since the middle of November. In the six wins they’ve outscored their opponents 30-11. In November, five players averaged at least a point a game in their 13 contests.
9. Anaheim Ducks
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RECORD14-10-5
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LAST 106-2-2
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LAST WEEK22
Trailing 5-1 to Washington, the Ducks scored five consecutive goals to win 6-5 and extend their road winning streak to four games. Waiver wire pick-up Pontus Aberg leads with six points during the streak.
10. Columbus Blue Jackets
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RECORD15-9-2
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LAST 106-3-1
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LAST WEEK11
Cam Atkinson extended his point streak to 10 games (second to Ryan Johansen’s 13 in 2014-15) but they still lost their third game in their last four on the road. At home they’re on a 4-0-1 stretch.
11. Boston Bruins
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RECORD14-8-4
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LAST 105-3-2
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LAST WEEK8
Patrice Bergeron’s absence has had a negative effect on their goal scorers. In the six games he’s been out, David Pastrnak has two goals and Brad Marchand just one. The team has averaged 2.0 per game.
12. Dallas Stars
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RECORD14-10-3
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LAST 105-4-1
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LAST WEEK15
A stretch of seven of eight games on the road had a happy ending. After going 1-3 in the first four road games, they finished it off in Western Canada by going 2-0-1, with Ben Bishop returning for the win.
13. Minnesota Wild
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RECORD14-10-2
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LAST 104-6-0
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LAST WEEK6
A three-game losing streak featured some poor third period play. They allowed a goal with 3:20 remaining to lose to Toronto, and allowed three third period goals in 5:32 in a loss to Arizona.
14. New York Islanders
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RECORD13-9-3
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LAST 105-4-1
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LAST WEEK14
15. San Jose Sharks
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RECORD13-10-5
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LAST 104-4-2
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LAST WEEK12
16. Edmonton Oilers
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RECORD13-11-2
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LAST 105-4-1
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LAST WEEK21
It’s not difficult to see the influence of Ken Hitchcock on the Oilers. They have a three-game winning streak with scores of 1-0 in overtime, 3-2 and 2-1. Overall, they’re 4-1-1 under Hitchcock.
17. Vegas Golden Knights
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RECORD14-13-1
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LAST 107-3-0
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LAST WEEK17
18. Montreal Canadiens
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RECORD12-10-5
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LAST 103-5-2
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LAST WEEK13
Shea Weber made a triumphant return to the Canadiens lineup with two goals in just his second game back in nearly a year. It helped Montreal to their first win in six games. Carey Price is 8-8-4.
19. Carolina Hurricanes
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RECORD12-10-4
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LAST 105-3-2
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LAST WEEK18
A 4-2-1 current stretch can be traced to the goaltending of Curtis McElhinney. The waiver wire pickup (Leafs) won all four and has a 7-2-1 season mark to go with a .930 save percentage and 2.10 GAA.
20. Detroit Red Wings
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RECORD12-12-3
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LAST 105-4-1
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LAST WEEK20
The Red Wings are quietly putting together a decent season after a horrible start. After getting out of the gate with a 1-7-2 mark they’ve gone 11-5-1. They’re 8-4-1 in their last 12 and Jimmy Howard is 9-6-3.
21. Arizona Coyotes
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RECORD12-11-2
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LAST 105-4-1
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LAST WEEK29
22. Ottawa Senators
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RECORD12-12-3
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LAST 105-5-0
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LAST WEEK28
After allowing 23 goals in a four-game losing streak, the Senators are on a three-game winning streak, which includes a 6-2 welcome home win over former captain Erik Karlsson and the Sharks.
23. New York Rangers
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RECORD13-12-3
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LAST 104-5-1
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LAST WEEK16
The Rangers have just one win in their last six games and were shut out twice. At home they’re 8-1-1 in their last 10, but on the road they’ve lost four in a row including their first shootout loss of the season.
24. Pittsburgh Penguins
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RECORD10-10-5
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LAST 103-5-2
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LAST WEEK19
A 4-2 home loss to Philadelphia gave them one of just two losing records at home in the Eastern Conference (the Flyers are the other). Their average of 3.67 home goals against ranks last in the NHL.
25. Florida Panthers
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RECORD10-10-5
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LAST 103-5-2
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LAST WEEK26
It’s been iffy in OT for the Panthers. In four of their last five games they've gone to extra time, winning two and losing two. Not iffy has been their power play with goals in 15 of their last 16 games.
26. Philadelphia Flyers
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RECORD11-12-2
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LAST 104-5-1
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LAST WEEK24
Anthony Stolarz, the Flyers’ fifth goalie to start this year, got just their second win in their last eight games. Carter Hart, the team’s goalie of the future, has a .893 save percentage in the AHL.
27. New Jersey Devils
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RECORD9-11-5
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LAST 103-3-4
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LAST WEEK25
The current five-game losing skid doesn’t look quite as bad when you factor in that three of the losses came in OT. On the season they have a record of 0-5 in extra time. Cory Schneider is 0-5 this season.
28. Chicago Blackhawks
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RECORD9-14-5
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LAST 103-6-1
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LAST WEEK23
Firing Joel Quenneville hasn’t worked out so far for the Blackhawks. They have a record of 3-8-2 and have lost six of their last seven, allowing 32 goals in the losses, under new coach Jeremy Colliton.
29. Vancouver Canucks
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RECORD11-15-3
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LAST 101-8-1
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LAST WEEK27
The Canucks have just one win in their last 12 games (1-9-2) and that was over lowly Los Angeles. Their bad stretch includes five straight losses at home (0-4-1) in which they were outscored 18-10.
30. Los Angeles Kings
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RECORD10-16-1
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LAST 105-5-0
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LAST WEEK31
Problems galore for the Kings this season, including the fact that Jonathan Quick didn’t have a win until Sunday’s 2-0 shutout (50th of his career) of Carolina as he’s missed 18 games due to injuries.
31. St. Louis Blues
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RECORD9-13-3
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LAST 103-7-0
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LAST WEEK30
The Blues have had some impressive wins lately, defeating Nashville and Colorado, but it doesn’t make up for the six losses in their last eight games. In those losses they’ve been outscored 26-9.