Jets flying high at No. 1 in NHL Power Ranking at 4 Nations break

The 4 Nations Face-Off begins this week, so let’s look at our Power Rankings as the NHL enters a hiatus for the next couple of weeks.

Winnipeg Jets fans should be thrilled, mainly because their team enters the break with the most points in the NHL and first on our list.

The Jets lead the league in goals and goals against per game. Winnipeg, by far, has the best power play in the league, clicking at 33.3 per cent. Connor Hellebuyck leads the NHL in just about every important goaltending metric. The Jets have dominated stretches like this before in the regular season – what’s left to determine is if it will lead to playoff success this season.

The Edmonton Oilers drop two spots, from fourth to sixth on our list. Edmonton won two of three games last week and enters the break first place in the Pacific Division.

The Oilers have been as impressive defensively as they have offensively this season. Edmonton ranks second in expected goals against and top five in time spent defending in its own zone as well as inner slot shots against. Leon Draisaitl trails only Nathan MacKinnon in the scoring race with 83 points this season and is in the thick of the race for league MVP.

The Ottawa Senators are also down two spots, from 11th to 13th. The Sens followed up their five-game winning streak with a three-game losing streak.

Ottawa’s ranking on our list is more reflective of their strong underlying numbers than their record as our model believes the Senators to be a team to take a step forward following the break. The Sens sit 10th in expected goal differential and have their starting goalie, Linus Ullmark, back from injury.

Up one spot, from 15th to 14th, are the Toronto Maple Leafs. Toronto sits 19th in expected goal differential but has proven its elite shooting talent and goaltending is more than capable of bucking the underlying trends.

The Leafs rank 28th in scoring chances off-the-rush but sit fourth in rush goals. Anthony Stolarz is healthy again as arguably the best goaltending duo in the NHL has been reunited.

No Canadian team moved up more on our list than the Vancouver Canucks, who jumped from 22nd to 15th. The Canucks have thrived in Quinn Hughes’ absence, winning three straight games.

Despite Thatcher Demko leaving Saturday’s game with an injury, the goaltending has been terrific lately, as has team defence. Vancouver is averaging two goals against per game in its last five and is allowing 20 per cent fewer shots against from the inner slot in that time.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Calgary Flames are down seven spots from 18th to 25th. The Flames have dropped four of their last five games and now sit three points behind Vancouver for the final playoff spot in the West.

The Flames rank 23rd in goal differential per game and 21st in expected goal differential. Much of the team’s success to this point has been tied to the performance of Dustin Wolf. This will likely be the case when the NHL returns on Feb. 22.

Lastly, the Montreal Canadiens are up one spot from 30th to 29th. The Habs dropped three straight leading into the 4 Nations break and are now six points back of a playoff spot.

There was a stretch of five weeks through December and January where Montreal posted the best record in the NHL. The ceiling has fallen in and the loss of Kaiden Guhle to injury can’t be understated.

Enjoy the break and we will be back with our latest rankings on March 3.