Power Rankings: Week 2

Week 1 of NHL games is in the books. Which teams rose and which teams fell…cough cough Chicago…spoiler alert…Seth Jones is not great right now…

Anyways…This weeks top riser of the week award (not a real award) goes to the Florida Panthers. A popular pre season pick to make some noise this season, the Panthers have started 2-0 and are coming off a resounding 5-1 victory over potential cup team (or maybe not) in the New York Islanders. The team with the greatest decline down the rankings belongs to both the Blackhawks and Canadiens who are a combined 0-5-1. Not great. OK, let’s get to the rankings.

1. 1.  Florida Panthers 🔼 3 (Last Week: 2-0)
      – Sam Bennett is absolutely thriving down south.
      
   2. Tampa Bay Lightning 🔽 1 (Last Week: 2-1)
      – Stamkos has 7 pts in 3 games & the Bolts are a -2 goal differential.
   3. Colorado Avalanche 🔽 1 (Last Week: 1-1)
      – Naz Kadri revenge tour. (1g, 4a last week)
   4. Toronto Maple Leafs 🔽 1 (Last Week: 2-1)
      – Nylander is carrying Toronto. 11 & 91 combined for 2 pts in 3 games.
   5. Carolina Hurricanes (Last Week: 2-0)
      – Mr. Svechnikov may light the NHL on 🔥.
      
   6. Washington Capitals 🔼 1 (Last Week: 1-0-1)
      – Ovie may just break 99’s record this season at this pace.
   7. Boston Bruins 🔼 1 (Last Week: 1-0)
      – Bruins played a game & won. 2 games next week. Who makes the schedules?
   8. Edmonton Oilers 🔼 3 (Last Week: 2-0)
      – Are the Oilers going to be fun AND good?
   9.  Minnesota Wild 🔼 6 (Last Week: 2-0)
      – Cam Talbot played both ends of a B2B & helped win both.
   10.  St. Louis Blues 🔼 2 (Last Week: 1-0)
       – Beat a Landeskogless Avs squad 5-3. Tarasenko TOI: 12:57.
   11. Vegas Golden Knights 🔽 2 (Last Week: 1-1)
       – Pacioretty will miss a few weeks. VGS…oh, I mean VGK, seems off.
   12. Pittsburgh Penguins 🔼 11 (Last Week: 2-0-1)
       – OK doubting Pittsburgh & starting them at 23 was dumb, I admit it.
   13. New York Islanders 🔽 7 (Last Week: 0-2)
       – I wanted to put them lower, but I’ll chalk it up to the 1st week or whatever…
   14.  Vancouver Canucks 🔼 4 (Last Week: 1-1-1)
       – Vancouver didn’t impress me but not too many teams below have either.
   15. Dallas Stars 🔽 1 (Last Week: 1-2)
       – Currently 1-2 on their season opening 4 game roadie. Dallas is old.
   16. Philadelphia Flyers (Last Week: 0-0-1)
       – Tough tests in Seattle, Boston, Florida this week.
   17. Winnipeg Jets 🔽 7 (Last Week: 0-2)
       – L’s to Anaheim & San Jose. Not a great week for the Jets.
   18.  Calgary Flames 🔽 5 (Last Week: 0-1)
       – Good tests vs Anaheim, Detroit, & Washington this week.
   19. Los Angeles Kings 🔼 1 (Last Week: 1-1)
       – I love the Kings. Also Drew Doughty through 2 games, 1 goal & 5 assists.
   20. New York Rangers 🔽 1 (Last Week: 1-1-1)
       – Not impressed. Could’ve put them lower.
   21. Columbus Blue Jackets 🔼 4 (Last Week: 2-0)
       – I am on record as saying Columbus is going to be fun this season.
   22. Nashville Predators (Last Week: 0-2)
       – Lost to Seattle & Carolina each by a goal. Also extended Mattias Ekholm.
   23. Detroit Red Wings 🔼 3 (Last Week: 1-0-1)
       – Let champs come back to win in OT & Larkin punched a guy.
   24. New Jersey Devils (Last Week: 1-0)
       – Jack Hughes szn or whatever people say.
   25. Montreal Canadiens 🔽 8 (Last Week: 0-3)
       – It’s not time to panic except for it’s always time to panic in Montreal.
   26. Seattle Kraken 🔼 1 (Last Week: 1-1-1)
       – Will the Kraken eventually rise from the depths of my Power Rankings?
   27. Ottawa Senators 🔼 2 (Last Week: 2-1)
       – Brady Tkachuk is finally under contract.
   28. San Jose Sharks (Last Week: 1-0)
       – Nice win over the Jets for San Jose. Their Canadian road trip starts Tuesday.
   29. Chicago Blackhawks 🔽 8 (Last Week: 0-2-1)
       – Ummmm Seth Jones. Not the best first impression.
   30. Buffalo Sabres 🔼 1 (Last Week: 2-0)
       – Buffalo is undefeated!
   31. Anaheim Ducks 🔼 1 (Last Week: 1-1)
       – Solid showing from backup net minder, Anthony Stolarz, Saturday night.
   32. Arizona Coyotes 🔽 2 (Last Week: 0-1-1)
       – The Jackets are fun but not 8 goals in 1 game fun. Arizona is real bad right now.

Let me know what you think in the comments or on social media!

For more Flyers coverage, follow and subscribe to High & Wide Hockey on Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube!