NHL Power Rankings: Stars, Avalanche on collision course for heavyweight bout in West
The Stars and Avalanche are headed for another epic playoff battle
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1 min read
With each passing day, it looks more and more like hockey fans will get a prize fight between two heavyweights in early May. That's because the Dallas Stars have started to match the mighty Colorado Avalanche in this NHL season.
For weeks now, the Avalanche have sat atop the NHL Power Rankings. They've lost a total of two games in regulation. I don't even think about moving them. They just stay fixed at No. 1. However, that wasn't the case this week.
The Stars are making a real case to be our top team as they meet the level of their Central Division rival. Dallas has won four in a row. It is is 8-0-2 in its last four. The Stars haven't lost in regulation since Nov. 18. It's already getting me excited for the inevitable playoff clash between these two Stanley Cup contenders.
While the Avalanche are loaded with star power, the Stars stack up pretty well in that area too. Mikko Rantanen, an all too familiar face in Colorado, has found another gear to his game. Jason Robertson is playing like a Team USA hopeful with something to prove. Wyatt Johnston, Roope Hintz, Miro Heiskanen, Jake Oettinger and Thomas Harley round out a very formidable core.
The Stars may not have the same gaudy five-on-five metrics as the Avalanche, but they have the talent to overcome pedestrian numbers in that department. Besides, there is still over half the season for Dallas to hit its stride in new coach Glen Gulutzan's system.
I'm not one to wish away hockey games, but I think we all know where this leads. As the Stars and Avalanche gear up for a slugfest atop the Central Division, here are the updated NHL Power Rankings.
Biggest Movers
8
Maple Leafs
7
Kraken
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | It seems as like Gabriel Landeskog has shaken off the rust. The Avalanche captain has 10 points in his last 14 games, and his underlying metrics are quite strong. Not bad for a player who missed three seasons of action. | -- | 21-2-7 |
| 2 |  | The Stars have managed to win despite average play from Jake Oettinger, and he may be rounding into form now. Over his last three starts, Oettinger has posted 2.39 goals saved above average and a .955 save percentage. Not great news for the rest of the NHL. | -- | 21-5-5 |
| 3 |  | Jakob Chychrun has emerged as the Capitals' No. 1 defenseman. With a 57.1% expected goals share and plus-24 goal differential a five-on-five, Chychrun has dominated his minutes. He looks much more comfortable in his second season with Washington. | 3 | 18-9-3 |
| 4 |  | Logan Stankoven's first full season in Carolina is not going as planned. He has 12 points in 29 games, and Stankoven hasn't scored in a month. The Hurricanes have been looking for another offensive threat to emerge, but Stankoven has been quiet thus far. | -- | 18-9-2 |
| 5 |  | Trade rumors have been bubbling up around Pavel Mintyukov, and it makes sense. Young defensemen like Olen Zellweger and Jackson LaCombe have passed him by, and Mintyukov has been a healthy scratch. Could Anaheim get a more established player for the former No. 10 overall pick? | 2 | 19-10-1 |
| 6 |  | Marcus Johansson is having a bit of a resurgence in the goal-scoring department. He's already up to nine goals on the season, and he hasn't scored more than 13 since 2016-17. The trouble is Johansson is shooting 20.0%, which is 7.5 points higher than his career average. | 1 | 16-9-5 |
| 7 |  | The Bolts officially have a Brayden Point problem. Point has one goal and three assists in his last nine games, and he has four total goals on the season. To top it all off, his five-on-five impacts have been miserable. Tampa won't make a deep playoff run with Point playing like this. | 4 | 17-11-2 |
| 8 |  | Bo Horvat has been one of the hottest scorers in the league this season. He's up to 19 goals now, Horvat is on pace to dust his career high of 33 tallies. That's a big reason why the Islanders find themselves battling atop the Metro Division. | 2 | 17-11-3 |
| 9 |  | Due to injury, Mark Stone has been limited to 13 games this season, but he's recorded at least one point in each of them. The Vegas captain is now up to 22 points, and he hasn't skipped a beat since returning on Nov. 26. | 4 | 14-6-9 |
| 10 |  | Philadelphia is an interesting team. This team has overachieved so far, but is that what's best for the long-term vision? The Flyers need another game-breaker in their lineup, but they won't get a premium draft pick at this rate. | 2 | 16-9-3 |
| 11 |  | Quinton Byfield is capable of being a great two-way forward, but the Kings need more out of him offensively right now. Byfield is on pace for 11 goals this season, and that's not gonna get it done on a team that needs to score by committee. | 3 | 14-8-7 |
| 12 |  | Boston has managed to play well in spite of poor five-on-five play because of a couple great special teams units. The Bruins' power play ranks sixth in the league (24.4%), and the penalty kill ranks ninth (82.5%). That's one way to offset those red flags. | 3 | 18-13-0 |
| 13 |  | The Penguins just placed Evgeni Malkin on IR, and that's shame because he's been playing so well. Malkin is on pace for one of the most productive seasons of his career at the age of 39, so Pittsburgh has to stay afloat in the playoff race until he returns. | 3 | 14-7-7 |
| 14 |  | Carter Verhaeghe has come alive -- and not a moment too soon for the Panthers. Verhaeghe has six goals and five assists in his last six games, which has given Florida's offense the boost it desperately needed. | 3 | 14-12-2 |
| 15 |  | The Devils finally snapped their five-game losing streak with a win over the Senators on Tuesday. Times have been tough in New Jersey lately. When is that Quinn Hughes guy getting here? | 6 | 17-12-1 |
| 16 |  | Ottawa is fifth in five-on-five expected goals share at 54.1%. It is also 30th in save percentage at .871. The Senators are doing some good work in front of the crease, but the men in that blue ice are undoing a lot of it. | 5 | 13-12-4 |
| 17 |  | James van Riemsdyk is riding a four-game goal streak, and the 36-year-old forward has quietly been a nice addition in Detroit. The Wings have controlled play with him on the ice, and the puck is starting to hit the back of the net for van Riemsdyk. | 3 | 16-11-3 |
| 18 |  | Montreal desperately needs to add another top-six forward because it doesn't have much to offer outside of Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky. The Canadiens don't have the depth to be a real threat in the playoffs just yet. | 4 | 15-11-3 |
| 19 |  | The Maple Leafs have some life, and you can credit goalies Joseph Woll and Dennis Hildeby for reviving this team. Those two have combined for 7.11 goals saved above average in their last five starts. Can Toronto use that to jumpstart a run up the standings? | 8 | 14-11-4 |
| 20 |  | Igor Shesterkin is holding up his end of the bargain this season. The Russian netminder is working his way into the Vezina Trophy conversation with 10.1 goals saved above average and a .913 save percentage. | 1 | 15-12-4 |
| 21 |  | The Oilers absolutely cannot get any momentum. With a chance to reach three straight wins ... they lose at home ... to the Sabres. We're starting to reach the point in this season where this team just is what it is. I'll give them until 2026 to snap out of this funk. | 2 | 13-11-6 |
| 22 |  | San Jose may have flown too close to the Sun. After running hot to start the season, the Sharks have plateaued a bit. That shouldn't be surprising because San Jose is dead last in five-on-five expected goals share at 42.3%. | 2 | 14-14-3 |
| 23 |  | In each his last nine starts, Elvis Merzlikins has allowed at least three goals. He's allowed four or more goals six times in that span. Columbus should let Jet Greaves get a little more run as the full-time starter because Merzlikins has been a liability. | 2 | 13-11-6 |
| 24 |  | Logan Stanley is playing some key minutes for the Winnipeg defense, and it's not going well. The Jets own a 39.9% expected goals share with Stanley on the ice at five-on-five. It's probably past time for the team to explore other options there. | -- | 14-14-1 |
| 25 |  | Seattle has now lost five straight games in regulation. As it turns out, getting out-shot and out-chanced on a nightly basis is not a winning strategy. | 7 | 11-10-6 |
| 26 |  | As great as Connor Bedard has been, he can't paper over all the holes in this Blackhawks lineup. Eventually, Chicago's lack of forward depth and leaky defense was going to catch up to it. It seems that time has come. | 1 | 12-11-6 |
| 27 |  | Things have only gone from bad to worse for my beloved Mammoth. Logan Cooley is out indefinitely after suffering a nasty leg injury, and this team is reeling. Utah needs to get back on track before it's too late. | 1 | 14-14-3 |
| 28 |  | Since Nov. 18, Nazem Kadri has 15 points in 11 games. That trade value is on the rise as the Flames look to get a nice haul in return for their best forward. | 1 | 12-15-4 |
| 29 |  | The Blues now own the NHL's worst goal differential at minus-30, and it's tough to see a path forward for them outside of a drastic improvement in goaltending. It's hard to see that happening given the last 31 games. | 1 | 11-13-7 |
| 30 |  | Buffalo is the only Eastern Conference team below .500, and that's with the Senators dropping three straight games in regulation. The Sabres are probably the only team in that conference with no hope of the playoffs. | 4 | 12-14-4 |
| 31 |  | Steven Stamkos has started to turn things around lately. He has four goals and two assists in his last six games, and that should help show contending teams that he has some gas left in the tank. | -- | 11-14-4 |
| 32 |  | I tried to find something positive to say about this team, but the Canucks are a real bummer. And that's from someone who gets an up-close view of the Predators on a regular basis. | -- | 11-16-3 |
