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Most teams wouldn't bat an eye if they went through a 3-3-1 stretch. The Colorado Avalanche aren't like most teams.

The Avalanche suffered only two regulation losses in their first 40 games of the 2025-26 NHL season but came away empty-handed on their trip to the Sunshine State earlier this month, losing to the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning in a span of three days. They then began a seven-game homestand with a pair of victories and were edged in overtime by the Toronto Maple Leafs before falling to 19-1-3 at Ball Arena with their 7-3 setback against the Nashville Predators.

Colorado answered the bell with a 5-2 triumph over the Washington Capitals on Monday to earn a split of its two games last week. Despite its recent "slump," the club enters Week 16 with a 10-point lead over the Carolina Hurricanes in the race for the Presidents' Trophy, two of the NHL's top seven players in points, the league's leading scorer among defensemen and one of its strongest goaltending tandems.

While the Avalanche broke even in Week 15, eight teams went without a regulation loss, with the Anaheim Ducks winning all four of their games. The Boston Bruins, Columbus Blue Jackets and Utah Mammoth all went 3-for-3, the Ottawa Senators and Pittsburgh Penguins both posted 2-0-2 records and the Lightning earned at least one point in all three of their contests (2-0-1) while the Los Angeles Kings went 0-0-3.

Meanwhile, the Vancouver Canucks sank deeper into the NHL basement as they endured four regulation losses for the second consecutive week and saw their skid reach 11 games (0-9-2). While Vancouver's slide isn't very surprising, the Dallas Stars' current struggles are. The Stars have won only two of their last 12 contests (2-6-3) and dropped all three of their Week 15 games in regulation, scoring just one goal in each.

Each week during the season I'll rank the league's top 10 teams based on both the previous week's performances and overall body of work in 2025-26. I'll also give brief synopsis for each club that explains why they're ranked where they are.

Let's dive into the power ratings entering Week 16 of the 2025-26 NHL season and highlight a few of the teams' notable accomplishments.

NHL Week 16 power ratings 

1. Colorado Avalanche (1-1-0 in Week 15; 34-5-8 overall)

Sooner or later, the Avalanche were going to come away without a point in a home game. But even though the Predators have played much better since late November, doing so against them was surprising. The club recovered nicely, however, as Nathan MacKinnon came up with yet another multi-point performance in Monday's win against Washington. The 2024 Hart Trophy winner scored two goals and set up one in that contest as he recorded multiple points for the seventh time in 11 outings. MacKinnon leads the NHL with 38 tallies and is tied with Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid for first with 85 points. Martin Necas had a goal and two assists last week to increase his point total to 60, which places him seventh in the league, while Cale Makar notched just one assist but still leads all NHL defensemen with 54 points. Brock Nelson continued to produce, netting two tallies and setting up another to give him points in 10 of his last 11 games.

2. Tampa Bay Lightning (2-0-1; 30-13-4)

The Lightning's winning streak ended at 11 games in their matchup against the St. Louis Blues on Friday, but they still came away with a point as they erased a two-goal deficit before falling 3-2 in a shootout. The club ended Week 15 -- and its five-game road trip -- with Sunday's 4-1 triumph at Dallas, which extended its point streak to 13 games (12-0-1). Tampa Bay hasn't lost in regulation since Dec. 18, when it dropped a 2-1 decision to Los Angeles. Nikita Kucherov continued to be an offensive machine last week, registering a goal and two assists to give him 70 points -- the fourth-highest total in the league. The three-time Art Ross Trophy winner, who is seeking his third consecutive scoring title, has landed on the scoresheet in 12 of his last 13 games (11 goals, 17 assists) and hasn't gone back-to-back contests without a point since the second week in November. Brandon Hagel also has been hot, picking up at least one point in eight of his last nine outings (five goals, seven assists). Defenseman Darren Raddysh has done the same, collecting four goals and 11 assists during his surge.

3. Carolina Hurricanes (3-1-0; 31-15-4)

Carolina began Week 15 with a 3-0 loss at St. Louis but followed with three straight victories, allowing just one goal in each triumph. The club scored a total of 15 times in the wins and received a three-goal effort from a player in each of the first two. Nikolaj Ehlers registered the sixth career hat trick in Friday's 9-1 rout of the Panthers and Andrei Svechnikov posted his fourth as the Hurricanes defeated the Devils 4-1 in New Jersey the following night. The 25-year-old Svechnikov sandwiched one-goal, one-assist performances around his hat trick after enduring a six-game goal-scoring drought. Sebastian Aho, who leads the team with 52 points, has gone nine games without a tally but collected seven assists over his last three contests and has picked up nine in his last five outings.

4. Detroit Red Wings (2-1-0; 30-16-4)

The Red Wings hit a minor speed bump last week, which they started with a 3-0 road loss against the Bruins, but stayed the course with victories over the San Jose Sharks and Senators. Detroit has won six of its last seven contests and hasn't gone back-to-back games without a point since a three-game losing streak from Nov. 24-28. Lucas Raymond notched three assists versus the Sharks and scored a goal against the Senators, giving him at least one point in 11 of his last 14 outings and a team-leading 53 points. He moved one point ahead of Alex DeBrincat, who has netted a tally in four of his past five contests and six of his last nine. Veteran James van Riemsdyk continued his resurgence as he set up two goals against San Jose before scoring one in the triumph over Ottawa. The 36-year-old left wing has appeared on the scoresheet in nine of his last 13 games, amassing six tallies and eight assists over that span. John Gibson has won 15 of his last 17 starts, allowing two goals or fewer nine times in that stretch.

5. Minnesota Wild (2-1-0; 28-13-9)

Minnesota's struggles continued as it was beaten 6-2 by the Winnipeg Jets in its first game of Week 15, which was its fifth defeat in six contests (1-3-2). The club appears to be breaking out of its funk as it followed that setback with road victories against the Buffalo Sabres and Maple Leafs. Vladimir Tarasenko had a strong week offensively, recording three goals and three assists in three games after registering just one tally over his previous 11 contests. Ryan Hartman has tallied in five of his last seven outings, while Kirill Kaprizov has collected five assists in his past two games. Meanwhile, Marcus Foligno accounted for half of the Wild's offense in Monday's 6-3 triumph at Toronto as he doubled his goal total for the season with the first hat trick of his 15-year NHL career.

6. Dallas Stars (0-3-0; 27-13-9)

The Stars concluded their 2-3-1 road trip with regulation losses at Anaheim (3-1) and Utah (2-1) last week, and things didn't get any better upon their return home as they were beaten 4-1 by Tampa Bay on Sunday. Wyatt Johnston was the only member of the team with multiple points in Week 15, as he notched a pair of assists. The 22-year-old center registered at least one point in nine of 11 outings (six goals, six assists) before being shut down by the Lightning. 

7. Vegas Golden Knights (3-1-0; 24-12-12)

The Golden Knights entered Week 15 with a four-game winning streak and extended it to seven with overtime triumphs over the Kings and Maple Leafs, and a 7-2 rout of the Predators. The run came to an end Monday as they dropped a 2-1 decision at home to the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday. Jack Eichel and captain Mark Stone both landed on the scoresheet in all four contests, with the former recording a goal and eight assists while the latter amassed three tallies and four assists. Eichel is riding a nine-game point streak during which he has collected five goals and 11 assists, and he has picked up at least one point in 14 of his last 15 outings. Stone is on a 12-game run, a stretch that has seen him net a tally in 10 contests, and has been shut down in only three of his 32 contests this season. Mitch Marner had a pair of multi-point performances last week, giving him five over his last eight outings, while Tomas Hertl and Pavel Dorofeyev both reached the 20-goal plateau with two and three tallies, respectively.

8. Montreal Canadiens (1-1-1; 27-15-7)

Montreal earned three of a possible six points on its three-game road trip in Week 15, defeating Ottawa, falling to Washington in overtime and losing in regulation to Buffalo. The team's top three scorers performed as such, with each ending the trek with back-to-back multi-point performances. Nick Suzuki scored a goal and set up another against the Sabres last Thursday and notched a pair of assists versus the Senators two days later. Defenseman Lane Hutson, who won the Calder Trophy last season, racked up two assists in Buffalo and three in Ottawa while Cole Caufield recorded a goal and an assist against the Sabres before netting two tallies and setting up one versus the Senators. 

9. Boston Bruins (3-0-0; 28-19-2)

After ending the previous week with a shutout victory, the Bruins opened Week 15 with another as they blanked the Red Wings 3-0 at home last Tuesday. Jeremy Swayman turned aside 24 shots en route to his 17th career blanking just two days after Joonas Korpisalo recorded his eighth with a 27-save effort in Boston's 1-0 triumph over the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Bruins then defeated the Seattle Kraken 4-2 to wrap up a five-game homestand before concluding the week with a 5-2 road victory over the the Chicago Blackhawks that extended their winning streak to six games. Pavel Zacha and defenseman Charlie McAvoy were the team's biggest offensive contributors last week as each racked up a goal and three assists while landing on the scoresheet in each of the three contests. McAvoy has notched at least one point in eight of his last nine games and Zacha has done so in six of his past seven outings. Viktor Arvidsson is riding a seven-game point streak (four goals, four assists) while 2020 Maurice Richard Trophy winner David Pastrnak has collected five goals and 13 assists over his last nine contests.

10. Buffalo Sabres (2-1-1; 26-17-5)

The Sabres earned points in three of their four games last week as they posted back-to-back triumphs over the Flyers and Canadiens before being edged by the Wild in overtime to conclude a 3-1-1 homestand. Buffalo ended Week 15 on Monday with a 2-1 setback at Carolina that kicked off its five-game road trip. Josh Norris did not accompany the team on its trek as he suffered an upper-body injury in last Wednesday's 5-2 victory against Philadelphia and is considered week-to-week. The 26-year-old center missed 24 games earlier this season with a lower-body injury but has been a regular on the scoresheet when healthy, appearing there in 14 of his 19 outings. Defenseman Rasmus Dahlin was the only member of the Sabres to notch a point in all four of their contests last week, collecting three goals and two assists, while Tage Thompson amassed five assists, including a pair in a five-point performance against Montreal on Thursday in which he also posted his ninth career hat trick. The 28-year-old center, who leads the Sabres with 50 points, collected five goals and eight assists during a seven-game point streak that came to an end Monday.