NHL Power Rankings Week 5: Rangers rise, Canucks are terrible
team. 19. . (8-2-1). Previous: . Washington Capitals. 2
The Washington Capitals are entering this week on a five game winning streak following their first two game losing streak since the 2014-15 season. Washington is playing extremely well despite having one of the worst power plays in the NHL. Their penalty kill has been playing a lot better recently and they’re dominating at even strength. Everyone knows the Capitals power play will eventually get going. When it does, watch out. Braden Holtby is showing very little rust and Alex Ovechkin is a man on a mission to win the Stanley Cup. They rank third in the NHL in even strength xGF percentage (53.87). It might be hard for Capitals fans to get excited about a team that has consistently let them down, but this is definitely a Stanley Cup caliber team.
New York Rangers. 1. team. 95. . (10-3-0). Previous:
New York has been a phenomenal team this season. So far, they’ve been getting a lot of bounces to go their way. Even when those bounces inevitably stop going their way, they’re a good enough team that they’ll still win games. The Rangers have the NHL’s top offense and they have four skilled forward lines. This makes it very difficult, if not impossible, to stop them. Their defense still has some issues (most of them involve Dan Girardi and Marc Staal), but Henrik Lundqvist is an elite goaltender who can mask those flaws. The combination of New York’s offense and defense has been lethal so far.