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No Broadway Blues: Rangers Soar to Top of NHL Power Rankings

Four of the five teams that have clinched playoff spots are from the Eastern Conference while Dallas is the only team from the Western Conference to already secure a spot in the postseason. Those teams dominate the top five spots in the weekly NHL power ratings.

Arizona, Columbus, Anaheim, Chicago and San Jose have been eliminated from the playoffs.

No Broadway Blues: Rangers Soar to Top of NHL Power Rankings
Vincent Trocheck #16 Of The New York Rangers / Matthew Stockman / Getty Images North America / Getty Images Via Afp

Although Florida dropped out of the top five in the power rankings, the Panthers lead the way at +700 among the favorites in our Stanley Cup odds. Colorado and Edmonton are both at +800 in the odds of hoisting Lord Stanley’s Cup.

Here’s a look at the current top and bottom five teams in the NHL.

 

Top Five

1. New York Rangers

The Rangers have won four games in a row and now have a three-point cushion in the race for home-ice advantage throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Each of the last three victories came in overtime or in a shootout as the Rangers are 7-0-1 in one-goal games since the start of February.

When looking at the NHL schedule, the Rangers only play one more game against a team currently within the playoff structure.

Artemi Panarin has five goals and four assists over the last four games as he has career-highs with 43 goals and 103 points with Igor Shesterkin with a .919 save percentage in March.

 

  • New York Rangers Stanley Cup odds: +900

 

2. Dallas Stars

Three teams have spent time in first place in the Central Division but a six-game winning streak by Dallas has the Stars three points ahead of Colorado and seven points in front of Winnipeg. Dallas became the first team from the Western Conference to go over 100 points this season.

Roope Hintz had a goal and assisted on the other two goals while Jake Oettinger stopped 27 of 28 shots in a 3-1 win over Vancouver in a matchup of Western Conference division leaders.

Oettinger has allowed two goals or less in each of his last four games while Dallas has seven 20-goal scorers.

Dallas leads the NHL with 42 of its games landing over the total.

  • Dallas Stars Stanley Cup odds: +1000

 

3. Colorado Avalanche

Seven of the last nine games for Colorado headed into overtime as the Avalanche have one regulation loss in March.

Colorado has lost control of the Central Division race but the Avalanche has more regulation wins than Dallas and that could factor into the tiebreaking procedures.

The Avalanche’s 28 home wins are the most in the NHL and Colorado is second among Western Conference teams in goal differential.

Colorado ends the regular season with five of its last six games against teams currently holding down playoff spots in the Western Conference.

Nathan MacKinnon was held without a point at home for the first time this season in a shootout loss to the New York Rangers.

Colorado tops the NHL with 22 of its road games landing over the Las Vegas odds total.

  • Colorado Avalanche Stanley Cup odds: +800

 

4. Carolina Hurricanes

With a 10-2-1 record over the last 13 games, Carolina is keeping the pressure on the Rangers in the Metropolitan Division race.

Jake Guentzel has multi-points in five of the 10 games he has played with Carolina since being acquired from Pittsburgh while Sebastian Aho is among the NHL leaders with 18 points in March.

Aho and Seth Jarvis both have eight goals over the last 13 games as Carolina is one of the deepest teams up front in the NHL.

  • Carolina Hurricanes Stanley Cup odds: +800

 

5. Vancouver Canucks

Vancouver edged out Eastern Conference heavyweights Boston and Florida for the No. 5 spot as the Canucks have the best goal differential in the NHL.

Despite dropping back-to-back games to Los Angeles and Dallas, Vancouver still has a six-point lead on Edmonton in the Pacific Division standings. Vancouver’s 39 regulation wins are tied for the most in the NHL.

Vancouver has been without goalie Thatcher Demko since March 9 and he was recently placed on long-term injured reserve. On a team full of productive players, Demko is probably the most important contributor and it will be challenging to make a long postseason run without Demko between the pipes.

So far this season, 21 of Vancouver’s 35 road games have landed over the total.

  • Vancouver Canucks Stanley Cup odds: +1400

 

 

Bottom Five

28. Arizona Coyotes

It is too little, too late as Arizona has been eliminated from postseason consideration despite an 8-6 record in March.

Clayton Keller has his second straight 30-goal season while Dylan Guenther has 12 goals in 36 games so there is some talent to work with in Arizona.

Five of the top six scorers have plus/minus ratings of -13 or worse so defensive issues continue to plague the Coyotes. Only 11 road wins haven’t helped.

One of the great mysteries of this season is how veteran forward Nick Bjugstad has a +9 defensive rating since the NHL All-Star Game while no other Arizona forward has a positive plus/rating during that time.

  • Arizona Coyotes Stanley Cup odds: Arizona has been eliminated from playoff contention.

 

29. Chicago Blackhawks

Rookie Connor Bedard has fought through the injuries to lead Chicago in scoring but Jason Dickinson, who had never scored more than nine goals in a season, joins Bedard as the only other players with at least 20 goals.

Despite missing 14 games, Bedard leads Chicago with 21 goals and 35 assists. He continues to be among the leaders in the Calder Trophy odds. Bedard is also one of 10 players with a plus/minus rating of -20 or worse so there is still plenty of work to be done,

Chicago is -99 in goal differential and is about to join the San Jose Sharks as the only teams to allow at least 100 more goals than they have scored.

Chicago is just 10-26 against the NHL spread on the road, with 14 of those games finishing over the total.

  • Chicago Blackhawks Stanley Cup odds: Chicago has been eliminated from playoff contention.

 

30. Anaheim Ducks

The good news is that Trevor Zegras has recently returned to the ice after missing nearly three months. He is just one of the young stars for the Ducks to miss significant time this season. Frank Vatrano is the only player to appear in every game this season.

Anaheim has lost three games in a row and is 1-8-1 over the last 10, as only the presence of the Sharks keeps Anaheim out of last place in the Pacific Division standings.

Anaheim has been held to two goals or less in 12 of its last 13 games and was shut out three times in the last five games.

  • Anaheim Ducks Stanley Cup odds: Anaheim has been eliminated from playoff contention.

 

31. Columbus Blue Jackets

Columbus is the only Eastern Conference team that has been eliminated from the playoffs with the Blue Jackets 10 points behind the next closest Eastern Conference team.

Columbus has lost six games in a row and has been outscored 26-9 in those games.

There is plenty of young talent on this team with five of the top nine scorers 23 or younger. Alex Nylander has eight goals and 11 points in 15 games since being acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Things could get worse before they get better with the last six games of the regular season against teams in the playoffs right now.

  • Columbus Blue Jackets Stanley Cup odds: Columbus has been eliminated from playoff contention.

 

32. San Jose Sharks

The losing streak is at nine after a 3-1 loss to Minnesota as San Jose is headed to the worst record in the NHL.

San Jose has just one win in March thanks to a pair of Thomas Bordeleau power-play goals against Ottawa.

It is not a good sign that two of San Jose’s top five scorers are no longer with the team or that the Shark’s don’t have a 50-point scorer this season.

Only 16 of San Jose’s home games have gone over the total.

  • San Jose Sharks Stanley Cup odds: San Jose has been eliminated from playoff contention.

 

 

Questions of the Day

Which NHL team has the best ATS record this season?


The Montreal Canadiens are 47-25 against the spread this season with the Philadelphia Flyers next at 46-27.

Who is the leading scorer in the NHL?


Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov has 124 points followed by Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon with 123 points.

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