Power rankings are back! With a new season comes new rankings, but the same formula. If you recall from last year, the formula looks at non-shootout win point totals per game, and multiplies that by five-on-five goal ratio. The numbers end up between 0 and 2 normally, but in the early season, those numbers are highly volatile.
This week, the biggest movers were Washington, Los Angeles, and San Jose while New Jersey, Anaheim, and Montreal fell the farthest.
In any event, here we go:
Eastern Conference
| This Week | Last Week |
Rationale | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
1 | 4 | The Capitals remain the only undefeated team in the NHL after stomping on Detroit, 7-1. |
4.123 |
 |
2 | 3 | Buffalo continues to dominate at 5-on-5, thanks to Tomas Vanek having 6 goals in 7 games. |
2.500 |
 |
3 | 2 | The Maple Leafs are hanging tough, winning five of their first seven games. Phil Kessel has 8 goals in 7 games. |
1.643 |
 |
4 |
1 |
Philadelphia stumbled last week, falling to St. Louis and Washington. Facing Montreal, Winnipeg, and Carolina this week could help. |
1.389 |
 |
5 |
7 |
The Rangers spent last week in Western Canada and went 1-1-1. By Saturday, they'll play 6 straight games against Canadian teams. |
1.330 |
 |
6 |
10 |
Tampa Bay moves up after beating Buffalo and the Islanders and improving their five-on-five ratio. |
1.180 |
 |
7 |
9 |
The Penguins are losing the five-on-five battle but James Neal is currently carrying the Penguins with 8 goals in ten games. |
1.157 |
 |
8 |
13 |
Carolina is giving up over 3.3 goals per game, contributing to their poor 5-on-5 ratio. |
0.820 |
 |
9 |
5 |
The Islanders fell this week after losing big on their trip to Tampa Bay and Florida. A home and home with Pittsburgh lies ahead. |
0.730 |
 |
10 |
12 |
Florida got shutout in back-to-back games, but moved up after beating the slumping Islanders. |
0.640 |
 |
11 |
6 |
The Canadiens have only one win on the year despite a positive 5-on-5 ratio. |
0.617 |
 |
12 |
11 |
Boston is struggling on the power play, only converting on 12.9% of opportunities. |
0.581 |
 |
13 |
15 |
The Jets are starting to collect points, beating Pittsburgh and Carolina while also taking Toronto to a shootout. Still need to improve at 5-on-5. |
0.536 |
|
14 | 8 | New Jersey plummets this week after seeing their 5-on-5 ratio drop to 0.50. |
0.417 |
|
|
15 | 14 | The Senators have the worst 5-on-5 ratio in the League and have only killed 69.2% of penalties. They have problems. |
0.300 |
Western Conference
| This Week | Last Week |
Rationale | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
1 | 9 | The Kings have three straight shutouts and the second best 5-on-5 ratio in the league. |
2.876 |
 |
2 | 1 | Detroit lost to Washington 7-1, but is still one of the best teams in the NHL. |
2.217 |
 |
3 |
5 |
The Stars have a high 5-on-5 ratio and five regulation wins, putting them near the top of the West. |
1.980 |
 |
4 |
2 |
Chicago is scoring nearly 3.5 goals per game, and went 2-0-1 last week. They still fell two spots. |
1.871 |
 |
5 |
11 |
The Sharks made a big jump this week despite going just 1-1-1. |
1.150 |
 |
6 |
6 |
St. Louis stayed in place by beating the Flyers and needing overtime to beat the Hurricanes. |
1.140 |
 |
7 |
7 |
The Canucks followed up a 4-0 loss to the Rangers with a 5-1 win over the Predators. They're still at a negative 5-on-5 ratio though. |
1.046 |
 |
8 |
4 |
Phoenix fell due to being outscored by four goals in three games last week. |
1.000 |
|
9 |
8 |
The Avalanche went to overtime for both their wins last week, leaving them with 3 regulation wins in 8 tries this year. |
0.979 |
 |
10 |
10 |
Minnesota only has one regulation win in eight games but still has an even 5-on-5 ratio. |
0.875 |
 |
11 |
3 |
The Ducks are the biggest loser this week, with their 5-on-5 goal differential going from 5th best in the West to 11th best. |
0.860 |
 |
12 |
13 |
Edmonton has the second lowest goals against per game in the NHL. But they have the lowest goals for per game. Definitely strange. |
0.860 |
 |
13 |
12 |
The Predators are struggling so far, only scoring four goals in three games last week. It was still enough to beat Calgary. |
0.750 |
 |
14 |
14 |
Calgary only has two regulation wins this year in seven tries, but there are six Eastern Conference teams below them according to the formula. |
0.657 |
 |
15 | 15 | The Blue Jackets have yet to win a game this year, but their 5-on-5 play is better than six NHL teams. They'll win eventually. |
0.101 |