This week, the biggest movers were the Blues, Bruins, and Rangers while the Oilers, Maple Leafs, and Stars fell the farthest.
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.
Here we go:
Eastern Conference
| This Week | Last Week |
Rationale | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
1 | 1 | The Capitals no longer sit atop the NHL - the Red Wings reclaimed that spot - but they maintain their position atop the Eastern Conference. |
1.653 |
 |
2 | 5 |
New York made a move after beating up on Ottawa and Carolina, and they are not far behind Washington at all. |
1.640 |
 |
3 | 4 |
The Flyers move up a spot, close on the heels of New York and Washington, thanks to |
1.610 |
 |
4 |
9 |
Boston makes a big jump after putting back-to-back six spots up against Edmonton and Buffalo. |
1.560 |
 |
5 |
3 |
The Sabres fall despite going 1-1-2 and now will be without Ryan Miller due to a concussion. |
1.424 |
 |
6 |
6 |
Montreal has the 5th best five-on-five goal ratio in the East, but they have as many regulation losses as wins. |
1.2000 |
 |
7 |
2 |
The Maple Leafs took a big drop this week after going 0-2-1 against Florida, St. Louis, and Ottawa. Is the magical run over? |
1.185 |
 |
8 |
10 |
Florida beat up on Toronto and Winnipeg before falling to Philly and remain a moderate surprise. |
1.170 |
 |
9 |
7 |
The Penguins have the 23rd best 5-on-5 ratio in the league but the 10th most adjusted points per game. Something won't last. |
0.929 |
 |
10 |
8 |
Tampa Bay is once again middling according to these metrics - 21st in 5-on-5 ratio and adjusted points per game - but at least this time the standings agree. |
0.870 |
 |
11 |
12 |
The Jets continue their slow climb out of the cellar, largely due to the 18th best 5-on-5 ratio in the league. Now they just need points. |
0.754 |
 |
12 |
14 |
New Jersey went 1-1-1, beating Carolina before a tough home-and-home with Washington. That was good enough to move up. |
0.676 |
 |
13 |
11 |
The Hurricanes went 1-3 last week, giving up three goals in all four games. They have the 28th best 5-on-5 ratio. |
0.583 |
|
14 | 13 | New York is sitting last in the East with 11 points, but they get more adjusted points per game than Winnipeg. |
0.574 |
|
15 | 15 | The Senators may sit in 11th place in the East, but their 0.59 five-on-five ratio is miserable. They could easily be the worst team in he conference. |
0.459 |
Western Conference
| This Week | Last Week |
Rationale | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
1 | 8 |
The Red Wings made their way back to the top quickly, beating Colorado, Edmonton, and Dallas by three goals each last week. Talk of their demise is premature. |
2.039 |
 |
2 | 9 | St. Louis also made quite a jump, going 2-0-1 with two three-nil shutouts. That will help. But the 1.50 five-on-five ratio is why they are so far up in these rankings. |
1.594 |
 |
3 |
4 |
The Blackhawks went 3-1 last week, good enough to move them up. |
1.584 |
 |
4 |
1 |
Dallas dropped out of the first spot pretty quickly after going 1-2 on the road in Washington, Pittsburgh, and Detroit. Not the worst that could happen. |
1.563 |
 |
5 |
7 |
The Coyotes' Mike Smith is still 10th in the NHL in save percentage, helping them get a lot of points despite the 13th highest 5-on-5 ratio in the league. |
1.457 |
 |
6 |
3 |
Minnesota's stay in the top-5 was short lived after going 2-2 last week. And there are signs they are headed for a cliff. |
1.386 |
 |
7 |
6 |
The Sharks beat Minnesota but lost to Phoenix last week, resulting in a moderate drop. |
1.337 |
 |
8 |
5 |
Nashville went 1-1-1, dropping all the way to 8th. This is mostly a result of their 17th ranked 5-on-5 ratio. |
1.188 |
|
9 |
10 |
The Kings went 2-1 on their recent homestand, but a 15th ranked 5-on-5 ratio prevents them from moving up. |
1.162 |
 |
10 |
2 |
Edmonton plummets after going 1-3 in four road games last week. Nikolai Khabibulin stopping only 87.5% of shots the last two games is more of what we're used to. |
1.028 |
 |
11 |
11 |
The Flames only scored one goal in two games before putting 4 on Colorado. |
0.900 |
 |
12 |
12 |
Vancouver is still stuck in 12th despite 9 regulation wins. The 22nd best 5-on-5 ratio and 17th most adjusted points explains why. |
0.887 |
 |
13 |
13 |
The Avalanche went 0-2-1 but didn't fall, mostly because Anaheim and Columbus are terrible. |
0.626 |
 |
14 |
14 |
Anaheim went 1-2 on a three game homestand, but remains with the 29th best 5-on-5 ratio in the league. Maybe Niklas Hagman helps? |
0.552 |
 |
15 | 15 | The Blue Jackets beat Winnipeg! Good for them. |
0.337 |