There are a sea of numbers swimming below the surface in every professional sport these days. Still, fans often only have time for a quick check of the standings to see how their squad is doing relative to the rest of the division, conference and league.
On behalf of those people, for this week’s power rankings we’re going to get out our shovels and dig a little deeper into the numbers. We’ll get fancy with the stats, we’ll run some numbers over a certain block of time and we’ll examine some individual performances to highlight one number or statistic you should know for all 32 teams.
1. Vegas Golden Knights (12-2-0) Vegas’ .857 points percentage this year is impressive enough, but the fact they’re playing at an .875 clip in eight road games is especially eye-popping.
2. Boston Bruins (11-2-0) The B’s are your goals-per-game leaders this year at 4.1. They’re the only squad whose number starts with a four.
3. New Jersey Devils (10-3-0) The Devils have basically been the best team in terms of expected goals percentage all year. Right now they’re tops in the league at 62.3 per cent. Believe it or not, though, despite its hot run, Jersey’s getting just the 22nd-best five-on-five save percentage in the league at .908.
4. Dallas Stars (8-4-1) The Stars are fourth in goals-per-game (3.62) and fifth in goals-against (2.46). Boston is the only other top-five club in both categories.
5. Colorado Avalanche (6-4-1) The defending champs have only played three games in their own barn — Ball Arena — this year. Don’t forget, one of their “home games” was last weekend in Finland. They’ll match that total between now and Monday.
6. Winnipeg Jets (8-3-1) The Jets’ goal-differential in their past seven games is plus-15.
7. Carolina Hurricanes (8-4-1) The Canes are still searching for an offensive boost; Carolina ranks 23rd in the league in terms of goals-per-game at 2.85.
8. Toronto Maple Leafs (7-4-3) The Leafs are 22nd in goals-per-game (2.86) after finishing second in that category last year. On the flipside, Toronto ranks a very respectable eighth in goals-against (2.71) after slotting 19th in that category a season ago.
9. New York Islanders (9-5-0) The Isles have, on three occasions, come back to win games after trailing by two goals in the third period. Believe it or not, so have the Anaheim Ducks.
10. Detroit Red Wings (7-3-3) Not to wrap Detroit’s great start in a wet blanket, but only five teams in the league are worse by expected goals percentage (45.3 per cent).
11. Edmonton Oilers (8-6-0) Edmonton is the only team to have a player net a hat trick three times this year; twice by Connor McDavid and once by Evander Kane. Tough news that Kane’s next big game won’t be for three or four months after he sustained a scary skate cut on his wrist on Tuesday night.
12. Florida Panthers (8-5-1) The Panthers are averaging 40.1 shots per game, more than any other squad in the league by nearly three shots.
13. Tampa Bay Lightning (7-5-1) Steven Stamkos has zero goals in his past eight outings, but still has seven on the year after getting that many in his first five games.
14. Seattle Kraken (8-4-2) Seven of the Kraken’s wins have come against teams that made the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
15. Philadelphia Flyers (7-3-2) Philly has the second-best five-on-five save percentage in the league at .939.
16. Los Angeles Kings (8-6-1) Gabe Vilardi has six home-ice goals this year; only Erik Karlsson, Connor McDavid (eight apiece) and Tage Thompson (seven) have more.
17. New York Rangers (6-5-3) Only three teams have a lower PDO than the Rangers’ 96.8.
18. Calgary Flames (5-5-2) Calgary’s forwards aren’t pulling their weight. Only three clubs are getting less production from their four lines, as Flames forwards account for just 71.6 per cent of the goals and assists registered by the team this year.
19. Minnesota Wild (6-6-1) Minnesota’s PDO (96.7) is higher than only two teams; lowly Columbus and St. Louis.
20. Pittsburgh Penguins (5-6-2) The Penguins are surrendering nearly five goals per game (4.9) in their past seven contests.
21. Washington Capitals (6-7-2) Washington’s save percentage in its past four games is .872.
22. Montreal Canadiens (7-6-1) Jake Allen is the only goalie to have faced two penalty shots this season. He stopped them both.
23. Buffalo Sabres (7-6-0) Buffalo is the only team in the league with four guys already sitting at seven or more goals: Victor Olofsson (nine), Tage Thompson (eight) Rasmus Dahlin (seven) and Alex Tuch (seven).
24. Chicago Blackhawks (5-5-2) The Hawks are kings of the dot, posting the best face-off win percentage (57 per cent) in the league. Max Domi (61.6) and Jonathan Toews (59.6) lead the way.
25. Arizona Coyotes (5-6-1) The defending-champion Avalanche have the best PP in the league. The Oilers — who have Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl — are second. The Coyotes — who were 30th last season with the man advantage and seemingly in a similar spot for years and years — are the No. 3-ranked team on the power play this year, operating at 29.3 per cent.
26. Nashville Predators (5-7-1) Plus/minus alert! Only four players have a worse mark than Roman Josi’s minus-11.
27. Vancouver Canucks (4-7-3) No team has been worse than the Canucks killing penalties this year. Vancouver is surviving shorthanded situations just 61.7 per cent of the time.
28. Ottawa Senators (4-8-0) The Sens have lost four games in which they held a first-period lead. Only San Jose can match that.
29. San Jose Sharks (3-8-3) One thing (besides Erik Karlsson) that is working in San Jose this year; the Sharks’ second-ranked penalty-kill (92.3 per cent).
30. Anaheim Ducks (4-8-1) Fourteen games into the season, the Ducks have yet to register a 60-minute ‘W.’
31. St. Louis Blues (3-8-0) The Blues are scoring less per game (2.09) than any team in the NHL, but maybe things are due to improve a little as they also have the league’s worst shooting percentage (5.51).
32. Columbus Blue Jackets (3-9-0) Columbus’s .877 five-on-five save percentage is the worst mark in the league.
