McDavid

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The Ducks finally lose, the Kraken finally win, the Kings are struggling again, and Connor McDavid is still not human.

8. Seattle Kraken (5-12-1)

Last week: 8

Seattle is finally back in the win column. The Kraken snapped a six-game losing streak with a 5-2 win over the Washington Capitals on Sunday. Philipp Grubauer had perhaps his best game of the season so far, stopping 37 of 39 shots against his old team. Jaden Schwartz also had a monster night, scoring a goal and adding three assists.

This week: VS CAR, @ TB, @ FLA

7. Vancouver Canucks (6-11-2)

Last week: 7

It’s never a good sign when a general manager is holding a press conference just a little month into the season to discuss why his team is so bad and why he’s still employed, as Vancouver GM Jim Benning did last week.

The Canucks are 1-7-1 over their last nine games, with last Friday’s 3-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets to snap a seven-game losing streak, followed by Sunday’s 1-0 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. The fans in Vancouver are fed up.

This week: @ PIT, @ CBJ, @ BOS

6. San Jose Sharks (8-8-1)

Last week: 6

The Sharks have lost four of their last five games, getting outscored 19-8 in that stretch. That’s not good. But the good news for the Sharks is that at this rate, it’s looking like it’s going to be pretty tough for them to drop below the Canucks or Kraken on this list.

A free suggestion for San Jose: Perhaps it’s time to start giving James Reimer the majority of the starts. He’s made only eight starts so far this season to Adin Hill’s nine, despite having much better numbers. Reimer has a .938 save percentage and 1.98 goals against average. Hill has an .890 save percentage and 3.11 goals against average. It’s not like Hill has much of a track record to fall back on, either, though the Sharks seem quite high on him.

This week: VS CAR, VS OTT, VS TOR, @ CHI

5. LA Kings (8-7-3)

Last week: 4

It’s tough to be more streaky than the LA Kings have been so far this season. They followed up a six-game losing streak with a seven-game winning streak, which has been followed by a losing streak that is now up to four games and counting, though they’ve at least been able to get a couple of points from overtime losses during it.

It was a particularly frustrating weekend. On Saturday, LA outshot the Carolina Hurricanes 43-20 and tied the game four separate times but came away with a 5-4 loss to show for it. In Sunday’s 2-1 OT loss to the Arizona Coyotes, they outshot the Coyotes 38-27. In typical Kings fashion, though, they made rookie Arizona goalie Karel Vejmelka, who came into the night with an 0-9-1 record and sub-.900 save percentage, look like Dominik Hašek.

How about Brendan Lemieux, though? He’s scored four goals in his last six games, and the fourth line with him, Blake Lizotte and Arthur Kaliyev has been buzzing lately.

This week: VS TOR, VS OTT

4. Anaheim Ducks (10-5-3)

Last week: 5

Someone finally beat the Ducks. Carolina snapped Anaheim’s winning streak at eight games with a 2-1 victory last Thursday.

A hard-fought, one-goal loss to one of the league’s best teams is nothing for the Ducks to hang their heads over, though. They may only have scored one goal against the Hurricanes, but guess who scored it? Troy Terry, of course, whose point streak is still alive and well at 16 games.

This week: @ NSH, @ COL, VS OTT, VS TOR

3. Vegas Golden Knights (11-7-0)

Last week: 2

The Golden Knights wrapped up a 5-1-0 homestand with a 3-2 comeback win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday. Mattias Janmark scored the winner with just over six minutes remaining in the third period.

The Knights have allowed two or fewer goals in seven of their last nine games, and they’re a tough team to beat when you don’t score more than twice on them. Vegas is 9-1-0 this season when allowing two or fewer goals.

This week: @ STL, @ NSH, VS EDM

2. Calgary Flames (11-3-5)

Last week: 3

The Flames still can’t win in overtime, but that’s about the only thing that isn’t going their way. After a 2-1 OT loss to the Philadelphia Flyers last Tuesday, they wrapped up their road trip by outscoring the Buffalo Sabres, New York Islanders, and Boston Bruins by a total of 14-2 over the course of three straight wins. They now have seven shutouts as a team this year.

Also, Andrew Mangiapane just won’t stop scoring. He now has 15 goals in 19 games this season, which has him tied with Alex Ovechkin for second in the NHL.

This week: VS CHI, VS WPG

1. Edmonton Oilers (13-4-0)

Last week: 1

lol

This week: @ DAL, @ ARI, @ VGK

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