Photo credit: Julia Nikhinson/AP
8. Anaheim Ducks (6-16-1)
Last week: 8
Last Wednesday, the New York Rangers earned the infamous distinction of becoming the first team to face the 2022-23 Anaheim Ducks and not record at least one point.
Yes, congratulations to the Ducks, who did in fact manage to win a game in regulation before December with that 3-2 victory over the Rangers.
🚨 Terry SNIPE!
We lead 3-1! pic.twitter.com/xOA2hA2cXH
— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) November 24, 2022
Anaheim made sure to stay on top of the Connor Bedard race by losing their other three games last week in regulation, though.
This week: @ NSH, @ DAL, @ MIN, @ WPG
7. San Jose Sharks (7-13-4)
Last week: 7
The Sharks started the week with a 5-1 win over the Ottawa Senators, but finished the week with three straight losses, picking up just a single point in Sunday’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Vancouver Canucks.
Goaltending’s been an issue for San Jose over the course of this three-game losing streak, allowing 17 goals over the course of the three games.
Arvidsson gets it through! 3-1 LAK#GoKingsGo | @LAKings pic.twitter.com/0uF8hXqIR5
— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) November 26, 2022
This week: @ MTL, @ TOR, @ OTT, @ BUF
6. Vancouver Canucks (9-10-3)
Last week: 6
I don’t trust them enough to move them up yet, but the Canucks have won four of their last five games and just swept a tough three-game road trip against the Colorado Avalanche, Vegas Golden Knights and the Sharks.
Elias Pettersson has played a huge role of Vancouver’s recent success. He’s riding a six-game point streak in which he’s put up five goals and four assists.
93mph rocket to the back of the net 🚀 pic.twitter.com/e8Zt3HSvot
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) November 27, 2022
This week: VS WSH, VS FLA, VS ARI
5. Calgary Flames (9-9-3)
Last week: 3
The Flames had a tough finish to their road trip. The only point they picked up in the final three games was in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins last Wednesday.
Congrats to old friend Tyler Toffoli, though, for scoring his 200th career goal in Saturday’s 3-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Yeah Tyler Toffoli (@tytoff16) is going to bury those. 🔝🧀 pic.twitter.com/VlO5zuTrPe
— NHL (@NHL) November 26, 2022
This week: VS FLA, VS MTL, VS WSH
4. LA Kings (12-9-3)
Last week: 4
Three points in three games for the Kings last week. They blew an early 2-0 lead to the Rangers and lost 5-3. Then they went to San Jose and beat the Sharks 5-2 with some help from James Reimer before dropping a 3-2 overtime decision to the Senators on Sunday.
Gabe Vilardi had cooled off considerably since his red-hot start, recording just one point in his last eight games before missing Sunday’s game. He’s being called day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Without further information, you have to be a little worried that his back is an issue again.
Whatever it is, we can just hope it isn’t too serious. In the meantime, Arthur Kaliyev did what he could to spark the offense, scoring two power-play goals on a pair of ridiculous shots against Ottawa.
🚨 Arthur Kaliyev PPG! On the second effort.
1-1#GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/G2sNlYOXrq
— Ryan Sikes (@ryan_sikes10) November 28, 2022
🚨 Arthur Kaliyev PPG x2! This dude's shot is unreal.
2-2#GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/2TATbF3ugJ
— Ryan Sikes (@ryan_sikes10) November 28, 2022
Kaliyev’s proven himself to be a serious weapon on the power play. His six power-play goals on the season are twice as many as anyone else on the team.
This week: VS SEA, VS ARI, VS CAR
3. Edmonton Oilers (11-10-0)
Last week: 2
The Oilers trailed the Rangers 3-0 through two periods on Saturday. It could have been 5-0 if not for two disallowed goals, one after an offside review and one after a goaltender interference review. They looked to be on their way to their eighth loss in 11 games, all in regulation.
Instead, perhaps Saturday will end up being a turning point for Edmonton. Evan Bouchard scored twice to get the Oilers back in the game, Dylan Holloway’s first career goal tied it up, and then Leon Draisaitl scored a late power-play goal to give the Oilers a 4-3 lead they wouldn’t give up.
COMEBACK: COMPLETE
LEON DRAISAITL WINS IT FOR THE OILERS! 😤 pic.twitter.com/LijgPXbxsY
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 26, 2022
This week: VS FLA, @ CHI, @ MIN, VS MTL
2. Seattle Kraken (13-5-3)
Last week: 5
It’s time to give the Kraken some respect. They’ve been the second-best team in the Pacific this season and they still aren’t showing signs of slowing down.
After a wild 8-5 win over the Sharks, they picked up road wins over the Golden Knights and Ducks to extend their winning streak to five games. They’re 10-1-1 in their past 12.
After going six straight games without a point, Matty Beniers has heated up again with six points in his last three, putting up a goal and five assists in that stretch.
MATTY B!!! pic.twitter.com/Ld3r0QFlPS
— ROOT SPORTS™ | NW (@ROOTSPORTS_NW) November 28, 2022
This week: @ LA, VS WSH, VS FLA
1. Vegas Golden Knights (16-6-1)
Last week: 1
After starting the week with a 5-4 win over the Canucks and a 4-1 win over the Senators, the Golden Knights finished it with a pair of losses at home, 4-2 to the Kraken and 4-1 to the Canucks. Vegas has actually been worse at home this season, going 7-5-0 so far compared to a 9-1-1 road record. Maybe they’re happy to be heading out on a four-game road trip.
The Knights are 3-4-1 since their 13-2-0 start. We’ll call that a mini slump, but not enough to knock them out of the top spot yet. Seattle is just four points back of first place, though, and has two games in hand.
William Carrier scored three goals last week, two of which came in last Monday’s 5-4 win in Vancouver. He’s already got seven on the season, which is just two shy of his career high.
WILLIAM CARRIER HOW ARE YA?! pic.twitter.com/Dt6bIpSuOv
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 24, 2022
This week: @ CBJ, @ PIT, @ DET