NHL Power Rankings: Lightning ride West Coast sweep back to the top

Jim Cerny

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NHL Power Rankings: Lightning ride West Coast sweep back to the top image

They were out of the top spot in our NHL power rankings for exactly one week, but the Lightning are right back in the No. 1 spot this week after sweeping their California road trip.

Several teams are surging, though, including the Rangers, Maple Leafs, Jets and Wild — with all four of those teams making significant strides this week up the rankings.

Here is the complete breakdown of the NHL power rankings for Week 6.

PREVIOUS POWER RANKINGS: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5

NHL Power Rankings 6.0

1. Tampa Bay Lightning

14-2-2, 30 pts (last week: 2)

Still only two regulation losses on the season after sweeping California road trip. Outscored Sharks, Kings and Ducks 12-4 in three games.

MORE: Steven Stamkos is back and might be better than ever

2. St. Louis Blues

13-5-1, 27 pts (last week: 1)

Shocking defensive breakdowns in losses to the Islanders and Flames, allowing 12 goals in those two games.

3. Toronto Maple Leafs

12-7-0, 24 pts (last week: 8)

Mike Babcock's team is back on track with four straight wins, including home-and-home sweep of Bruins. And doing it without Auston Matthews recently.

4. Pittsburgh Penguins

10-7-3, 23 pts (last week: 4)

Reputation helping their overall ranking, but they are grinding their way through tough schedule to start season. Bonus: Sidney Crosby snapped 11-game goal drought!

5. Winnipeg Jets

10-4-3, 23 pts (last week: 6)

Raise your hands if you had the Jets as a top-five team at any point this season. Connor Hellebuyck is top 10 in save percentage and wins.

MORE: Who's next? Eight more players on the trade block this season

6. San Jose Sharks

10-6-0, 20 pts (last week: 5)

Won six of last seven. League's best defensive team (2.25 GAA) is also second best on the PK.

7. Nashville Predators

10-5-2, 22 pts (last week: 7)

Nice debut for Kyle Turris as Preds keep rolling along. Nick Bonino back in lineup again.

GRETZ: Predators' David Poile keeps outsmarting his GM competition

8. Columbus Blue Jackets

11-7-1, 23 pts (last week: 9)

Power play is in an 0-for-16 slump, but Torts' Blue Jackets keep finding ways to compensate and win, like Zach Werenski's OT winner Tuesday.

9. New York Rangers

9-7-2, 20 pts (last week: 16)

Hottest team in the NHL with six straight wins, powered by scorching power play that is 9 for its last 23. How about Jimmy Vesey's teeth getting stuck in his lip?!

WATCH: Jimmy Vesey gets tooth lodged in lip, plays anyway

10. Los Angeles Kings

11-5-2, 24 pts (last week: 3)

Lost three straight this week. Still leading Pacific Division, and Anze Kopitar rides nine-game point-scoring streak.

11. New Jersey Devils

11-4-2, 24 pts (last week: 11)

Look who is back atop the Metro? Two wins in a row. Put up a seven spot on Blackhawks last time out, buoyed by Miles Wood (!) hat trick.

SN EXCLUSIVE: GM Ray Shero talks Devils' turnaround, Taylor Hall's evolution

12. Washington Capitals

10-8-1, 21 pts (last week: 12)

Shockingly a minus-3 goal differential. Big win over the Penguins last week.

13. Ottawa Senators

8-3-5, 21 pts (last week: 13)

Swept a pair of games from Avalanche in Sweden. Erik Karlsson's 16 assists in 11 games lead all NHL defensemen. Mark Stone fourth in the NHL with 12 goals.

MORE: Winners, losers from the Matt Duchene-Kyle Turris trade

14. New York Islanders

9-6-2, 20 pts (last week: 10)

Impressive 5-2 road win over Western Conference-leading Blues following Doug Weight's blistering commentary.

15. Calgary Flames

10-7-0, 20 pts (last week: 17)

Mike Smith is dinged up, but the Flames have won five of six.

INSIDE THE CWHL: Sophie Shirley's big decision

16. Vancouver Canucks

9-7-2, 20 pts (last week: 15)

Halted mini skid rallying for a 3-2 road win over Kings Tuesday. Still struggling at home (3-4-2).

17. Minnesota Wild

8-7-2, 18 pts (last week: 28)

Devan Dubnyk with three consecutive shutouts. Jason Zucker, NHL's No. 1 Star of the week, scored seven of Wild's last nine goals, including six straight at one point.

18. Chicago Blackhawks

9-8-2, 20 pts (last week: 18)

Allowing more than 34 shots per game. GAA dropped into bottom third of NHL.

MORE: Goals harder to come by, Alex DeBrincat adds another dimension in NHL

19. Vegas Golden Knights

10-6-1, 21 pts (last week: 14)

Two wins in last eight games. Throttled by Oilers Tuesday night, giving up season-worst eight goals.

MORE: Vadim Shipachyov warns Russian players: 'Think 10 times before leaving'

20. Edmonton Oilers

7-9-2, 16 pts (last week: 21)

Went 2-1-1 on four-game East Coast trip, then returned home and scored season-high eight times against Golden Knights.

21. Anaheim Ducks

8-7-3, 19 pts (last week: 19)

Fourth-best PK trying to balance out struggling PP.

MORE: Ryan Getzlaf among NHL's worst injuries in 2017-18

22. Dallas Stars

9-8-1, 19 pts (last week: 22)

Middle of the road in most team stats. No surprise they are huffing along as a .500 team. John Klingberg, though, leads all NHL defensemen in scoring with 18 points.

23. Philadelphia Flyers

8-8-2, 18 pts (last week: 18)

Flyers shut out two games in a row by Wild. Blanked five times already this season. Only one line scoring.

MORE: How Flyers’ top-line shakeup unleashed Sean Couturier

24. Carolina Hurricanes

7-5-4, 18 pts (last week: 27)

'Canes starting to wake up. Sebastian Aho finally scored first goal of the season. Teuvo Teravainen first-career hat trick Monday night.

25. Colorado Avalanche

8-7-1, 17 pts (last week: 23)

Lost both games in Sweden to Senators, but 19-year-old rookie defenseman Samuel Girard — acquired in Matt Duchene trade — played a ton (more than 21 minutes a night) and impressed.

HERMAN: Matt Duchene return gives Avalanche much-needed direction 

26. Montreal Canadiens

8-9-2, 18 pts (last week: 24)

Carey Price still out. Al Montoya concussed. But, hey, there is Charlie Lindgren and his 1.39 GAA and .957 save percentage since call up.

27. Detroit Red Wings

9-8-8, 20 pts (last week: 25)

23-year-old Anthony Mantha averaging nearly point per game with team-high 16 points in 18 games. He had three-point effort against Flames last Thursday.

28. Boston Bruins

6-6-4, 16 pts (last week: 26)

Dropped home and home to Maple Leafs. Now just 1-3-2 on the road this season.

MORE: Contender or pretender? Sorting out best, worst from NHL's first month

29. Florida Panthers

6-9-2, 14 pts (last week: 30)

Roberto Luongo is healthy again, just passed Curtis Joseph to become the 4th winningest goalie in NHL history.

30. Buffalo Sabres

5-8-4, 14 pts (last week: 29)

Eye test says this is a better Sabres team, but they just don't win games often enough.

31. Arizona Coyotes

2-15-3, 7 pts (last week: 31)

Allow the most goals in NHL, score the least and have terrible special teams. Good luck, Rick Tocchet.

Jim Cerny