This week was one of the toughest I have had on the season when it came to determining and ranking the top six teams. Several teams including the ones listed below did nothing but win and win impressively last week. If a team slips up and have a bad week, they can go from no. 1 to not ranked in the top six (ie. St. Louis). Too bad for the Blues, they got off to such a great start of the season, but T.J. Oshie suffered a broken ankle and he might be out anywhere between 3-4 months. He was their leading scorer with 10 points. His impact on the ice will be dearly missed. There are a few key games coming up this week, including Philadelphia traveling to Washington and Montreal.
| Rank | Team | Last Week | Team Notes |
| 1 | LA | 2 | They are playing hot at Staples Center, as they have clamped down the opposition with a franchise-record 8-0 start to the season and also have not allowed a power play goal on home ice. Kings have two home games the rest of the month, including Wednesday against Columbus. |
| 2 | WAS | 3 | Leads the league in wins, points, and goals. You might ask why they aren’t ranked no. 1? Because of Saturday’s OTL against Buffalo. They did however keep their streak of earning a point in eight consecutive games alive. |
| 3 | PHI | 5 | Jeff Carter scores a hat trick Thursday night, gets 11-year, $58 million extension Saturday. Only if it could be that easy for the rest of us! They have a nine-game streak without a regulation loss, with only OTL coming against Washington. |
| 4 | DET | 6 | The Red Wings have a 7-1-1 record at home, and is in the middle of a six-game home stand. They won the first three, with tough contest against St. Louis Wednesday night. Wings only have two-point lead over Blues in division. |
| 5 | MTL | NR | So far, so good for Carey Price and the Habs. It’s almost like they have not missed Jaroslav Halak so far. Posted three impressive victories last week but tomorrow’s game against Philadelphia will help determine if they are for real this year. |
| 6 | VAN | 4 | The Canucks have a 8-1-1 record in their last 10 games. The only loss? Tuesday when they were shutout against Vancouver. They finish up five-game road trip against Buffalo and Pittsburgh before returning home over the weekend against Chicago. |
| 25 | BUF | 28 | A team that’s been a mainstay in the bottom six throughout the season, Buffalo did almost play their way out of the bottom with a victory against Washington. Other two victories recently have came against teams ranked lower than the Sabres this week. |
| 26 | CAL | NR | For a team with higher expectations after a disappointing season last year, a 1-6 record in last seven games is not acceptable. But then again the Flames might be just who they are, a team that isn’t good. |
| 27 | NJ | 30 | Despite Ilya Kovalchuk’s embarrassing shootout attempt against Buffalo, they did manage to earn three points in their two games last week. |
| 28 | TOR | NR | The Maple Leafs are proud owners of a 1-7-2 record in last 10 games. They haven’t won in the same amount of time that Philadelphia and Washington haven’t lost in regulation. |
| 29 | EDM | 27 | Record vs Chicago: 2-0. Record vs rest of league: 2-9-3. Guess who they play Wednesday night at home? Chicago. Maybe Edmonton Sun reporter Robert Tychkowski should spend more time writing about how bad the Oilers are and less time taking unnecessary shots about cities he visits on road trips. |
| 30 | NYI | 29 | There’s only one team with a worse 10-game record than Toronto. To say the Islanders have been struggling recently is an understatement. They haven’ t won since Oct. 21, and in the mean time they have lost six games by two or more goals and only earned one point in the process. Just like Kovalchuk and the Devils, the Islanders are stuck with Rick DiPietro’s long contract as he’s spending more time wearing a baseball cap on the bench than a goalie mask between the pipes. |
