Just before the All-Star break, that's when “loser” points from overtime and shootout losses begin to artificially make the NHL playoff race much closer than it really is.
Therefore, this next development is very important for the Kraken going into Friday's game. The Kraken have nine loser points and are in the wild-card spot with a four-point lead over Nashville. But when every team seems to be getting more or less points, even such a small difference can't be easily overcome. There's a new leader in the rankings this week and lots of movement at the top.
1. (2) Vancouver Canucks, 32-11-5
Our new ranking leaders lost in overtime to the Blues on Wednesday, but up until then they had won three straight and goaltender Thatcher Demko recorded his fifth shutout.
2. (3) Edmonton Oilers, 28-15-1
They became the fifth team in NHL history to win 15 straight games, two short of the NHL record, but the offensive giants have allowed two or fewer goals in a rare 13th straight game.
3. (4) Boston Bruins, 30-9-9
They won six of seven against Winnipeg and managed to score four goals, becoming the first team to score two or more goals in 22 games.
4. (1) Winnipeg Jets, 30-11-5
They conceded four goals against Boston, the first time in 34 games since November 2nd that they had conceded so many goals, but then they lost 1-0 against Toronto, and suddenly they had just one goal allowed in their last three games. became.
5. (6) Colorado Avalanche, 29-14-3
Nathan MacKinnon had four goals and five points Wednesday night, extending his home point streak to 24 games and briefly passing Nikita Kucherov as the NHL's scoring lead with 82 games.
6. (7) Florida Panthers, 29-14-4
Sam Reinhart's 35 goals were second in the league behind Auston Matthews, and the team erased a four-game deficit with a pair of wins.
7. (8) Dallas Stars, 29-13-6
Star defenseman Miro Heiskanen returned after missing 10 games with a knee injury, further strengthening a D-corps that allowed just 20 goals in his absence.
8. (9) Carolina Hurricanes, 27-15-5
Sebastian Aho's 133rd Carolina extended its road point streak to eight games (7-0-1), ranking third all-time on the franchise list for career multi-point games.
9. (10) Vegas Golden Knights, 28-14-6
Goaltender Addin Hill made 41 saves against the New York Islanders, starting and pitching a complete game for the first time since Nov. 27 in his return from a lower-body injury. Vegas was in Manhattan, and the players took the Long Island Rail Road to the game.
10. (11) Tampa Bay Lightning, 26-18-5
Thursday's 3-pointer gave Kucherov his 1,100th career point as the high-flying Lightning won seven of eight and regained the NHL points lead with 83.
11. (5) New York Rangers, 29-15-3
This month, they have been struggling to score at 2.58 goals per game, and they have also conceded points, and after entering the month with a league-high .729, their January scoring percentage was .417, ranking 23rd.
12. (12) Toronto Maple Leafs, 24-14-8
Ilya Samsonov, who was demoted to the AHL last month, made 32 saves that were key to Toronto's biggest win of the season, beating league-leading Winnipeg 1-0 in overtime.
13. (17) Detroit Red Wings, 25-18-5
Alex Ryan continued to shine in goal, earning his third shutout win of his career with 30 saves against the Flyers, improving his record to 12-6-1 with a save percentage of .923.
14. (14) New Jersey Devils, 24-19-3
The team is fourth-worst in points per game at 3.5, and with defensemen Dougie Hamilton, Jonas Siegenthaler and Brendan Smith already injured, the team has added defenseman Cal Foote to an undisclosed amount. Due to personal reasons, he will lose his position indefinitely.
15. (15) Pittsburgh Penguins, 21-17-6
The inconsistency continues, with attention focused on the plight of 37-year-old Evgeni Malkin, with TSN analyst and former player Jeff O'Neal announcing this week that the Pens have agreed to a four-year, $24.5 million contract extension through 2022. was severely criticized.
16. (16) Nashville Predators, 26-21-1
Filip Forsberg ended a five-game scoreless drought as the Pres battled back to beat Minnesota, but Nashville's offense has struggled with just 12 goals in the past six games.
17. (13) Philadelphia Flyers, 25-18-6
The team will have no further comment after losing four straight games and losing former Everett Silvertips star netminder Carter Hart to an indefinite leave of absence that could last the rest of the season.
18. (18) Seattle Kraken, 20-18-9
He split two games, but played better in losses until losing four games in a row against Chicago. To return to a mostly healthy roster, they will need to strengthen their relationship with Matty Beniers, a player who has been injured or sick recently.
19. (20) St. Louis Blues, 21-20-2
The team, which entered Seattle on Friday with an 11-6-1 record under new coach Drew Bannister, has played 7 of 21 games (33.3%) over the past two weeks, third best in the league. , helped improve a power play that was once abysmal.
20. (19) Calgary Flames, 21-22-5
Power play struggles led to four straight losses, all at home, and the regular team's previous four-game winning streak was wiped out.
21. (27) Minnesota Wild, 21-22-5
GM Bill Guerin said rookie defenseman Brock Faber has been the best player on a declining team this season and should be a Calder Trophy favorite regardless of Connor Bedard's injury.
22. (28) Ottawa Senators, 18-24-2
After becoming the last NHL team to earn “loser” points the previous week, they earned the extra point Thursday in an OT loss to Boston and quietly put together a five-game winning streak with a 3-0-2 record.
23. (22) Washington Capitals, 22-15-6
Alex Ovechkin hasn't scored in eight straight games, his team has lost six, and he has just eight goals on the season, raising doubts about Wayne Gretzky's all-time record.
24. (21) Los Angeles Kings, 22-14-9
Coach Todd McClellan blames team's 'stupidity' for last 12 lossesth After 14 games, the Buffalo team is exhausted after a spectacular free fall.
25. (23) New York Islanders, 2011/20/17
No one thought they would bring in a goaltender to solve their woes, but that's what they did by hiring Hall of Fame netminder Patrick Roy as coach after unexpectedly firing Lane Lambert. Ta.
26. (25) Arizona Coyotes, 23-21-3
Despite two more road losses at Florida this week, the Yotes are still tied with the Kraken in the Western Conference wild-card hunt thanks to a 15-9-0 home record at the small Mallett Arena university facility. It was.
27. (24) Buffalo Sabers, 21-23-4
Sabers captain Kyle Okposo called Tuesday's third period of their loss to an injury-depleted Anaheim team “the worst period we've played all year.”
28. (26) Montreal Canadiens, 20-21-7
Cole Caufield is 10 years oldth The first Canadiens player under 23 in the last 40 years has scored in eight consecutive games and assisted on Thursday's game-winner to spoil new Islanders manager Patrick Roy's return to Montreal.
29. (29) Columbus Blue Jackets, 15-23-9
As an unforgettable season comes to a close, Columbus will listen to trade offers for star forward Patrik Laine and defenseman Ivan Provorov, according to a report from Canada's TSN's Darren Dreger.
30. (30) Anaheim Ducks, 16-30-2
This week was only their fourth win in 17 games, but they had struggled offensively all season with 29 points.th He scored a maximum of 2.54 goals per game.
31. (32) San Jose Sharks, 13-31-4
The Sharks have tied the Blackhawks in points with their first three wins of the season and three losses in Chicago, but they actually lead by a percentage point because they have played one fewer game.
32. (31) Chicago Blackhawks, 14-33-2
Three consecutive losses (all against the Kraken), with only two goals scored, made the impossible possible. The Hawks are now at the bottom of the league, a few percentage points behind the fearsome San Jose Sharks.
