Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand is off to the best start of his career.
The veteran winger has scored 15 goals through 29 games, putting him on pace for the first 40-goal season of his career. Five of those goals have come in December, and the Bruins have taken a point in all but one of their seven games this month.
Boston sits just one point out of third place and two points out of second place in the Atlantic Division with the teams ahead of them all having played at least two more games.
Here are our latest power rankings. All records are current as of Dec. 16.
1. Dallas Stars (23-6-2): The Stars, who lead the league with 48 points in 31 games, are now the highest scoring team in the league and also rank fourth in power-play percentage. With a 6-2-2 record in their last 10 games, there’s no reason to knock the Stars off their perch atop these rankings.
2. Washington Capitals (21-6-2): The Capitals are flying high with eight wins in their last 10 games, including an impressive 4-1 victory over the rival Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday night.
3. Montreal Canadiens (20-9-3): The Habs have lost five of their last six games but still lead the Atlantic Division by five points.
4. New York Islanders (18-9-5): The Isles have taken points from eight of their last 10 games thanks to stellar defensive play. They now rank seventh in GAA and fourth in penalty killing.
5. Los Angeles Kings (19-9-2): L.A. had its six-game win streak snapped on Saturday, but it still has a comfortable lead in the pathetic Pacific Division.
6. New York Rangers (19-9-4): The Rangers lost to the Canucks, Oilers and Flames — three of the league’s worst teams — over the last week.
Ouch.
7. St. Louis Blues (18-10-4): The Blues haven’t won back-to-back games in December and are 3-4-1 overall this month. They do have the league’s top penalty kill, though.
8. Boston Bruins (16-9-4): The B’s have taken points from 11 of their last 12 games and have the second-highest scoring offense and top-ranked power play. Boston is starting to hit its stride with the Winter Classic approaching.
9. Minnesota Wild (16-7-6): Minnesota hasn’t lost in regulation in December and it has an opportunity to make up even more ground in the Central Division with five of the next seven games at home.
10. Chicago Blackhawks (17-11-4): A bad 3-0 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night halted Patrick Kane’s point streak at 26 games, a record for an American player.
11. Detroit Red Wings (15-8-5): Detroit has lost three of its last four games with eight goals scored in that span. The bottom-six forwards need to provide more scoring depth for the Red Wings to remain in the race for a top three finish in the Atlantic Division.
12. Ottawa Senators (16-10-5): Mike Hoffman has scored the third-most goals in the league. He’s also playing for a new contract as an RFA at the end of the season.
13. Nashville Predators (15-10-6): Pekka Rinne’s struggles in December (.895 save percentage) is a genuine concern with a brutal upcoming schedule that includes matchups against St. Louis (twice), Minnesota, Montreal, Detroit, the Rangers and Dallas to finish the month.
14. Florida Panthers (15-12-4): The Panthers have lost three of the last five games, but their two wins in that span were against two very good teams in the Washington Capitals and New York Islanders. Florida needs to establish more consistency to become a legitimate playoff contender.
15. New Jersey Devils (16-11-4): Special teams often play a major role in the outcome of games, and the Devils certainly are benefitting from having the seventh-best power play and ninth-best penalty kill.
16. Tampa Bay Lightning (16-13-3): Steven Stamkos and the Lightning visited Toronto on Tuesday night and the Stamkos-to-the-Leafs machine revved up.
How long will it take for this story to become a real distraction for the Lightning?
17. Pittsburgh Penguins (15-11-3): The Penguins fired head coach Mike Johnston over the weekend, lost 4-1 to the Capitals on Monday night and now face a home-and-home against the Bruins to end the week.
Have we mentioned that Pittsburgh also ranks 25th in goals scored per game despite having three of the most skilled offensive players in the world?
18. San Jose Sharks (15-14-1): San Jose ended a six-game losing skid with a 3-1 win in Montreal on Tuesday night. Sharks goaltender Martin Jones stopped 26 of 27 shots to finally raise his save percentage above .900 for December.
19. Winnipeg Jets (14-15-2): The Jets have made headlines on the ice with a 4-6-0 record in their last 10 games. Making matters worse is the Jets’ top three impending free agents, forward Andrew Ladd and defensemen Dustin Byfuglien and Jacob Trouba, reportedly asking for $152 million combined with their next contracts.
20. Philadelphia Flyers (13-12-6): The Flyers’ offense is finally starting to come around with 3-plus goals scored in five of seven games in December. This is encouraging for Philly because it needs its offense to consistently score to make up for the team’s lack of elite talent and depth on the blue line.
21. Arizona Coyotes (14-14-2): The Coyotes rank 29th in both GAA and power-play percentage, which explains why they’ve lost six of their last seven games despite playing four non-playoff teams in that span.
22. Anaheim Ducks (11-13-5): A horrendous 5-1 loss to a bad Carolina Hurricanes team was a new low-point for the Ducks, who still rank dead last in goals scored per game.
23. Edmonton Oilers (14-16-2): The Oilers sit in a playoff spot in the Pacific Division after a 7-2-1 run in their last 10 games, which included a six-game win streak.
24. Vancouver Canucks (11-13-8): Vancouver has lost back-to-back games by a combined score of 10-2. Ryan Miller has a 3.00 GAA and a .909 save percentage in December, which isn’t good enough for a club falling further behind in the Pacific Division each week.
26. Colorado Avalanche (12-16-1): Colorado has won seven of its last 10 games, but this success is not sustinable.
Why?
The Avalanche are getting killed in puck possession by controlling just 40 percent of all even-strength shot attempts in that span. Their PDO (save percentage plus shooting percentage) is 104.5, and when that eventually regresses closer to 100 the Avs will fall back down the standings.
27. Calgary Flames (11-14-2): Calgary has won seven of its last 10 games and now sits in a third-place tie — and a playoff spot — in the Pacific Division. Flames captain and No. 1 defenseman Mark Giordano also is playing his best hockey of the season, which is an encouraging sign for a team that’s struggled defensively with a league-worst minus-24 goal differential.
25. Buffalo Sabres (11-14-3): Buffalo earned a pair of quality 2-1 wins against the Kings and Red Wings over the past week.
28. Carolina Hurricanes (10-14-4): Carolina has been a very good puck possession team all season, evidenced by it’s 53.4 Corsi percentage (third-best in the league). It’s finally starting to see some positive results from this puck-possession success with wins in four of the last six games.
29. Toronto Maple Leafs (10-13-5): The Leafs have lost six of their last nine games and boast an offense ranked 28th in goals scored per game.
30. Columbus Blue Jackets (10-16-2): Let’s check in on Columbus.
Thumbnail photo via James Guillory/USA TODAY Sports Images
