Week 14 NHL power rankings: Where the Kraken stand after moving into first place

Hockey, Kraken, Sports Seattle

A huge overtime Kraken victory over New Jersey on Thursday night lifted them into a first-place tie atop the Pacific Division for the first time since the second game of the season.

It also ended the Vegas Golden Knights’ longstanding reign alone at the top.

Here are our weekly power rankings (previous ranking in parenthesis):

1. (1) Boston Bruins, 36-5-4

Reached 35th win overall in 44th game and 15th road win in 20 away games, both the second-fastest marks in franchise history beyond Boston’s 1929-30 edition.

2. (2) Toronto Maple Leafs, 28-11-7

Mitch Marner surpassed team legend Darryl Sittler with a franchise record 19-game point streak at home, then extended it to 20 on Thursday. 

3. (3) Carolina Hurricanes, 28-9-8

Canes goalie Frederik Andersen returned after two months and allowed just five combined goals in recording three consecutive victories.

4. (7) Tampa Bay Lightning, 29-14-1

Steven Stamkos became eighth NHL player to reach 500 goals by way of a hat trick. 

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5. (6) Seattle Kraken, 27-14-4

Vince Dunn extends nine-game point streak with overtime assist against New Jersey, vaulting team into first place tie atop Pacific Division.

6. (10) New Jersey Devils, 29-12-4

Had won five in a row overall and seven consecutive games on the road before Kraken took them down in overtime.

7. (9) Dallas Stars, 27-13-7

Jason Robertson recorded his second consecutive 30-goal season as team posted shutouts sandwiched around a blown three-goal lead and loss to San Jose.  

8. (4) Vegas Golden Knights, 28-16-2

Three consecutive losses and four defeats in five games mean they’ve finally been caught for Pacific lead — percentage points behind the Kraken.

9. (5) Winnipeg Jets 29-16-1

Had won eight of nine before losing at Montreal — of all teams — and Toronto. 

10. (8) New York Rangers, 25-14-7

Mika Zibanejad recorded sixth consecutive 20-goal season for Rangers, leaving him two behind franchise leader Jean Ratelle and one back of Rod Gilbert, Andy Bathgate and Vic Hadfield. 

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11. (14) Minnesota Wild, 25-15-4

Kirill Kaprizov reached 100 career goals in just 180 games, fifth-most among actives that span behind Auston Matthews (125), Connor McDavid (116), Leon Draisaitl (113) and Alex Ovechkin (104).

12. (11) Los Angeles Kings, 25-16-6

Scored only two goals in a pair of losses — with standout goalie Pheonix Copley even looking human in a beatdown by Dallas.

13. (17) Colorado Avalanche, 23-17-3

Steamrolled past three opponents by combined 17-4 score after folks began writing off their playoff aspirations.

14. (16) Edmonton Oilers, 26-18-3

Leon Draisaitl has four consecutive multi-point games for team that’s won five in a row.

15. (12) Washington Capitals, 25-17-6

Darcy Kuemper notched league-leading fifth shutout of season in sleeper of a win at Arizona as team struggles for consistency. 

16. (13) Pittsburgh Penguins, 22-15-7

Despite top-line forwards such as Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, they have more overtime losses than any NHL club, with a 2-7 mark in the three-on-three sessions.

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17. (15) Calgary Flames, 21-16-9

Coach Darryl Sutter on team after loss to Colorado: “We’re in the middle of the pack, and we’re not in their class. … It’s a big difference.”

18. (21) St. Louis Blues, 23-20-3

Recorded franchise wins No. 2,000 and 2,001, but likely need many more to avoid a trade deadline sell-off.

19. (18) Detroit Red Wings, 19-17-8

Once-promising goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic cleared waivers and is in AHL while big club mostly keeps losing. 

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20. (20) Philadelphia Flyers, 19-20-7

Kevin Hayes had first career hat trick as team held Pride Night celebration, in which defenseman Ivan Provorov refused to participate.

21. (23) Florida Panthers, 21-20-5

Embattled coach Paul Maurice can take it but apparently can’t dish it out. NHL fined him $25,000 for criticizing refs in team’s latest OT loss. 

22. (22) Buffalo Sabres, 22-19-3

Needed overtime to beat reeling Islanders and avoid losing three in a row.

23. (19) New York Islanders, 23-19-5

Ilya Sorokin forced to make at least 40 saves for fifth time this season — second-most of all NHL goalies — for team that’s dropped seven of past eight.

24. (24) Nashville Predators, 21-18-6

Matt Duchene, Filip Forsberg, Ryan Johansen and Tanner Jeannot all well off scoring pace from last season.

25. (25) Ottawa Senators, 20-21-3

Goalie Cam Talbot had lost three in a row with save percentage of .903 before beating Penguins despite allowing four goals on 19 shots.

26. (27) Montreal Canadiens, 19-24-3

Wins over Jets, Rangers and Predators since losing to Kraken had Connor Bedard push on pause again before losing big to Florida. 

27. (26) Vancouver Canucks, 18-23-3

Management effectively hung coach Bruce Boudreau out to dry with media this week while Rick Tocchet watch continues after five losses in six games. 

28. (28) San Jose Sharks 14-23-9

Rallied from three goals down to beat Dallas for first victory over opponent other than Arizona or Chicago since before Christmas.

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29. (31) Chicago Blackhawks, 13-26-4

Seth Jones scored tying goal in final minute and winner in OT for suddenly surging losers who have captured five of past six. 

30. (29) Arizona Coyotes, 14-26-5

Haven’t scored more than three regulation goals in a game since Dec. 29 and had lost nine in a row before outlasting the Red Wings for a shootout victory. 

31. (30) Anaheim Ducks, 13-28-5

Five consecutive losses before beating horrible Columbus and a minus-83 goal differential that’s 20 goals worse than next-closest team.

32. (32) Columbus Blue Jackets, 13-30-2

They’ve won only three of their past 18 while averaging 1.89 goals scored, even with Johnny Gaudreau.