NHL Power Rankings: Jets soaring with 11-game win streak, Sharks still on the bottom

The Sharks own what’s probably the most heartbreaking loss of the season. They went to Winnipeg on Monday, scored a first-period power-play goal and made it stand up until the Jets got a sixth-attacker goal by Josh Morrissey with 26 seconds left in the third period, then gave up Mark Scheifele’s OT goal. San Jose is 0-4-2 in its past six games despite scoring first in four of them.

Chicago is a mess. Seth Jones, one of the NHL’s highest-paid defensemen, wants to be traded to a contender – but his contract might make that difficult. The Hawks have lost four in a row and are 1-6-1 in their past eight games with two stops remaining on a western road trip. Chicago has no player with more points than Connor Bedard’s 49 – but does have three of the seven players (including Bedard) who are minus-26 or worse.

Things just keep getting worse in Nashville, where top defenseman Roman Josi had his head driven into the glass during Tuesday’s 4-1 loss to the Florida Panthers and didn’t play the third period. He didn’t practice Wednesday and is listed as day to day, but coach Andrew Brunette couldn’t say if Josi would be able to play Thursday against Winnipeg or on an upcoming three-game road trip.

Don’t be surprised if the Kraken look to made a few deals before the trade deadline. They came back from the break with a 2-1 road win against Florida, then were outscored 11-3 in losses at Tampa Bay and St. Louis. Starting goalie Joey Daccord, one of the few positives this season, had a rare bad night in the loss to the Blues, allowing five goals before being pulled midway through the second period.

Nothing is going right for the Penguins, who’ve lost all three of their games since the 4 Nations break. Two were blowouts – 8-3 to Washington at home and 6-1 on the road to the Philadelphia Flyers – and the other was a nightmarish 5-3 home loss to the New York Rangers in which they outshot the Blueshirts 39-16 only to see rookie goalie Joel Blomqvist look like he couldn’t stop a beach ball.

It’s probably too little, too late for Buffalo to push for a playoff berth, but the Sabres are playing their best hockey of the season. They embarrassed the Rangers 8-2, then overcame a two-goal deficit in the third period to beat the Anaheim Ducks 3-2. That’s six wins in seven games – the kind of success Sabres fans were expecting earlier in the season, when it might have made a difference.

The Islanders are fading fast in the playoff race, having lost four in a row and five of six after a seven-game winning streak. GM Lou Lamoriello has a history of not being a seller at the deadline, but he may have no choice unless he wants to see two of the most highly regarded trade targets, UFA forwards Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri, pull a John Tavares and leave for no return this summer.

Anaheim actually got over NHL .500 by winning its first game back after the break, 3-2 at Boston in overtime, before losing 5-4 in overtime at Detroit and 3-2 at Buffalo after leading 2-0 after two periods. Veteran goaltender John Gibson left the game at Detroit with an injury and could miss some time, judging by the move to acquire veteran Ville Husso from the Detroit Red Wings.

The Flyers must be driving coach John Tortorella crazy – just when it looked like their playoff hopes were gone, they played two of their best games of the season, beating the Edmonton Oilers 6-3 and the Penguins 6-1. Philadelphia likely has too many teams ahead of it to make the playoffs, but wins like those can help Flyers fans feel their team is on the right track.

St. Louis has bobbed back over the .500 mark by going 2-0-1 in its first three games since the break. Robert Thomas has been on fire, with 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in his past seven games, and 4 Nations hero Jordan Binnington has allowed three goals in winning his first two starts since backstopping Canada to the tournament title last week.

The Canadiens shook off their pre-4 Nations blues with two impressive performances after play resumed, beating the Ottawa Senators 5-2 on the road and the Carolina Hurricanes 4-0 at home. The schedule could give them a real chance for a playoff push; Montreal’s next three games are at home against San Jose and Buffalo, followed by a visit to the Sabres.

Karel Vejmelka is quietly having a fine season for Utah. He’s 15-15-4 after back-to-back 2-1 wins against the Vancouver Canucks and Blackhawks, with a 2.48 goals-against average and .910 save percentage. Utah has won five of its past seven to move within four points of the Vancouver Canucks, who hold the second wild card in the West, and the Canucks have a game in hand.

Boston is letting points get away and hurting its playoff chances. The B’s rallied to get one point against Anaheim but lost in overtime, then blew a 3-0 lead against Toronto on Tuesday, allowed the Leafs to tie the game in the final minute and lost in OT. Those two missing points are the difference between being in the second wild card and on the outside looking in.

The Senators held a playoff berth for most of the past month, but five straight losses during which they’ve been outscored 23-8 – including three in a row after the 4 Nations break – have dropped them two points out of a wild card in the East. Linus Ullmark was one of the hottest goalies in the League before he got hurt on Dec. 22; he missed six weeks with a back issue and is 0-4-0 since his return.

The Rangers will go as far as goaltender Igor Shesterkin can take them. He was awful in the 8-2 loss at Buffalo on Saturday, then stole wins at Pittsburgh and Long Island with back-to-back 36-save efforts. But the win against the Islanders came at a price: Top defenseman Adam Fox went on injured reserve Wednesday after leaving in the third period with what appeared to be a shoulder injury.

The Canucks used the 4 Nations break to lock up goalie Kevin Lankinen with a five-year contract. This could mean they’re not optimistic that Thatcher Demko, who’s on IR with a lower-body injury, is their goalie of the future. Whoever is in goal needs more offensive support; the Canucks have scored just 14 goals in their past seven games, including Conor Garland’s OT goal in a 3-2 road win at Los Angeles on Wednesday.

The Flames temporarily moved back into the second wild card in the West by winning the opener of a six-game road trip on Tuesday, defeating the Capitals 3-1 in Washington. They’re still not generating much offense, having scored three goals or fewer in seven straight games, and that might not be enough as the road trip continues with stops in Tampa Bay, Florida and Carolina in a four-day span.

Columbus moved back into a playoff berth on Tuesday with a 6-4 home win against the Dallas Stars, the No. 3 team in our rankings. The best news was that Kirill Marchenko, their top goal-scorer before breaking his jaw when the Jackets were in Dallas last month, had two goals and an assist in his return. Captain Boone Jenner made his season debut after shoulder surgery and had an assist.

No lead has been safe in a Red Wings game since the break. Detroit blew a 3-1 lead in the third period against the Minnesota Wild, losing 4-3 in overtime, then wasted a three-goal lead before defeating Anaheim on Patrick Kane’s OT goal. They turned the tables in Minnesota on Tuesday, falling behind by two goals in the first period before rallying for a 3-2 win.

The Devils have alternated wins and losses for their past 10 games, including a 5-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday in the second of a five-game road trip. First place in the Metro is out of reach and the bottom five teams in the division are no threat, so the Devils and Hurricanes will spend the rest of the season battling for the home-ice advantage in their first-round playoff series.

The Avs have to be one of the NHL’s most frustrating clubs. They dominated a good New Jersey team on Wednesday, with 4 Nations MVP Nathan MacKinnon scoring twice. But that performance came after back-to-back unimpressive efforts on the road against Nashville and St. Louis in which Colorado scored just once in each game.

The ’Canes begin a stretch that will see them play seven of their next eight at home when Buffalo comes to Lenovo Arena on Thursday. Carolina is all but out of the race for first in the Metropolitan Division after losing five of their past six, and there are rumors that recently acquired Mikko Rantanen could be traded if the Hurricanes can’t sign him before the deadline.

The first three games of Edmonton’s five-game trip have been a disaster – the Oilers have lost all three while being outscored 17-7. Leon Draisaitl, the NHL leader with 43 goals, has scored seven times during a six-game goal-scoring streak, but the rest of the team has gone cold and the goaltending isn’t picking up the slack.

Tampa Bay is riding a six-game winning streak that has moved the Bolts comfortably into third place in the Atlantic Division and within four points of the top spot. Andrei Vasilevskiy has been in goal for all six games, allowing 12 goals during that span. The Lightning have had just two power plays in their past four games; they’ve scored on both.

The defending champs hope forward Matthew Tkachuk won’t be out for too long after he sustained a lower-body injury while playing for Team USA at the 4 Nations tournament. Considering that he reached the break with six-game goal and point streaks (seven goals, 13 points), losing Tkachuk for any length of time would be a severe blow to their hopes of a division title.

The Wild continue to thrive on the road while struggling at home. Their overtime victory at Detroit on Saturday improved their record away from Xcel Energy Center to 21-7-3, but their home loss to the Wings three nights later dropped their home mark to 13-13-2. After rallying for the win against the Red Wings, Minnesota is tied for second in the NHL with six wins when trailing by two or more goals.

The Kings had to settle for one point when they were unable to complete their rally from a two-goal deficit in the third period and lost to Vancouver in OT on Wednesday at Crypto.com Arena. Still, the OT defeat means they’ve lost just three times in regulation in their 25 home games, and the Kings are just four points out of first place in the Pacific Division with two games in hand on Vegas.

Toronto has moved into first place in the Atlantic Division by winning six of their past seven, including three in four days after the 4 Nations break. They’ve gotten some surprising production from two bottom-six forwards; Nicholas Robertson has three goals in his past two games, and Pontus Holmberg has four goals in three games after scoring twice in his first 43.

Vegas has to be happy to be starting a five-game homestand against the woeful Blackhawks on Thursday – they are 20-6-2 at T-Mobile Arena, as opposed to 14-12-3 away from home. Jack Eichel, arguably the best player for Team USA at the 4 Nations event, leads Vegas in assists (50) and points (69) and is second in plus-minus (plus-29) despite going scoreless in the past two games.

Dallas would be leading any of the other three divisions, but the Stars are 11 points behind first-place Winnipeg in the Central. The Stars will be happy to be back at American Airlines Arena on Friday to host the Kings; it will be their first home game since Feb. 2. Dallas played its final three games before the break in California, then visited New Jersey, Long Island and Columbus after play resumed.

Alex Ovechkin reached the 30-goal mark for the 19th time in his career when he scored Washington’s lone goal against Calgary after getting a hat trick Sunday against the Oilers. He’s within 12 goals of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s career mark of 894. The regulation loss was the first since Dec. 17 for Logan Thompson, who’s 25-3-5 with a 2.28 GAA and .919 save percentage.

Scheifele’s OT goal not only gave Winnipeg its team-record 10th straight win, it was the 329th of his career – moving him past Ilya Kovalchuk for the most in the history of the Jets/Atlanta Thrashers. Vezina Trophy favorite Connor Hellebuyck’s 25-save performance against Ottawa on Wednesday extended his personal winning streak to nine games, during which he’s allowed just 16 goals.