Western Conference Power Rankings, Week Three

The Western Conference was a tough one this week, seeing many shootouts and overtime periods, but it was a decent week for most teams in the West. Staying almost perfect was Colorado and San Jose, but a loss for Colorado and San Jose might jumble the power rankings this week. Let’s jump in and see where each team lands in the third week of the western conference power rankings.

Sep 18, 2013; Denver, CO, USA; Anaheim Ducks defenseman Hampus Lindholm (47) (background) is congratulated for his goal by defenseman Nolan Yonkman (40) (left) and right wing Kyle Palmieri (21) and right wing Emerson Etem (65) (right) during the third period of a preseason game against the Colorado Avalanche at Pepsi Center. The Ducks defeated the Avalanche 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

(4) 1. The Anaheim Ducks took the conference by storm, winning all three games they played. Their first game was a close 3-2 win over the Calgary Flames, where Teemu Selanne scored the game winner. This marked their fifth straight win. They then brought the Phoenix Coyotes into Anaheim, where they beat the Coyotes in a shootout thanks to Jakob Silfverberg in the sixth round. Hiller stopped captain Shane Doan for the win. They ended their home stand against the Stars, where they dragged them around the ice with a 6-3 win. A short-handed goal by Emerson Etem was the game winner in the second period.

(1) 2. The Colorado Avalanche tore through this week, continuing their win streak against the Dallas Stars with a 3-2 win. Although Rich Peverly started the scoring for Dallas, Matt Duchene’s first and second period goals led the Avalanche past the Stars. They then challenged the Detroit Red Wings, when Cody McLeod laid a bad hit on Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall. This led the Red Wings to some momentum, and they defeated the unbeaten Avs 4-2. They then played the ailing Buffalo Sabres, where they gained another win by a score of 4-2. Duchene also had the game winner in Buffalo.

(2) 3. The San Jose Sharks played like the Avalanche, losing just one game this week. Their first was a big win against the St. Louis Blues by a score of 6-2 with Tommy Wingels scoring the winner. San Jose then travelled to Dallas, where they battled hard, but fell to the Stars in the shootout, where Alex Chiasson scored the only goal in the final round of the shootout. They then faced Calgary, where they defeated them 6-3 with the help of Joe Pavelski’s two goals and Patrick Marleau’s game winner. The Sharks have had 7 different players to score the game-winning goals.

Oct 17, 2013; Nashville, TN, USA; Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick (32) crouches in the goal against the Nashville Predators during the first period at Bridgestone Arena. The Kings beat the Predators 2-1 in a shootout. Mandatory Credit: Don McPeak-USA TODAY Sports

(6) 4. The Los Angeles Kings ended the week strong, but started with a loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Martin St. Louis and the Lightning dominated the Kings 6-1, with Teddy Purcell notching the winner. Martin St. Louis had 2 goals and the loan goal for LA was from Slava Voynov. They then took on the Nashville Predators, where they beat the Preds in a shootout. Anze Kopitar scored the only goal in the shootout in the third round. He was the last one to shoot. Finally, LA battled the Stars, where they owned the ice and won 5-2. Defenseman Drew Doughty scored his second goal of the season to win the game.

(7) 5. The Chicago Blackhawks won two of their three games, losing in a close game to the Blues. Their first game was a close shootout victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. Patrick Sharp scored the first shot in the third round, and then Corey Crawford stopped Jeff Skinner to seal the win. They faced St. Louis next, where they ventured back to a shootout, and lost. The Blues didn’t even need a third shooter after T.J. Oshie scored in the first round, and Jaroslav Halak stopped Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, and Patrick Sharp. Their third game was a good one, where they outscored the Toronto Maple Leafs by a score of 3-1. Michael Kostka scored the game winner two and a half minutes after Nazem Kadri scored the tying goal on the power play.

(11) 6. The Nashville Predators faced four different opponents this week. The first was the Florida Panthers. It was a close game where they defeated Florida 4-3. Patric Hornqvist had the fourth Predators goal to win the game. They then took on the Kings, where they lost in a shootout. No Predator scored in the shootout. Their third game was a big win over the Montreal Canadiens by a score of 2-1. Both goals came from the defensemen. Shea Weber scored the lone goal in the first period, and then Seth Jones scored the lone goal in the third period to end the game. Their final win this week came over the Winnipeg Jets. Their 3-goal second period included Patric Hornqvist scoring the winning goal again. Even Evander Kane’s third period goal couldn’t help the Jets over the Preds.

(3) 7. The St. Louis Blues fell pretty hard, losing two of three games this week. Their first game was a huge loss to the Sharks by a score of 6-2. Their second game was a needed win over the Blackhawks. They fought hard and beat the Hawks in a shootout. T.J. Oshie scored the only goal in the shootout victory. They then lost to the Jets in a shootout. It took seven rounds, where Olli Jokinen scored the goal to end the shootout. St. Louis scorers were T.J. Oshie and Alexander Steen, who had two goals during regulation play.

Oct 17, 2013; Buffalo, NY, USA; Buffalo Sabres defenseman Mike Weber (6) tries to block a shot by Vancouver Canucks center Mike Santorelli (25) during the third period at First Niagara Center. Vancouver beats Buffalo 3 to 0. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

(13) 8. The Vancouver Canucks played four games this week going 2-1-1. Their first game was a win over the Philadelphia Flyers by a close 3-2 score. Tye McGinn scored two goals, but Ryan Kesler’s second goal ended up being the winner. Roberto Luongo helped the Canucks beat the Buffalo Sabres 3-0, with Chris Higgins scoring the first goal of the game. The win was a big one for the Canucks, and they even scored a short-handed goal in the second period, a deflection from Brad Richardson. Their third game was a close struggle, a shootout loss to the Penguins. Evgeni Malkin scored the only shootout goal in the third round, where Marc-Andre Fleury stopped Ryan Kesler’s last attempt. The final game for Vancouver was a loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. They only allowed one goal that was scored by Henrik Sedin. Curtis McElhinney won his first game as a Blue Jacket with 38 saves and earned the first star of the game.

(8) 9. The Phoenix Coyotes played three games, with their third being their best. They first lost to the Ottawa Senators by a score of 4-3 in overtime.  Ottawa captain Jason Spezza grabbed a hat trick, and Cory Conacher scored the winning goal. They then faced the smoking hot Ducks, who defeated them in a shootout. Their third game was an amazing win over the Red Wings. This win made it a 2-0 record over the Red Wings this season. This is their last match-up, and even goaltender Mike Smith got a goal with .1 seconds left in the game. They played a great game coming from behind the Wings to win it.

(10) 10. The Winnipeg Jets haven’t been playing as well as I had hoped, losing two of their three games this week. Their first loss was against the Canadiens, who shutout the Jets 3-0. Carey Price stopped 36 shots and Brandon Prust scored the first goal of the game. The second game Winnipeg played was a win over the Blues in a shootout. Olli Jokinen scored the winning goal in the seventh round of the shootout. Their third game was another loss, this time to the Predators. The Preds won 3-1, even though Evander Kane tried to rally the Jets with a third period goal.

(12) 11. The Dallas Stars went 3-1-0 this week. Their first game was a close loss to the Avalanche. The score was just 3-2. They then battled the San Jose Sharks, where they handed them their first loss of the season in a shootout. Alex Chiasson scored the only goal in the shootout. The third game was a loss to the Kings, where Tyler Seguin and Rich Peverley scored the goals for Dallas. The fourth game was another loss, losing to the fiery Ducks by a score of 6-3. Scorers for Dallas were Ryan Garbutt, Brenden Dillon, and Shawn Horcoff.

(9) 12. The Minnesota Wild struggled this week, losing three straight games in a four-game week. Their first game was a close win over the Sabres. Former Sabres captain scored a power play goal with ten seconds left in the second period, and that remained the winning goal. The second game was a loss to the Maple Leafs by a score of 4-1. Trevor Smith snapped a goal in the first period after being called up from the Toronto Marlies, whose goal was the one above Pominville’s lone goal. Smith would remain the game winner. The third game was a loss to the Lightning. After Mikko Koivu scored the tying goal in the second period, Steven Stamkos scored his fifth goal four minutes later to take the lead. His goal was the game winner. The final game for Minnesota was their third straight loss to the Florida Panthers. The game went into a shootout, where both Zach Parise and Mikko Kivu missed their shots. Both Jonathan Huberdeau and Brad Boyes scored their goals.

Oct 19, 2013; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; Edmonton Oilers centre Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (93) controls the puck with Ottawa Senators left wing Milan Michalek (9) in pursuit during the third period at the Canadian Tire Centre. The Oilers defeated the Senators 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports

(14) 13. The Edmonton Oilers played bad, but jumped a spot because they won a game. Their first game was a defeat, handed to them by the Washington Capitals. Joel Ward (PPG), Alex Ovechkin (GWG), and Troy Brouwer (PPG) scored in the second period to pass by the Edmonton Oilers. They then lost a close game to the Penguins, Although Ales Hemsky and Jordan Eberle scored tying goals, Malkin scored in the third period to take the win in Pittsburgh. Their next loss came to the New York Islanders, another close one. Taylor Hall’s record breaking 2 goals in 8 seconds wasn’t enough to beat the Isles. Captain John Tavares scored in the second period that happened to be the last goal of the game. Their fourth game of the week was a win over the Senators. They beat them 3-1, with Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored in the first period. Nugent-Hopkins also scored an empty net goal to seal the deal.

(5) 14. The Calgary Flames looked so good last week, but lost both games they played this week. Their first game was against the Ducks, who barely beat them 3-2. They then played the Sharks, who dominated them by a score of 6-3. Luckily, point leader Jiri Hudler had a goal in each game to continue his point streak. Hopefully Calgary can step up this week and hit that number 5 spot again.