Pacific Division Power Rankings: November 6

The Pacific Division is very tight early in 2019-20, with only three points separating first place from sixth place. The Pacific Division is the only division that has more than two teams with 20+ points this year, and there’s five of them!

1. Vancouver Canucks (9-3-3) Last Ranking: 3

Last Five Games: 3-0-2

Without a doubt the Canucks are the early surprise of the season. While they were expected to be better led by their young starts, the Canucks have roared out of the gate after an 0-2 start to the season in Alberta. Vancouver has just one regulation loss over 13 games since October 5 which is very impressive. Elias Pettersson has led the way with 20 points, and J.T. Miller has proven to be a good addition with 16 points.

2. Arizona Coyotes (9-4-2) Last Ranking: 5

Last Five Games: 3-1-1

The Coyotes were expected to be better in 2019-20 after barely missing out on the playoffs last year despite a number of injuries. Arizona has looked very impressive out of the gate, and they look like they can sustain this all year long. Head coach Rick Tocchet has them playing a very defensively sound game, and their offensive is starting to click and capitalize on opponenet mistakes. Arizona has allowed just 34 goals against in 15 games this year.

3. Edmonton Oilers (10-4-2) Last Ranking: 1

Last Five Games: 2-2-1

Edmonton has come back down to Earth slightly after their scorching 8-1-1 start to the season. They’re still on top of the Pacific Division but the gap has shrunk considerably to just one point ahead of the Canucks. Edmonton continues to be led by their top two superstars in Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, but their depth will really get tested if either of them get injured or slow down to a normal pace.

4. Calgary Flames (9-7-2) Last Ranking: 7

Last Five Games: 3-2-0

The Flames managed to salvage a 2-2-1 record on a road trip that started with a pair of blown third period leads leading to losses. They managed a huge comeback in Nashville before shutting out Columbus and holding serve with the powerhouse Capitals on a back-to-back. Finally they had another big comeback win over Arizona. Calgary is still somewhat waiting for their big guns to heat up, but Matthew Tkachuk and Elias Lindholm continue to click while David Rittich has been solid in net.

5. Vegas Golden Knights (9-5-2) Last Ranking: 2

Last Five Games: 2-1-2

Vegas will have to feel a little disappointed that they only managed to get one win on their most recent four game homestand. They’re now on an Eastern swing with tests coming up against Toronto and Washington. The Knights continue to rely heavily on Marc-Andre Fleury as he’s started 13 of their first 16 games this year. He’s also posting a .924 SV% so he’s not showing any signs of fatigue yet.

6. Anaheim Ducks (9-7-1) Last Ranking: 4

Last Five Games: 2-2-1

Anaheim had a hot start to the season but have more or less become the team we expected them to be this year. They’re definitely better structurally under Dallas Eakins than they ever were under Randy Carlyle. Some of the Ducks youngsters are looking impressive as well. Anaheim will be hovering right around the playoff bubble for most of the season, but it will take continued superb play from John Gibson for them to make it.

7. Los Angeles (5-10-0) Last Ranking: 8

Last Five Games: 1-4-0

The Kings pull ahead of San Jose simply because we expected the Kings to be bad this season. It appears that unless they’re playing Calgary, Los Angeles is simply not a good team. It hasn’t helped that Tyler Toffoli has been MIA this year, leading to him being healthy scratched at one point. LA is paying for their two Stanley Cups now, but I guarantee you can’t find a single Kings fan that wouldn’t say it was worth it.

8. San Jose Sharks (5-10-1) Last Ranking: 6

Last Five Games: 1-4-0

On the other hand, you have the Sharks who are paying for their decades of playoff futility finally with a down year this year. They sunk big money into Erik Karlsson who hasn’t played well this season, and they’ve struggled to both score and keep the puck out of their net. The Sharks are quickly finding themselves behind the eight ball with the top six teams in the division starting to pull away. Also the Sharks don’t have their first round pick this year either, so that’s not good.

by Michael MacGillivray