Super 16: Panthers use winning streak to surge into rankings

The Florida Panthers are back in the NHL.com weekly Super 16 power rankings, pulling in at No. 8 this week thanks to a six-game winning streak going into the All-Star break.

The Panthers have outscored opponents 30-17 and their power play is 7-for-20 (35.0 percent) during the winning streak.
The Washington Capitals, winners of three straight games, are No. 1 after dropping to No. 2 last week.
The Colorado Avalanche moved up two spots to No. 6, and the Columbus Blue Jackets, who made their Super 16 debut at No. 15 last week, jumped five spots to No. 10.
The Vancouver Canucks moved up five spots to No. 11.

To create the power rankings, each of the 12 participating staff members this week put together his or her version of what the Super 16 should look like. Those were submitted and a point total assigned to each.
The team picked first is given 16 points, second gets 15, third gets 14 and so on down to No. 16, which gets one point.
Here is the latest Super 16:

1. Washington Capitals (33-11-5)

Total points:188
Last week:No. 2
Hit:Alex Ovechkin has eight goals in the past three games, including back-to-back hat tricks. The forward needs eight goals to become the eighth player in NHL history to score 700.
Miss:Braden Holtby is 1-5-0 with a 4.53 goals-against average and .830 save percentage in seven starts since Dec. 23.

2. St. Louis Blues (30-11-8)

Total points:174
Last week:No. 1
Hit:The Blues are 21-0-6 when scoring first and are the only team in the NHL without a regulation loss when scoring first.
Miss:St. Louis lost its final two games prior to the All-Star break, 4-3 in overtime to the Philadelphia Flyers and 5-3 to the Avalanche.

3. Boston Bruins (29-10-12)

Total points:165
Last week:No. 4
Hit:David Krejci returned Tuesday after missing two games with an upper-body injury, and the center had a goal and an assist in a 3-2 win against the Vegas Golden Knights at TD Garden.
Miss:Their power play is 0-for-15 in the past four games.

4. Pittsburgh Penguins (31-14-5)

Total points: 157
Last week:No. 3
Hit:Pittsburgh has outscored opponents 60-42 in the third period. That plus-18 goal differential is second in the NHL behind Washington's plus-20 (69-49).
Miss:They lost 3-0 to the Flyers on Tuesday, their final game before the break. It was the second straight game the Penguins allowed three goals and the eighth time in their past nine games they allowed at least that many.

5. Tampa Bay Lightning (29-15-4)

Total points:152
Last week:No. 5
Hit:Nikita Kucherov has eight goals in the past seven games. The forward, who won the Hart Trophy and the Art Ross Trophy last season, has 14 points (nine goals, five assists) in the past 11 games.
Miss: The Lightning are 1-for-12 on the power play in their past six games.

6. Colorado Avalanche (28-15-6)

Total points:126
Last week:No. 8
Hit:Ten players have scored for the Avalanche during their five-game point streak (3-0-2), including nine during their three-game winning streak.
Miss:Joonas Donskoi has missed the past five games with a concussion. The forward has 29 points (14 goals, 15 assists) in 44 games.

7. New York Islanders (29-15-5)

Total points:105
Last week:No. 6
Hit:Brock Nelson has five goals in the past six games. The center reached 20 goals for the second straight season and fifth time in his seven NHL seasons.
Miss:Semyon Varlamov has allowed 17 goals in four starts since Jan. 11 (0-3-1, 4.44 GAA, .864 save percentage).

8. Florida Panthers (28-16-5)

Total points:103
Last week:NR
Hit:Forwards Frank Vatrano (five goals, four assists) and Aleksander Barkov (three goals, six assists) each has nine points during the Panthers' six-game winning streak.
Miss:Florida has given up five power-play goals and one shorthanded goal during the winning streak.

9. Carolina Hurricanes (29-18-3)

Total points:91
Last week: No. 9
Hit:Justin Williams has two goals and a shootout-deciding goal in two games since joining the Hurricanes after signing a one-year, $700,000 contract Jan. 7. Carolina won each game, 2-1 in the shootout against the Islanders and 4-1 against the Winnipeg Jets.
Miss:The Hurricanes have lost four consecutive road games after getting points in 14 of their first 20 on the road (12-6-2). They play 12 of 17 games on the road from Feb. 4-March 12.

10. Columbus Blue Jackets (27-16-8)

Total points:85
Last week:No. 15
Hit:The Blue Jackets are 16-2-4 since Dec. 9 and have won six games in a row entering the break, including 4-3 against the Jets on Wednesday.
Miss:They are missing several injured players, including forwards Josh Anderson (shoulder) and Alexandre Texier (back), defensemen Ryan Murray (lower body) and Dean Kukan (knee), and goalie Joonas Korpisalo (knee).

11. Vancouver Canucks (27-18-4)

Total points: 69
Last week:No. 16
Hit:The Canucks are 11-3-0 and averaging 3.64 goals per game since Dec. 19. They have won two in a row and four of their past five games.
Miss:They have a shot attempts percentage of 45.7 percent in those 14 games, ranking 29th in the NHL during that span, and have been outshot in eight of those games (463-419 overall).

12. Dallas Stars (27-17-4)

Total points: 68
Last week:No. 7
Hit:Esa Lindell has nine points (one goal, eight assists) in the past nine games. The defenseman has 20 points (three goals, 17 assists) in 48 games and is 12 points from tying his single-season NHL high of 32, set last season with 11 goals and 21 assists in 82 games.
Miss: The Stars lost their final two games before the break by a combined 11-1, including 7-0 to the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.

13. Philadelphia Flyers (27-17-6)

Total points: 49
Last week:No. 14
Hit:The Flyers have points in six of their past eight games (5-2-1). In that stretch, center Sean Couturier led them with nine points (one goal, eight assists), and forward Travis Konecny led them with five goals.
Miss:Forward Claude Giroux has no goals in the past nine games.

14. Edmonton Oilers (26-18-5)

Total points:37
Last week:No. 13
Hit:The Oilers are 6-1-1 with a plus-13 goal differential (37-24) and a power play that has converted on 32.0 percent of its chances (8-for-25) in eight games since Dec. 31.
Miss:James Neal has no goals and one assist in seven games since getting a hat trick and four points in a 7-5 win against the New York Rangers on Dec. 31.

15. Toronto Maple Leafs (25-17-7)

Total points:22
Last week:No. 10
Hit:William Nylander has scored a goal in three straight games and has five points (three goals, two assists) during a five-game point streak. The forward has 22 goals in 49 games, matching his NHL career high for goals, set in 81 games in 2016-17.
Miss:They are 1-3-2 with 28 goals allowed (4.67 per game) since Jan. 6.

16. Arizona Coyotes (26-20-5)

Total points: 16
Last week:No. 11
Hit: In the past four games, forward Taylor Hall has seven points (four goals, three assists) and forward Conor Garland has six points (two goals, four assists).
Miss:They have lost two games in a row and are 1-4-1 in their past six games.
Others receiving points:Calgary Flames 14, Vegas Golden Knights 10, Chicago Blackhawks 1
Dropped out:Flames (No. 12)
HERE'S HOW WE RANKED 'EM
AMALIE BENJAMIN
1. Washington Capitals; 2. Boston Bruins; 3. St. Louis Blues; 4. Pittsburgh Penguins; 5. Tampa Bay Lightning; 6. Carolina Hurricanes; 7. Colorado Avalanche; 8. New York Islanders; 9. Columbus Blue Jackets; 10. Vancouver Canucks; 11. Florida Panthers; 12. Dallas Stars; 13. Vegas Golden Knights; 14. Toronto Maple Leafs; 15. Philadelphia Flyers; 16. Edmonton Oilers
BRIAN COMPTON
1. Washington Capitals; 2. St. Louis Blues; 3. Boston Bruins; 4. Pittsburgh Penguins; 5. Tampa Bay Lightning; 6. Florida Panthers; 7. New York Islanders; 8. Columbus Blue Jackets; 9. Colorado Avalanche; 10. Philadelphia Flyers; 11. Carolina Hurricanes; 12. Vancouver Canucks; 13. Dallas Stars; 14. Edmonton Oilers; 15. Toronto Maple Leafs; 16. Calgary Flames
NICHOLAS J. COTSONIKA
1. St. Louis Blues; 2. Boston Bruins; 3. Pittsburgh Penguins; 4. Tampa Bay Lightning; 5. Washington Capitals; 6. Florida Panthers; 7. Columbus Blue Jackets; 8. Vancouver Canucks; 9. New York Islanders; 10. Colorado Avalanche; 11. Edmonton Oilers; 12. Carolina Hurricanes; 13. Dallas Stars; 14. Toronto Maple Leafs; 15. Calgary Flames; 16. Chicago Blackhawks
TOM GULITTI
1. Washington Capitals; 2. St. Louis Blues; 3. Pittsburgh Penguins; 4. Boston Bruins; 5. Tampa Bay Lightning; 6. Colorado Avalanche; 7. Florida Panthers; 8. New York Islanders; 9. Carolina Hurricanes; 10. Columbus Blue Jackets; 11. Dallas Stars; 12. Philadelphia Flyers; 13. Vancouver Canucks; 14. Edmonton Oilers; 15. Toronto Maple Leafs; 16. Calgary Flames
ADAM KIMELMAN
1. Washington Capitals; 2. Tampa Bay Lightning; 3. St. Louis Blues; 4. Boston Bruins; 5. Colorado Avalanche; 6. Pittsburgh Penguins; 7. Florida Panthers; 8. Vancouver Canucks; 9. Carolina Hurricanes; 10. Dallas Stars; 11. Philadelphia Flyers; 12. New York Islanders; 13. Edmonton Oilers; 14. Vegas Golden Knights; 15. Columbus Blue Jackets; 16. Calgary Flames
ROBERT LAFLAMME
1. Washington Capitals; 2. St. Louis Blues; 3. Boston Bruins; 4. Pittsburgh Penguins; 5. Tampa Bay Lightning; 6. New York Islanders; 7. Colorado Avalanche; 8. Carolina Hurricanes; 9. Dallas Stars; 10. Florida Panthers; 11. Vancouver Canucks; 12. Edmonton Oilers; 13. Arizona Coyotes; 14. Philadelphia Flyers; 15. Toronto Maple Leafs; 16. Calgary Flames
MIKE G. MORREALE
1. Washington Capitals; 2. Pittsburgh Penguins; 3. St. Louis Blues; 4. Tampa Bay Lightning; 5. Boston Bruins; 6. Colorado Avalanche; 7. Columbus Blue Jackets; 8. New York Islanders; 9. Florida Panthers; 10. Dallas Stars; 11. Carolina Hurricanes; 12. Philadelphia Flyers; 13. Arizona Coyotes; 14. Toronto Maple Leafs; 15. Edmonton Oilers; 16. Vancouver Canucks
TRACEY MYERS
1. Washington Capitals; 2. Boston Bruins; 3. St. Louis Blues; 4. Pittsburgh Penguins; 5. Colorado Avalanche; 6. Tampa Bay Lightning; 7. New York Islanders; 8. Carolina Hurricanes; 9. Florida Panthers; 10. Dallas Stars; 11. Columbus Blue Jackets; 12. Vancouver Canucks; 13. Edmonton Oilers; 14. Calgary Flames; 15. Arizona Coyotes; 16. Vegas Golden Knights
BILL PRICE
1. Washington Capitals; 2. St. Louis Blues; 3. Boston Bruins; 4. Pittsburgh Penguins; 5. Tampa Bay Lightning; 6. Colorado Avalanche; 7. New York Islanders; 8. Carolina Hurricanes; 9. Columbus Blue Jackets; 10. Dallas Stars; 11. Philadelphia Flyers; 12. Florida Panthers; 13. Vancouver Canucks; 14. Edmonton Oilers; 15. Arizona Coyotes; 16. Calgary Flames
SHAWN P. ROARKE
1. Washington Capitals; 2. Boston Bruins; 3. Tampa Bay Lightning; 4. St. Louis Blues; 5. Pittsburgh Penguins; 6. Colorado Avalanche; 7. Columbus Blue Jackets; 8. Florida Panthers; 9. Vancouver Canucks; 10. New York Islanders; 11. Carolina Hurricanes; 12. Philadelphia Flyers; 13. Calgary Flames; 14. Toronto Maple Leafs; 15. Vegas Golden Knights; 16. Dallas Stars
DAN ROSEN
1. Washington Capitals; 2. St. Louis Blues; 3. Tampa Bay Lightning; 4. Pittsburgh Penguins; 5. Colorado Avalanche; 6. Columbus Blue Jackets; 7. Boston Bruins; 8. Florida Panthers; 9. Carolina Hurricanes; 10. New York Islanders; 11. Vancouver Canucks; 12. Dallas Stars; 13. Edmonton Oilers; 14. Arizona Coyotes; 15. Philadelphia Flyers; 16. Toronto Maple Leafs
MIKE ZEISBERGER
1. Washington Capitals; 2. Boston Bruins; 3. St. Louis Blues; 4. Pittsburgh Penguins; 5. Tampa Bay Lightning; 6. Colorado Avalanche; 7. New York Islanders; 8. Florida Panthers; 9. Philadelphia Flyers; 10. Dallas Stars; 11. Carolina Hurricanes; 12. Vancouver Canucks; 13. Columbus Blue Jackets; 14. Toronto Maple Leafs; 15. Edmonton Oilers; 16. Arizona Coyotes
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