Super 16: Avalanche remain No. 1; Stars return to power rankings

The Dallas Stars are back in the NHL.com Super 16 power rankings this week after dropping out last week.

The Stars, at No. 16, had a four-game winning streak end with a 2-1 loss to the Nashville Predators on Tuesday. Dallas is 14-5-1 since Jan. 20.
The Washington Capitals made the biggest jump this week, climbing three spots to No. 12 with a three-game winning streak.
The Vegas Golden Knights fell the furthest, down three to No. 15. Vegas is 4-6-1 since Feb. 9, averaging 2.09 goals per game and going 10.7 percent on the power play.
The Colorado Avalanche are No. 1 for the seventh consecutive week.
To create the NHL.com power rankings, each of the 14 participating staff members puts together his or her version of what they think the Super 16 should look like. Those are submitted and a point total assigned to each.
The team that is selected first is given 16 points, second gets 15, third 14, fourth 13 and so on down to No. 16, which gets one point.
Here is the Super 16:

1. Colorado Avalanche (41-12-5)

Total points: 222
Last week: No. 1
Cale Makar has scored 21 points (three goals, 18 assists) in his active 13-game point streak, the longest by a defenseman in Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques history. He has at least one assist in each of the 13 games, the fifth longest assist streak in NHL history at the position and four games from tying Paul Coffey's record of 17 from Nov. 27, 1985 to Jan. 2, 1986.

2. Carolina Hurricanes (39-12-5)

Total points: 203
Last week: No. 3
Teuvo Teravainen scored 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 12 games since the forward returned to the lineup Feb. 10 after missing four games with a lower-body injury.

3. Florida Panthers (39-13-5)

Total points: 192
Last week: No. 4
The Panthers won four in a row, outscoring opponents 19-6, 7-0 on special teams. Anthony Duclair scored in each of his past three games and the forward has scored 23 goals in 49 games, tying his NHL career high set playing 66 games for the Ottawa Senators in 2019-20.

4. Tampa Bay Lightning (37-13-6)

Total points: 190
Last week: No. 2
Forward Nikita Kucherov scored 30 points (10 goals, 20 assists) in 21 games. Victor Hedman scored three goals in his past two games and six points (three goals, three assists) in his past three. He's third in scoring among defensemen with 57 points (14 goals, 43 assists) in 56 games.

5. Calgary Flames (34-15-7)

Total points: 154
Last week: No. 5
Elias Lindholm leads the NHL with 15 goals in 15 games since Feb. 2. The forward has scored 29 goals in 56 games this season, tied with his NHL career high set playing 70 games in 2019-20. He leads the Flames with 104 goals in 263 games since the start of the 2018-19 season.

6. Toronto Maple Leafs (37-16-4)

Total points: 149
Last week: No. 6
Auston Matthews leads the NHL with 43 goals, including his third hat trick of the season in a 6-4 win against the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday. The forward, who scored six goals in his past three games, is on pace for 62 this season. The NHL hasn't had a 60-goal scorer since Lightning forward Steven Stamkos scored 60 in 2011-12.

7. New York Rangers (36-16-5)

Total points: 146
Last week: No. 9
Igor Shesterkin was 15-2-1 with a 1.70 goals-against average, .950 save percentage and two shutouts since Dec. 31, including 8-1-1 with a 1.48 GAA and .957 save percentage since Jan. 30. He allowed two goals or fewer in nine of his past 10 starts.

8. Pittsburgh Penguins (34-15-9)

Total points: 138
Last week: No. 7
Sidney Crosby has a seven-game point streak (five goals, five assists), including a goal and an assist in each of his past three. The center scored at least one point in 14 of his past 15 games and at least two in 10 of 19 since Jan. 21.

9. Boston Bruins (34-18-5)

Total points: 100
Last week: No. 10
The Bruins were 7-1-1 since Feb. 19 despite a net power-play percentage of 15.8 percent (4-for-19 with one shorthanded goal against). Craig Smith scored five goals in his past three games, including a hat trick in a 5-2 win at the Vegas Golden Knights on March 3. The forward scored six goals in his first 47 games.

10. St. Louis Blues (32-17-7)

Total points: 96
Last week: No. 8
The Blues lost four in a row, scoring seven goals, since winning four in a row and scoring 19 goals from Feb. 19-27.

11. Minnesota Wild (33-19-3)

Total points: 76
Last week: No. 11
The Wild were 16.1 percent on the power play and 56.7 percent on the penalty kill in 11 games since Feb. 16. Not surprisingly, they lost eight of those games. They were 1-for-1 in a 5-2 win against the Rangers on Tuesday.

12. Washington Capitals (31-18-10)

Total points: 73
Last week: No. 15
Alex Ovechkin tied Jaromir Jagr for third in NHL history when he scored his 766th goal in a 5-4 win against the Calgary Flames on Tuesday. It was an empty-net goal and the game-winning goal, his 120th in the NHL, which is also third in NHL history behind Jagr (135) and Gordie Howe (121).

13. Los Angeles Kings (32-19-7)

Total points: 61
Last week: No. 14
The Kings are 10-1-3 in games decided by one goal since Dec. 11; they were 4-5-4 in their first 13. They are 21-6-3 against the Eastern Conference with two games left, at home against the Panthers on March 13 and Columbus Blue Jackets on April 16.

14. Nashville Predators (32-20-4)

Total points: 42
Last week: No. 13
Roman Josi was second among defensemen with 15 goals and tied with Aaron Ekblad of the Panthers with 60 points, behind Makar (21 goals, 65 points) in each category. Josi scored seven points (one goal, six assists) in his past three games, including four assists in an 8-0 win against the San Jose Sharks on March 5.

15. Vegas Golden Knights (32-22-4)

Total points: 37
Last week: No. 12
Jack Eichel has scored seven points (three goals, four assists) in 10 games since the center made his season debut with the Golden Knights on Feb. 16.

16. Dallas Stars (32-21-3)

Total points: 23
Last week: NR
Jake Oettinger was 10-3-1 with a 1.93 GAA, .936 save percentage and one shutout in 15 games (14 starts) since Jan. 24.
Others receiving points: Edmonton Oilers 1, Vancouver Canucks 1
Dropped out: Oilers (No. 16)

HERE'S HOW WE RANKED 'EM

AMALIE BENJAMIN
1. Colorado Avalanche; 2. Carolina Hurricanes; 3. Florida Panthers; 4. Tampa Bay Lightning; 5. Calgary Flames; 6. Toronto Maple Leafs; 7. Boston Bruins; 8. New York Rangers; 9. St. Louis Blues; 10. Pittsburgh Penguins; 11. Los Angeles Kings; 12. Washington Capitals; 13. Minnesota Wild; 14. Nashville Predators; 15. Vegas Golden Knights; 16. Dallas Stars
TIM CAMPBELL
1. Colorado Avalanche; 2. Carolina Hurricanes; 3. Florida Panthers; 4. Tampa Bay Lightning; 5. New York Rangers; 6. Pittsburgh Penguins; 7. Calgary Flames; 8. Toronto Maple Leafs; 9. St. Louis Blues; 10. Minnesota Wild; 11. Washington Capitals; 12. Boston Bruins; 13. Los Angeles Kings; 14. Vegas Golden Knights; 15. Nashville Predators; 16. Dallas Stars
BRIAN COMPTON
1. Colorado Avalanche; 2. Carolina Hurricanes; 3. Florida Panthers; 4. Tampa Bay Lightning; 5. Calgary Flames; 6. New York Rangers; 7. Toronto Maple Leafs; 8. Los Angeles Kings; 9. Pittsburgh Penguins; 10. Boston Bruins; 11. Washington Capitals; 12. Minnesota Wild; 13. St. Louis Blues; 14. Dallas Stars; 15. Nashville Predators; 16. Vancouver Canucks
NICHOLAS J. COTSONIKA
1. Colorado Avalanche; 2. Carolina Hurricanes; 3. Florida Panthers; 4. Tampa Bay Lightning; 5. Toronto Maple Leafs; 6. New York Rangers; 7. Calgary Flames; 8. Pittsburgh Penguins; 9. Boston Bruins; 10. St. Louis Blues; 11. Minnesota Wild; 12. Washington Capitals; 13. Los Angeles Kings; 14. Nashville Predators; 15. Dallas Stars; 16. Vegas Golden Knights
TOM GULITTI
1. Carolina Hurricanes; 2. Colorado Avalanche; 3. Florida Panthers; 4. Tampa Bay Lightning; 5. Calgary Flames; 6. Toronto Maple Leafs; 7. New York Rangers; 8. Pittsburgh Penguins; 9. St. Louis Blues; 10. Boston Bruins; 11. Minnesota Wild; 12. Washington Capitals; 13. Los Angeles Kings; 14. Nashville Predators; 15. Dallas Stars; 16. Vegas Golden Knights
ADAM KIMELMAN
1. Florida Panthers; 2. Colorado Avalanche; 3. Tampa Bay Lightning; 4. Calgary Flames; 5. Carolina Hurricanes; 6. New York Rangers; 7. Toronto Maple Leafs; 8. St. Louis Blues; 9. Pittsburgh Penguins; 10. Minnesota Wild; 11. Vegas Golden Knights; 12. Washington Capitals; 13. Boston Bruins; 14. Nashville Predators; 15. Los Angeles Kings; 16. Dallas Stars
ROBERT LAFLAMME
1. Colorado Avalanche; 2. Carolina Hurricanes; 3. Florida Panthers; 4. Tampa Bay Lightning; 5. Pittsburgh Penguins; 6. Toronto Maple Leafs; 7. Calgary Flames; 8. New York Rangers; 9. St. Louis Blues; 10. Boston Bruins; 11. Washington Capitals; 12. Minnesota Wild; 13. Nashville Predators; 14. Vegas Golden Knights; 15. Los Angeles Kings; 16. Dallas Stars
MIKE G. MORREALE
1. Colorado Avalanche; 2. Tampa Bay Lightning; 3. Carolina Hurricanes; 4. Florida Panthers; 5. Pittsburgh Penguins; 6. New York Rangers; 7. Toronto Maple Leafs; 8. Calgary Flames; 9. Minnesota Wild; 10. Washington Capitals; 11. Vegas Golden Knights; 12. Boston Bruins; 13. Nashville Predators; 14. Dallas Stars; 15. Los Angeles Kings; 16. St. Louis Blues
TRACEY MYERS
1. Colorado Avalanche; 2. Carolina Hurricanes; 3. Florida Panthers; 4. Tampa Bay Lightning; 5. Toronto Maple Leafs; 6. New York Rangers; 7. Pittsburgh Penguins; 8. Calgary Flames; 9. Boston Bruins; 10. St. Louis Blues; 11. Washington Capitals; 12. Los Angeles Kings; 13. Minnesota Wild; 14. Nashville Predators; 15. Vegas Golden Knights; 16. Edmonton Oilers
SHAWN P. ROARKE
1. Colorado Avalanche; 2. Tampa Bay Lightning; 3. Calgary Flames; 4. Pittsburgh Penguins; 5. Carolina Hurricanes; 6. Florida Panthers; 7. New York Rangers; 8. Toronto Maple Leafs; 9. St. Louis Blues; 10. Boston Bruins; 11. Nashville Predators; 12. Vegas Golden Knights; 13. Minnesota Wild; 14. Washington Capitals; 15. Los Angeles Kings; 16. Dallas Stars
DAN ROSEN
1. Colorado Avalanche; 2. Carolina Hurricanes; 3. Florida Panthers; 4. Tampa Bay Lightning; 5. Calgary Flames; 6. Pittsburgh Penguins; 7. New York Rangers; 8. Toronto Maple Leafs; 9. St. Louis Blues; 10. Boston Bruins; 11. Los Angeles Kings; 12. Minnesota Wild; 13. Washington Capitals; 14. Nashville Predators; 15. Dallas Stars; 16. Vegas Golden Knights
DAVID SATRIANO
1. Colorado Avalanche; 2. Carolina Hurricanes; 3. Tampa Bay Lightning; 4. Florida Panthers; 5. Calgary Flames; 6. Toronto Maple Leafs; 7. New York Rangers; 8. Boston Bruins; 9. Pittsburgh Penguins; 10. Los Angeles Kings; 11. St. Louis Blues; 12. Washington Capitals; 13. Minnesota Wild; 14. Dallas Stars; 15. Vegas Golden Knights; 16. Nashville Predators
PAUL STRIZHEVSKY
1. Colorado Avalanche; 2. Carolina Hurricanes; 3. Florida Panthers; 4. Tampa Bay Lightning; 5. Toronto Maple Leafs; 6. New York Rangers; 7. Calgary Flames; 8. Pittsburgh Penguins; 9. Boston Bruins; 10. St. Louis Blues; 11. Minnesota Wild; 12. Los Angeles Kings; 13. Washington Capitals; 14. Nashville Predators; 15. Dallas Stars; 16. Vegas Golden Knights
MIKE ZEISBERGER
1. Colorado Avalanche; 2. Tampa Bay Lightning; 3. Carolina Hurricanes; 4. Florida Panthers; 5. Toronto Maple Leafs; 6. Pittsburgh Penguins; 7. New York Rangers; 8. Calgary Flames; 9. Boston Bruins; 10. St. Louis Blues; 11. Washington Capitals; 12. Minnesota Wild; 13. Vegas Golden Knights; 14. Los Angeles Kings; 15. Nashville Predators; 16. Dallas Stars
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