After an early November lull that was reflected by a middling treading in our power rankings, the New York Islanders went 2-1 on their California road trip, then beat the Coyotes (who dropped to 15th in our power rankings) at home. That'll move you up any list, despite losing a winnable game to the strongest opponent of the four.
First, here are what the media ranking opinion-makers are saying. No surprise, a few turn their focus to the offensive rebound and the competent European goalie tandem.
Roundup of Weekly Opinion Polls
Site | Updated | New Ranking | Prior Ranking | Comments |
CBS | 11/17/2015 | 10 | 15 | Having John Tavares healthy and playing sure goes a long way. The Isles have scored 14 goals over their last four games while going 3-1-0 over that span and now sit in third place in the highly-competitive Metropolitan Division. |
ESPN | 11/16/2015 | 12 | 13 | The Isles are back home after taking two out of three in California, backup goalie Thomas Greiss winning those two games against the Sharks and Ducks. |
TSN | 11/16/2015 | 10 | --- | While the Islanders may not be scoring as much as last season, they are getting better goaltending. Goalies Jaroslav Halak and Thomas Greiss have combined for a .928 save percentage. |
Fox | 11/16/2015 | 15 | 18 | One of the more surprising moves the Islanders have made this season was sending Ryan Strome to the AHL. In 12 games, he had a goal and four assists, pretty bad considering he finished with 17 goals and 33 assists last season. How’s he doing in the AHL? He’s got two points in three games. He’ll be back in the NHL soon, but the Islanders could really use his playmaking abilities. |
USA Today | --- | --- | 11 | None this week. |
Average | 11.8 | 14.3 | A little of everything, including steady progress. |
USA Today draws the bye week, I guess. The goalies get several shout outs, instead of shout ATs, which is kinda nice.
LHH Power Rankings
For games through 11/17/15
(6) | (4) | (3) | (2) | (0) | |||||
Reg | OT | OT | Reg | LHH | LHH | ||||
GP | W | W | SO | L | L | Pts | Rating | ||
1 | Montreal Canadiens | 19 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 87 | 139 |
2 | New York Rangers | 18 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 86 | 133 |
3 | Dallas Stars | 19 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 86 | 128 |
4 | St. Louis Blues | 19 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 70 | 112 |
5 | Los Angeles Kings | 18 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 65 | 112 |
6 | Nashville Predators | 17 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 67 | 110 |
7 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 18 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 59 | 110 |
8 | New York Islanders | 19 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 65 | 109 |
9 | Minnesota Wild | 17 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 64 | 108 |
10 | San Jose Sharks | 18 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 55 | 107 |
11 | Washington Capitals | 16 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 63 | 105 |
12 | Boston Bruins | 17 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 50 | 104 |
13 | New Jersey Devils | 18 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 51 | 104 |
14 | Winnipeg Jets | 19 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 53 | 103 |
15 | Arizona Coyotes | 18 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 54 | 101 |
16 | Chicago Blackhawks | 18 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 56 | 101 |
17 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 19 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 44 | 99 |
18 | Ottawa Senators | 18 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 50 | 97 |
19 | Colorado Avalanche | 18 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 44 | 94 |
20 | Vancouver Canucks | 19 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 51 | 94 |
21 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 19 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 42 | 92 |
22 | Florida Panthers | 18 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 52 | 92 |
23 | Detroit Red Wings | 18 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 50 | 88 |
24 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 20 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 52 | 87 |
25 | Anaheim Ducks | 19 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 42 | 83 |
26 | Buffalo Sabres | 18 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 45 | 82 |
27 | Philadelphia Flyers | 18 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 38 | 80 |
28 | Carolina Hurricanes | 18 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 34 | 76 |
29 | Edmonton Oilers | 18 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 32 | 75 |
30 | Calgary Flames | 20 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 37 | 75 |
Despite losing to the higher-rated Kings in regulation, the Isles move up a bit. Meanwhile, this might be the first time ever that no team scored below a 70. You're tanking wrong, guys!
As always, feel free to leave questions in the comment section. I'll answer whenever able.