With nearly two months of the 2025-26 NHL season complete, the Boston Bruins are near the top of the Atlantic Division and in the middle of the pack in the overall league standings. But they can brag about one achievement no other team has accomplished — they are the only club that has defeated the Colorado Avalanche in regulation this campaign.
Boston registered a 3-2 home victory on Oct. 25, ending Colorado’s season-opening eight-game point streak (5-0-3). Since then, the Avalanche have earned points in 16 consecutive contests (13-0-3), including both of their outings during last week’s abbreviated four-day span as they lost to the Minnesota Wild in a shootout before clobbering the Montreal Canadiens 7-2 on Saturday.
Four teams won both of their games last week, while four others joined Colorado with a victory and a post-regulation defeat. A total of six clubs failed to get in the win column, but the Utah Mammoth had the toughest time as they began a six-game road trip with three regulation losses.
Each week during the season, I’ll rank the league’s top 10 teams based on both the previous week’s performances and overall body of work in 2025-26. I’ll also give brief synopsis for each club that explains why they’re ranked where they are.
Let’s dive into the power ratings after Week 8 of the 2025-26 NHL season and highlight a few of the teams’ notable accomplishments.
NHL Week 9 power ratings
1. Colorado Avalanche (1-0-1 in Week 8; 18-1-6 overall)
The Avalanche gave up two goals in each of their two contests last week, extending their streak of allowing fewer than three tallies to five games. They scored nine times in those two outings, increasing their NHL-leading total to 103 goals as they’ve produced at least four in eight of their last 11 contests. Nathan MacKinnon posted a pair of multi-point performances, recording a goal and an assist against Minnesota before netting one tally and setting up two others versus Montreal. The 2024 Hart Trophy winner, who has been kept off the scoresheet in only four of Colorado’s 25 games, leads the league in both goals (20) and points (44). Captain Gabriel Landeskog, who missed the last three regular seasons due to a knee injury, collected three points in the win over the Canadiens and has notched five over his last three contests after amassing just seven in his first 22 outings in 2025-26.
2. Dallas Stars (2-0-0; 17-5-4)
Dallas was one of the four teams that won both of their games in Week 8, extending its winning streak to four and point streak to six (5-0-1). Wyatt Johnston has been on fire of late, registering five points last week and nine over his last four contests. The 22-year-old center scored the game-winning goal against the Mammoth last Friday before recording his fourth career hat trick and also adding an assist in the Stars’ 6-1 triumph over the Ottawa Senators two days later. It was the second four-point effort in four games for Johnston, who recorded just one point over his previous six outings. Captain Jamie Benn scored in both games last week and is riding a four-game point streak while Roope Hintz had his four-game goal-scoring run ended by Ottawa but notched a pair of assists to extend his point run to five contests. Jason Robertson, who had two goals and two assists last week, has netted at least one tally in nine of his last 10 games and recorded a point in 13 of his past 15. Mikko Rantanen also was productive in Week 8, amassing five assists in Dallas’ two contests.
3. Tampa Bay Lightning (2-0-0; 16-7-2)
The Lightning extended their overall winning streak to seven games and their road run to five with victories over the Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers last week. They scored a total of 10 goals in those two triumphs and have tallied at least four times on five occasions during their seven-game winning streak. Tampa Bay also has allowed fewer than two goals in five of those contests. Brandon Hagel enters Week 9 with a five-game goal-scoring streak and posted his third two-tally performance during that run in the triumph against the Rangers. Defenseman Darren Raddysh came up with a pair of three-point efforts in Week 8 and has landed on the scoresheet in seven of his last eight outings. The 29-year-old is on pace to shatter the career high of 37 points he registered in 73 games last season as he has amassed 16 in 19 contests this campaign. Nikita Kucherov is riding a nine-game point streak during which he has racked up four goals and 14 assists after setting up five tallies in Week 8.
4. Carolina Hurricanes (2-0-0; 16-7-2)
The Hurricanes are the third straight team in this week’s ratings that won both of its games in Week 8 as they cruised past the Winnipeg Jets 5-1 before edging the Calgary Flames 1-0 in overtime. Seth Jarvis was the offensive star against Winnipeg as he registered his second career hat trick to increase his club-leading season total to 15 goals. Meanwhile, Nikolaj Ehlers, who is set to appear in his 700th NHL game Thursday against the Toronto Maple Leafs, ended his six-game drought by scoring the lone goal in the triumph over Calgary. Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere and Andrei Svechnikov came up with multi-point efforts against the Jets as both recorded a pair of assists.
5. Minnesota Wild (1-0-1; 14-7-5)
Minnesota went to a shootout in both of its games last week, defeating Colorado on Friday before losing to the Buffalo Sabres a day later. The Wild, whose point streak has reached 11 games (9-0-2), scored a total of four regulation goals in those contests — with Kirill Kaprizov producing three of them. The 28-year-old Russian left wing enters Week 9 with a five-game goal-scoring streak and tallies in eight of his last 11 outings. Kaprizov has gone without a goal in back-to-back games just once since Oct. 28 as he has converted in 11 of his past 16. Matt Boldy netted Minnesota’s other tally last week, scoring against the Sabres after recording the decisive shootout goal in the victory over the Avalanche. Since enduring a six-game drought from Oct. 25-Nov. 4, the 24-year-old has scored in eight of his last 12 contests. Veteran Norwegian right wing Mats Zuccarello notched an assist in each of the Wild’s games last week, giving him at least one point in six of his last eight outings.
6. Washington Capitals (2-0-0; 15-9-2)
The fourth and final team to go 2-0-0 last week was the Capitals, who defeated Toronto 4-2 and the New York Islanders 4-1 to extend their overall winning streak to four games. Tom Wilson joined Connor McMichael with a goal and an assist against the Maple Leafs before netting two tallies and setting up another versus the Islanders. The 31-year-old right wing has notched at least one point in five consecutive contests and seven of his last eight. Wilson is six goals shy of 200 for his career and needs one to tie Bengt Gustafsson for seventh place on Washington’s all-time list. Nine-time Maurice Richard Trophy winner Alex Ovechkin, who is first in NHL history with 909 tallies and counting, has notched at least one point in 11 of his last 14 games while defenseman Jakob Chychrun was kept off the scoresheet by the Isles after registering a five-game goal-scoring streak and a 10-game point run during which he collected seven tallies and six assists.
7. Anaheim Ducks (2-1-0; 16-9-1)
The Ducks played three games last week and won two of them, edging the Los Angeles Kings in a shootout and bouncing back from a loss to the Chicago Blackhawks with a 4-1 triumph over the St. Louis Blues. Chris Kreider scored in each of Anaheim’s three contests following a 10-game stretch during which he tallied just once. Leo Carlsson recorded two goals and four assists in Week 8 to extend his point streak to seven games. A 20-year-old Swedish center who was the second overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, Carlsson has amassed three tallies and seven assists during his run and is tied for fourth in the league with 36 points. Troy Terry had his seven-game point streak halted in Monday’s win at St. Louis, but 19-year-old right wing Beckett Sennecke extended his to eight contests with an assist. In doing so, he tied Paul Kariya for the longest run by a rookie in franchise history and became the second-fastest Duck to reach 20 points, accomplishing the feat in 26 games. Kariya owns the club mark as he notched 20 points in 24 contests in 1994-95. Meanwhile, Mason McTavish collected a goal and three assists last week, giving him at least one point in six of his last seven outings.
8. Los Angeles Kings (1-0-1; 12-6-7)
Los Angeles has earned at least one point in nine of its last 10 games after going 1-0-1 in Week 8 with a shootout loss at Anaheim and a 2-1 overtime triumph over the Vancouver Canucks. The Kings are hoping Adrian Kempe is about to break out of a lengthy slump as his OT winner against Vancouver was just his third goal in his last 16 contests. The 29-year-old Swedish right wing also notched his first assist in seven games in that triumph, while Brian Dumoulin continued his uncharacteristic offensive surge by setting up a tally. The 34-year-old defenseman also notched a pair of assists in the shootout loss to the Ducks and has registered four points in as many contests after picking up only two in his first 21 outings this season.
9. New Jersey Devils (1-2-0; 16-9-1)
New Jersey dropped 5-3 decisions to the Philadelphia Flyers and Columbus Blue Jackets to end last week at 1-2-0 and fall to 4-5-0 since star forward Jack Hughes suffered a finger injury in an off-ice incident that is likely to keep him sidelined for eight weeks. Captain Nico Hischier and Timo Meier both enter Week 9 having scored a goal in five of the contests during their six-game point streaks. The first overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, Hischier has registered six tallies and six assists on his run, while Meier has collected five and three, respectively.
10. Vegas Golden Knights (1-1-0; 11-6-8)
Vegas began last week with its fourth straight setback (0-2-2), a 4-1 loss to the Canadiens on Friday, but ended the slide the following day with a 4-3 triumph over the San Jose Sharks. Captain Mark Stone scored the lone goal against Montreal and notched an assist versus San Jose, giving him at least one point in each of the nine games in which he has played this campaign. Tomas Hertl tallied twice in the victory against the Sharks to increase his season total to 11 goals and pull even with Jack Eichel and Pavel Dorofeyev for the team lead.
Add Comment