April 1, 2022
By Tab Bamford

CHICAGO, IL — First off, congratulations to Jonathan Toews for reaching 1,000 regular season games played with the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night. His career has been as good as any in his generation – three Stanley Cups, a Selke, two Olympic gold medals and the youngest member of the Triple Gold Club in 2010.

But now we’re into April and the sprint to the playoffs is upon us. The Eastern Conference teams are pretty well established, but seeding is up for grabs. In the West, it’s a mess and teams still have a chance to be anywhere between a two seed and completely out.

We aren’t going to spend much time on the teams who have already been officially eliminated from postseason potential. But let’s get it rolling with our first Power Rankings of the new month.

[View the Power Rankings from Week 20]

32. Arizona Coyotes

31. Montreal Canadiens

30. Seattle Kraken

29. New Jersey Devils

28. Philadelphia Flyers

Now, let’s jump into those who are still – somehow – alive for the playoffs… for now.

27. Anaheim Ducks

An 11-game losing streak gets you dropped all the way to the bottom of our non-eliminated rankings this week. The wheels are officially off in Anaheim.

26. Columbus Blue Jackets

Normally a five-game losing streak would be bad at this time of year, but the Jackets can thank Anaheim for not making it look as bad.

25. Detroit Red Wings

We like their young players, but they’re 2-5-3 in their last 10 and have lost four straight. On to the lottery!

24. Ottawa Senators

The Sens have fewer points than Jersey and Philly yet they’re still alive for a few hours. Congrats!

23. Chicago Blackhawks

Congrats to Captain Serious for reaching 1,000 regular season games played on Thursday night… in a shutout loss to the Panthers.

22. Buffalo Sabres

The Sabres are 6-1-3 in their last 10, which is a nice late-season bounce for a team that has struggled all season.

21. San Jose Sharks

Their minus-36 goal differential is ugly, but they’re still 16-14-4 at home.

20. Vancouver Canucks

The Canucks have been better since the coaching change but have hit a rough patch over the past two weeks.

19. New York Islanders

The Islanders are ready to turn the page to next year, but they’re playing better of late (6-3-1 in their last 10).

18. Vegas Golden Knights

Vegas has won three straight, but that rally gets them back to .500 in their last 10 games and still fighting for a playoff berth.

17. Winnipeg Jets

Don’t look now, but the Jets are 7-3-0 in their last 10 games. Is this rally too little, too late or can they make the playoff picture in the muddy Central interesting?

16. St. Louis Blues

The Blues’ goal differential is strong (plus-43) but they’re sliding the wrong direction lately (5-3-2 in their last 10).

15. Los Angeles Kings

The Kings are ahead of the Blues in the standings but have a matching 5-3-2 record in their last 10 and a goal differential of just plus-two.

14. Dallas Stars

Dallas actually has a negative goal differential on the year but their 6-4-0 record in their last 10 has helped them stay in the mix in the playoff race.

13. Nashville Predators

Like Dallas, Nashville has benefitted from the Blues’ inability to pull away. Their plus-26 goal differential is much better than Dallas’ and they have a 6-4-0 stretch in their last 10 as well.

12. Edmonton Oilers

Edmonton is 7-2-1 in their last 10 and are now three points back of the Kings in the division race. They’re 22-12-0 at home entering Friday.

11. Washington Capitals

Washington is 21-7-5 on the road thus far and 6-3-1 in their last 10. They’ll make the playoffs, but we’re not sure how deep they’ll be able to advance.

10. Calgary Flames

Calgary sprinted to a lead in their division but have cooled off; they’re 5-3-2 in their last 10 and have very little pressure coming from the Kings (five points back).

9. Tampa Bay Lightning

Tampa gets Chicago at home on Friday night and will look to extend their three-game win streak. They’re only 5-5-0 in their last 10 entering the game, however.

8. Minnesota Wild

The Wild have rebounded to 7-1-2 in their last 10 and appear to have a solid hold on the second playoff spot in their division. We’ll see if they can hold onto that position.

7. Boston Bruins

Boston is 8-2-0 in their last 10 and 24-7-2 on home ice this year. If not for the juggernauts in the Eastern Conference we’d likely be talking about them more right now.

6. Carolina Hurricanes

Carolina is second in the league with 98 points but they’re only 4-3-3- in their last 10. We aren’t worried about them getting into the playoffs but they need to find some momentum before the postseason begins.

5. Pittsburgh Penguins

The Pens are 22-8-5 on the road, so maybe they would prefer to be the three-seed in their division when the playoffs begin? That’s where they would be slated if the season ended today.

4. Toronto Maple Leafs

The Leafs are winners of three straight and have a plus-48 goal differential. The addition of Mark Giordano has been solid.

3. New York Rangers

The Blueshirts have climbed to three this week behind a four-game win streak and an 8-2-0 record in their last 10 games. They’re as good as it gets defensively and made some solid additions to their forward group at the deadline .

2. Florida Panthers

Winners of seven of their last ten and their last two, the Panthers are now virtually ahead of Carolina for second in the league; they have the same point total (98) and Florida has one game in-hand.

1. Colorado Avalanche

The Avs enter Friday as the only team in the league to have passed the 100-point plateau. They’re 7-2-1 in their last 10 and Bowen Byram is on a rehab assignment. They need to stay healthy… and that is a question right now thanks to a fight.