The 7-Eleven Power Rankings: Surging Bruins climb over Predators Despite missing key players for stretches of the season, the banged-up Boston Bruins keep finding ways to win while getting big plays from someone who steps up at just the right time.

Despite missing key players for stretches of the season, the banged-up Boston Bruins keep finding ways to win while getting big plays from someone who steps up at just the right time.

David Pastrnak did it when he scored the winner with 12 seconds left in the game after the Bruins rallied from a 2-0 third-period deficit against the Dallas Stars on Friday. Then Brad Marchand, who missed 14 of the team’s 74 games this season due to injury or suspension, scored his NHL-leading fifth overtime goal of the season Sunday night against the Minnesota Wild. Returning to the lineup after missing 13 games with a broken foot, Patrice Bergeron assisted on both Marchand’s OT winner and Pastrnak’s goal against Minnesota. And after clinching a playoff spot last week, Boston also got a goal and two assists from new signing Ryan Donato - jumping straight from Harvard to the pros - in his NHL debut in a 5-4 OT win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Bruins, who were ranked No. 2 last week and a lowly No. 23 in late October, are the best team this week in TSN’s 7-Eleven Power Rankings, according to consensus rankings formulated by the TSN Power Ranking panel of Ray Ferraro, Jeff O’Neill, Jamie McLennan, Craig Button and Darren Dreger.

The Nashville Predators, named No. 1 by our panel last week, fall a spot after dropping three straight while the Tampa Bay Lightning, who are just one win away from setting their franchise-best points record, remain at No. 3 this week. Perched in the No. 4 spot again are the Winnipeg Jets, who got a scare after their top goal-scorer Patrik Laine bruised an ankle last Tuesday and was expected to miss a week. But Laine was in the lineup in their next game and was part of the Jets win over the Predators Sunday, clinching the team a playoff spot. Rounding out the top five this week are the Toronto Maple Leafs, who extended their franchise-record home winning streak to 13 games on Saturday and are just six points away from tying a franchise record for points in a season (103) with seven games left.

The Edmonton Oilers, led by leading NHL scorer Connor McDavid, climb four spots to No. 21 as the third-best team in the country, while the Calgary Flames dropped four spots to No. 24 and are all but out of playoff contention. The No. 26 Montreal Canadiens are the fifth-best Canadian team, edging up two spots from a week ago.

The St. Louis Blues, who have won five straight to get back into the playoff picture, had the biggest jump of the week to No. 14 from No. 19 last week, while the slumping Dallas Stars, who are winless in eight games and are now five points out of the final wild-card spot, fell five spots to No. 23 this week from No. 18 a week ago.

The bottom five teams in the NHL this week, according to our panel, include the No. 27 New York Islanders, the No. 28 Vancouver Canucks (who were dead last a week ago), the Ottawa Senators in 29th, the Detroit Red Wings at No. 30 and the Buffalo Sabres at No. 31.