The 7-Eleven Power Rankings: Flames top Western Conference The Calgary Flames have been lighting up the league - going 9-2-1 in their last 12 games - to land atop the Western Conference standings and in the No. 3 spot in TSN's weekly 7-Eleven Power Rankings. Three of the top-five teams this week are Canadian: the No. 2 Toronto Maple Leafs followed by the Flames and the No. 4 Winnipeg Jets.

The Calgary Flames, as you recall, missed the playoffs last season. Well, it's a different story in 2018-19 as they've been torching the league in the last three weeks, going 9-2-1 in their last 12 games to climb into first place in the Western Conference.

Despite missing key parts of their puzzle during the first 31 games of the season – captain Mark Giordano sat out for a two-game suspension (the first in his 13-year career) and defensive centre Mikael Backlund is now gone with a concussion, for example – the Flames continue to dig deep and rack up points, relying on a veteran roster as well as AHL call-ups such as rookie blueliner Oliver Kylington to get the job done. Kylington, a 21-year-old Swede drafted 60th overall by Calgary in 2015, scored his first NHL goal and added an assist in the Flames’ 5-2 win over the Nashville Predators on Saturday.

Last Tuesday, the Flames rallied to outscore the Columbus Blue Jackets 9-6, with team leading scorer Johnny Gaudreau registering four points. Veteran goaltender Mike Smith has also returned to form lately, winning six straight games after going through a slump when he recorded six losses in eight games.

As such, Calgary moves up five spots to No. 3 in our weekly 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.

Last week’s No. 2-ranked team, the Tampa Bay Lightning, is the unanimous No. 1 team this week after winning six straight games. The Bolts lead the NHL in wins (23), points (47), have the league’s second best power play (29.0 percentage) and are scoring a league-high 3.94 goals a game.

Three of the top-five teams in this week’s rankings are Canadian, with the No. 2 Toronto Maple Leafs – who will be without the services of suspended forward Zach Hyman for two games – followed by the Flames and the Winnipeg Jets in the No. 4 position. The Jets, who have won five of six, are ranked just ahead of the No.5 Predators, who have lost two straight and are winless in their last six road games (0-5-1).

Most of Canada’s other teams moved up in our rankings this week, with the Edmonton Oilers landing four spots higher (No. 12) after going 3-1-0 last week. The Montreal Canadiens climb to No. 15 from No. 18 a week ago after three straight victories, including back-to-back wins over the No. 23 Ottawa Senators, who slip a spot from last week. The Vancouver Canucks had a positive week (2-1-0) to jump out of our panel’s bottom five and into the No. 26 spot after sitting No. 29 a week ago.

The Pittsburgh Penguins make the biggest leap of the week, to No. 17 from No. 24, after earning five of a possible six points in their last three games while the Blue Jackets register the most significant drop of the week, falling six spots to No. 16 following a 1-2-0 week after being ranked No. 10 last week.

The NHL’s worst teams this week, according to our panel, include the No. 27 Philadelphia Flyers, New Jersey Devils at No. 28, the No. 29 Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues at No. 30 and the best-before-date-has-expired Chicago Blackhawks dead last at No. 31. The Blackhawks, who have problems galore including the league's worst power play, have lost seven straight and are now 3-11-2 under young coach Jeremy Colliton.