The 7-Eleven Power Rankings: Predators keep on winning Winners of five straight games following Saturday’s 3-0 shutout win over the Edmonton Oilers, the Nashville Predators are the team to beat and the top-ranked team this week in TSN`s 7-Eleven Power Rankings.

The Nashville Predators are devouring the competition these days.

Winners of five straight games following Saturday’s 3-0 shutout win over the Edmonton Oilers, the Predators are the top-ranked 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.

Last season’s Presidents’ Trophy winners, Nashville – ranked No. 2 during the last two weeks – won its last two games despite an injury to Vezina Trophy winner Pekka Rinne, who has hurt in a collision with teammate Kevin Fiala during the third period of Friday’s win over the Calgary Flames. Backup Juuse Saros was impressive in relief and followed that up with his shutout over the Oilers the next night.

With Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen both riding a five-game point streak, the Colorado Avalanche move up five spots to land in the No. 2 spot this week after going 2-0-1 since last week’s Power Rankings.

The Tampa Bay Lightning leap five places into the No. 3 position this week after winning three and garnering a point in overtime, while the surging Winnipeg Jets (No. 4) also climb five spots from their No. 9 ranking a week ago. Meanwhile, the Toronto Maple Leafs, last week’s top-ranked team, drop four places to round out our panel’s top five after scoring just one goal in two straight losses – 3-0 to the Pittsburgh Penguins and then 4-1 to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night.

The remaining top-10 teams in this week’s rankings include: the Boston Bruins (No. 6), falling three spots after going winless in Western Canada; the No. 7 Montreal Canadiens, jumping six places after an impressive 2-0-1 record last week, the Anaheim Ducks at No. 8, slipping two spots despite impressive work from John Gibson in net; the No. 9 Chicago Blackhawks, moving up two places from last week after Corey Crawford (1-1) returned from his long concussion recovery; and the New Jersey Devils at No. 10, falling from No. 5 after two straight losses.

The No. 12 Minnesota Wild make the biggest jump of the week, surging 12 spots from No. 24 last week after going 3-1-0, while the Dallas Stars have the week’s most significant drop, plunging 13 spots to No. 23 after the Stars’ scoring machine ran out of gas in three straight losses after being in the No. 10 position last week.

Besides No. 4 Winnipeg and No. 5 Toronto, the best Canadian teams this week include the No. 7 Canadiens, the No. 11 Vancouver Canucks, the No. 13 Ottawa Senators, who climb seven spots from a week ago, and the Calgary Flames at No. 16. The Oilers move up to .500 with overtime wins over the Jets and Bruins before their shutout loss to the Predators to sit at No. 25 from No. 27 a week ago.

The worst teams in the NHL this week, according to our panel, include the No. 27 New York Rangers, the Florida Panthers at No. 28, the Los Angeles Kings - dropping eight places to No. 29, the Arizona Coyotes staying put at No. 30 while the Detroit Red Wings, despite earning their first win of the season, remain dead last for a second straight week.

