NHL Power Rankings: Cardiac Canadiens keep producing one thriller after another as they soar into top five

The Canadiens look very comfortable when the pressure is on

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Nov 5, 2025 at 10:54 am ET • 1 min read

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Coming off a surprising playoff berth last season, more was expected of the Montreal Canadiens in 2025-26. To this point, they’ve delivered while providing some thrills in the process.

The Canadiens are a fun team to watch, and not just because they have some of the most exciting young talent in the entire league. If Montreal is playing, you can almost guarantee that it’s going to be a white-knuckle ride.

In their first 13 games, the Canadiens have played 10 one-goal contests. Six of those have gone past regulation, and five of those have resulted in wins for Montreal. Olympic hopeful Cole Caufield has iced three games with overtime winners already.

In their lone overtime loss, which came against the Flyers on Tuesday night, the Habs erased an early 3-0 deficit and even led entering the third period. This team is a roller coaster ride, but there have been far more ups than downs thus far.

The question is whether Montreal can sustain this type of performance for 82 games. After all, the game of hockey is too random for one-goal games to keep breaking one team’s way over a large sample size.

When you take a deeper look, this Montreal team doesn’t have the underlying numbers of a true contender, but you cannot deny this team as some kind of intangible X-factor. Until that magic runs out, the Canadiens are going to keep running up our rankings.

As the Canadiens jump into the top five, here are the latest NHL Power Rankings.

All expected goals data via Natural Stat Trick.

Biggest Movers

8 Bruins

4 Golden Knights

| Rk | Teams | | Chg | Rcrd | | – | —– | | — | –– | | 1 | Avalanche | With five overtime losses, the Avalanche have been even better than their record suggests. Now just imagine if they had a little bit of that Canadiens magic sprinkled on them. | 4 | 8-1-5 | | 2 | Canadiens | The Canadiens have played in 10 one-goal games already. Their last six have been decided by one tally, and their last three have gone beyond regulation. I have no idea what this means for long-term success, but whoo am I to spit in the face of the hockey gods? | 6 | 9-3-1 | | 3 | Devils | Following a 27-goal and 56-point campaign in 2022-23, Dawson Mercer has taken a big step backward in each of the last two seasons. Good news for the Devils: Mercer is off to a hot start with eight goals and 14 points in 13 games. | 2 | 9-4-0 | | 4 | Jets | The Jets have been getting results, but I’m very skeptical of the process. They have a 42.1% expected goals share at five-on-five – dead last in the NHL. They’re minus-76 in the scoring chance department. It’s just not a good recipe for success. | 2 | 9-4-0 | | 5 | Hurricanes | If there’s one thing that’s held the Hurricanes back in the early going, it’s been a disappointing power play. Carolina has converted on just 11.4% of its man advantage opportunities. The Canes’ even-strength offense has been superb, and even an average power play would help them hit another level. | 2 | 8-4-0 | | 6 | Golden Knights | Mark Stone has already landed on LTIR, and that’s a great example of why the Golden Knights made an aggressive move to get Mitch Marner last summer. Stone, now 33, hasn’t played more than 66 games since 2016-17 when he was still with the Senators. | 4 | 7-2-3 | | 7 | Mammoth | Nick Schmaltz can get lost in the shuffle with so many bright young stars in Utah, but he shouldn’t. Schmaltz entered Tuesday night tied for seventh in the NHL with 18 points, and his five-on-five numbers are sparkling. | 3 | 9-4-0 | | 8 | Stars | Dallas has trailed by multiple goals and came back to get at least one point in four of its last six games. This team is certainly built to play from behind if it needs to, but I doubt coach Glen Gulutzan is drawing it up that way on the whiteboard. | 1 | 7-3-3 | | 9 | Ducks | We may be witnessing the Leo Carlsson breakout campaign. Now in his third season, Carlsson is driving the bus for the Ducks. His underlying numbers are vastly improved – and while it’s still early – he looks like a point-per-game player. | 7 | 8-3-1 | | 10 | Red Wings | It’s been a so-so start on the score sheet for Marco Kasper with three goals and no assists in 14 games. That said, his 59.1% expected goals share at five-on-five is exceptional, and better days are likely on the way. Besides, development for young NHLers is rarely linear. | 1 | 9-5-0 | | 11 | Penguins | Are the Penguins getting a resurgent season from Evgeni Malkin? It sure seems like it. Malkin’s five-on-five numbers are much improved, and his playmaking has been great with 16 assists in 14 games. He’s a huge reason why Pittsburgh is off to a surprising start. | 1 | 8-4-2 | | 12 | Capitals | Alex Ovechkin is off to a brutally slow start with two goals in 12 games (a 13-goal pace), and the most surprising part of it all is that he’s yet to light the lamp on the power play. His 2.25 shots per game are less than half of his career average (4.58). | 3 | 6-5-1 | | 13 | Lightning | The Bolts just had their five-game winning streak snapped last night but that putrid start is in the rearview mirror now. It certainly helps that Andrei Vasilevskiy has started to look more like himself over the last couple of weeks. | 7 | 6-5-2 | | 14 | Maple Leafs | Last season, the Leafs’ power play scored at a 24.8% clip (T-8th in the NHL). So far this season, their power play is converting at a 12.1% clip (30th). It’s probably too early to chalk it up to Mitch Marner’s departure, but those 33 power play points walking out the door didn’t help. | 2 | 7-5-1 | | 15 | Kraken | The Kraken are scraping wins together, and they’ve done it without Mason Marchment, their big offseason acquisition. He hasn’t scored since the season-opener, and he has just one assist in his last six games. | 2 | 6-2-4 | | 16 | Panthers | Last week, Brad Marchand stepped away from the Panthers to assist a friend who lost his daughter to cancer. In his first game back, Marchand opened the scoring and capped off the victory with his shootout winner. | 2 | 6-6-1 | | 17 | Oilers | Edmonton is off to another pedestrian start, and the team’s inability to pick up an extra point in close games is one reason why. After their shootout loss to the Stars, the Oilers are now 3-2-4 in one-goal contests. | 4 | 6-5-4 | | 18 | Senators | Linus Ullmark is off to an extremely poor start, and it’s costing the Senators in a big way. His 9.78 goals allowed above average are dead last among all goalies, and his .861 save percentage isn’t much better. | 3 | 6-5-2 | | 19 | Blue Jackets | The line of Dmitri Voronkov, Kirill Marchenko and Sean Monahan is outscoring opponents 9-1 at five-on-five. That trio may not include any marquee names, but they’ve been effective, and they’re a treat to watch. | – | 7-5-0 | | 20 | Kings | I’m not sure the Kings are the type of team that can get away with mediocre goaltending, and that’s what they’ve gotten from Darcy Kuemper and Anton Forsberg to this point. Somebody from that duo will have to step up. | 2 | 6-4-4 | | 21 | Bruins | After Morgan Geekie came out of nowhere for a 33-goal season in 2024-25, I was highly skeptical he could replicate that effort. In a way, I was right. Geekie is already up to nine goals in 15 games, putting him on pace for 49 goals this year. | 8 | 8-7-0 | | 22 | Islanders | On Sunday, Matthew Schaefer became the youngest defenseman in NHL history to record a two-goal game. It’s impossible to overstate the impact that the 18-year-old has had on the Islanders, and he’s only getting started. | 2 | 6-5-2 | | 23 | Rangers | The Rangers’ defense has grown leaps and bounds under first-year head coach Mike Sullivan. They’re a top-two team in expected and actual goals allowed at five-on-five. Unfortunately, the team has also done a great job preventing itself from scoring. | 2 | 6-6-2 | | 24 | Flyers | The Flyers are getting contributions from up and down the lineup, but their star player has yet to be much of a factor. Not to pick on the kid, but Matvei Michkov has one goal in 13 games. He must get going if Philly wants to make a playoff push in a competitive East. | 3 | 7-5-1 | | 25 | Sabres | Alex Tuch is in the final year of his current contract, and he is playing like a man hoping for a big number on that next deal. Not only have Tuch’s five-on-five impacts been brilliant, but he’s also got the production to match with 12 points in 13 games. | 1 | 5-4-4 | | 26 | Canucks | Kiefer Sherwood has been one of the most fun stories of this young season. His career high in goals is 19, and he’s already up to nine (with zero assists) through 14 games. The man is incendiary, but I doubt his 31.0% shooting percentage holds up (sorry to disappoint). | 4 | 7-7-0 | | 27 | Blackhawks | One thing is clear when watching Blackhawks games: Frank Nazar has some juice. He leads the Blackhawks with 5.31 expected goals, and he seems to create a scoring chance every time the puck touches his stick in the offensive zone. | 4 | 5-5-3 | | 28 | Sharks | Back-to-back wins over the Devils and Avalanche were good! Sharks fans can once again invest in this team without being totally miserable every night. | 3 | 4-6-3 | | 29 | Wild | If Marcus Foligno and Joel Eriksson Ek continue to be liabilities at five-on-five, it could be a long season for the Wild. Those two have typically been studs in that area, but that hasn’t been the case to this point. | 1 | 5-6-3 | | 30 | Predators | Steven Stamkos had a nice game-tying goal on Tuesday, but outside of that, his start has been an unmitigated disaster. It’s probably time for the Predators to start exploring their – presumably limited – options on the trade market. | – | 5-6-4 | | 31 | Blues | You wouldn’t know it based on their record, but St. Louis is one of the best five-on-five teams in the NHL. The Blues are down here because goaltending has completely failed them. Jordan Binnington and Joel Hofer have combined to allow 14.1 goals above average. | 4 | 4-7-2 | | 32 | Flames | The Flames picked up a win on Sunday, so that’s cool. Sometimes you just need a brief reprieve from the tank. | – | 3-9-2 |