NHL Power Rankings: Flames and Flyers rise, Avalanche and Kraken fall

The past week in the NHL saw a ton of movement, especially amongst the top-10 ranked teams. 

While there are no new faces in that top-10, every team moved up or down at least one spot. The league has a new number one in the power rankings, the Vancouver Canucks. They take the top spot despite losing to last week's power rankings leaders. 

With help from our friends at Daily Faceoff, let's take a look at the biggest risers and fallers in their weekly power rankings.

• Week 18 risers
• Week 18 fallers
• Week 19 preview

Risers

Calgary Flames

24th -> 17th (+7)

Last Week's Record: 3-0. +6 points. 

Tuesday: 4-1 win over the Boston Bruins (3rd)

Thursday: 5-3 win over the New Jersey Devils (20th)

Saturday: 5-2 win over the New York Islanders (19th)

Division Standings: 5th in the Pacific (+1), six points behind the Edmonton Oilers.

Wild Card Standings: 4th in the wild card (+2), three points behind the St. Louis Blues.

Player of the Week: Jacob Markstrom

I won't go as far as to say that Markstrom carried the Flames, as they scored 14 goals in their three games -- but Markstrom's numbers this week were impressive. The Swedish netminder started and won all three games with a 2.02 goals against average, and a .942 save percentage, while averaging 31 saves per game during the week. 

It remains to be seen whether the Flames will hold onto Markstrom, but he is certainly building up his trade value and should command a lot on the trade market if Calgary does decide to move him.

Honourable mention to Jonathan Huberdeau and newly-acquired Andrei Kuzmenko. They seem to have built some early chemistry, combining for seven points last week. 

Flames' Week 19 Schedule: New York Rangers (6th), San Jose Sharks (31st), Detroit Red Wings (16th)

Philadelphia Flyers

15th -> 13th (+2)

Last Week's Record: 3-0. +6 points. 

Tuesday: 2-1 win over the Florida Panthers (2nd)

Thursday: 4-1 win over Winnipeg Jets (7th)

Saturday: 3-2 win over the Seattle Kraken (23rd)

Division Standings: 3rd in the Metropolitan (-), seven points behind the New York Rangers.

League Standings: 10th in the league (+5), 14 points behind of the Vancouver Canucks. 

Player of the Week: Samuel Ersson

Samuel Ersson has been quite a surprise for the Flyers this season, with a 14-9-3 record and a 2.47 goals-against average. This past week, Ersson finished 2-0, only allowing one goal in both games and finishing with a 0.959 save percentage. 

Flyers' Week 19 Schedule: Arizona Coyotes (25th), Toronto Maple Leafs (11th), New Jersey Devils (20th)

Fallers

Colorado Avalanche

4th -> 9th (-5)

Last Week's Record: 0-3-1. 1 point.

Monday: 2-1 overtime loss to the New York Rangers (6th)

Tuesday: 5-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils (20th)

Thursday: 5-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes (5th)

Saturday: 4-0 loss to the Florida Panthers (2nd)

Division Standings: 2nd in the Central (-1), two points behind the Dallas Stars.

League Standings: 7th in the league (-4), eight points behind the Vancouver Canucks.

Let Down of the Week: Nathan MacKinnon

It's very seldom you see a player of MacKinnon's stature and view him as a letdown, but this week he struggled. In his four games this week, MacKinnon had just one goal. While five Avalanche players finished with zero points, the team relies on MacKinnon's ability to step up when they're struggling, and he failed to do so this week. Shots on Goal bettors would have cashed his line in two of his four games, averaging four shots per game. 

Avalanche Week 19 Schedule: Washington Capitals (22nd), Tampa Bay Lightning (15th), Arizona Coyotes (25th)

Seattle Kraken

18th -> 23rd (-5)

Last Two Week's Record: 0-2. 0 points.

Last Tuesday: 2-0 loss to the San Jose Sharks (31st)

Saturday: 3-2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers (15th)

Division Standings: 6th in the Pacific (-1), nine points behind the Edmonton Oilers. 

Wild Card Standings: 5th in the wild card (-1), six points behind the St. Louis Blues. 

Let Down of the Week: Oliver Bjorkstrand

Picking a letdown for a team with such a small sample size was difficult, but Bjorkstrand gets the short end of the stick, as he failed to register a point in both Kraken games. As the team leader in points with 40 points in 51 games, he, as well as MacKinnon has a level of responsibility to produce for the team. Shots on Goal bettors would not hit his prop this week, averaging one shot on goal. 

Kraken Week 19 Schedule: New Jersey Devils (20th), New York Islanders (19th), Boston Bruins (3rd)

Week 19 Preview

Time to back the Ottawa Senators

One could consider the Ottawa Senators' week 19 schedule to be on the lighter end of a weekly schedule, facing off against three of the bottom four teams in the league standings. Their opponents are the Columbus Blue Jackets (29th), Anaheim Ducks (30th), and Chicago Blackhawks (32nd). Ottawa, however, isn't far off their competition, ranking as the 28th team. 

It seems as if the Senators always struggle to start the season but then figure out a way to play spoiler for teams down the stretch. While playing spoiler for your division rivals is always the goal, you run the risk of playing yourself out of a high draft pick - which Ottawa does every season. No better stretch of games to kick this off than against this week's opponents. 

New York Rangers shots on goal props

The New York Rangers shooters will be licking their lips for the juicy match-ups this week. The Calgary Flames are the most troublesome opposition on the schedule, but they have allowed 31+ shots in eight of their last 10 games. The following two opponents are the Montreal Canadiens, who allow the third most shots on the season, averaging 34.1 per game and the New York Islanders, who allow the second most shots this season, averaging 34.6 per game. 

The players to target throughout the week for the Rangers are Chris Kreider, Alexis Lafreniere and Jacob Trouba. Kreider has cleared in four of his last five games, averaging 4.8 shots on 8.0 shot attempts per game. Lafreniere has recorded 3+ shots in five straight games, averaging 3.4 shots on 5.2 shot attempts per game. Trouba has covered in five of his previous six games, averaging 2.7 shots on 5.5 shot attempts per game.