The 2018-19 NHL season is almost at its halfway point and the Tampa Bay Lightning are rolling into the holiday break with what has been the best team in the league this season.
There is no one really close to them, either.
A quick look at where they stand compared to the rest of the league...
- They have a six point lead over every other team in the league, one of the largest leads any team has had at this point in the season in recent history
- They are on pace for 128 points this season. The NHL’s second best team at the moment is on pace for 115.
- Their plus-48 goal differential is 11 goals better than any other team in the league, while there is only one team (the Toronto Maple Leafs) that is within 20 goals of that mark.
- Their 28 wins are tied for the most of any team through the first 37 games of a season in the salary cap era.
- Over the past 25 years only two teams (the 1995-96 Pittsburgh Penguins and 2005-06 Ottawa Senators) have scored more goals than Tampa Bay’s 154 through 37 games.
Needless to say, they are in the top spot in this week’s PHT Power Rankings.
On to the rest of the rankings!
The Elites
1. Tampa Bay Lightning -- Just a stunningly great hockey team right now. An offense that no one can slow down, an outstanding defense, and great goaltending. Put it all together and you have a team that is 16-2-1 in its past 19 games and is six points ahead of every other team in the league heading to the holiday break.
2. Winnipeg Jets -- The Jets have one of the best records in the NHL and they haven’t really received great goaltending from Connor Hellebucyk yet. Kind of scary to think about how good they could be if he starts to get back closer to the level he showed a year ago.
3. Washington Capitals -- After winning just seven of their first 16 games the Capitals have gone on a 15-4-0 run in the 19 games that followed and Alex Ovechkin is scoring goals at a pace that is ridiculous even for him.
4. Toronto Maple Leafs -- Talk of them losing any of their young stars to an offer sheet is a waste of time (it is not going to happen) but they are still heading toward a truly fascinating offseason with Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews. Both players have been absolutely sensational this season, with Marner already topping the 50-point mark just 36 games into the season.
The Playoff Teams/Contenders
5. Columbus Blue Jackets -- Sergei Bobrovsky has won his past four decisions with two shutouts. That is just what the Blue Jackets need right now.
6. Calgary Flames -- The biggest surprise on one of the biggest surprise teams is still the play of Elias Lindholm. With 17 goals and 39 points on the season he has already matched his career high in goals and is just five points away from matching another career high.
7. Nashville Predators -- The injuries are really starting to catch up to them, but it is nothing to worry about at the moment.
8. Pittsburgh Penguins -- They are starting to look like the Penguins again. Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel are scoring almost every night, Kris Letang is playing at a Norris Trophy level on defense, and the goaltending is starting to perform like they need it to.
9. Vegas Golden Knights -- Early on it looked like the Golden Knights were headed for a big year two regression. Even though they are unlikely to match their year one point total they have gone 12-5-3 in their past 20 games. They are just three points out of first place in the Pacific Division.
10. Boston Bruins -- They have managed to keep winning and maintain a playoff spot despite some significant injury issues. They are starting to get healthy again with the recent returns of Charlie McAvoy and Patrice Bergeron.
[Related: Patrice Bergeron grabs four points in return to lineup]
11. Colorado Avalanche -- The top line is as dominant as it has been at any point over the past two years. At some point, though, the Avalanche are going to need another line to become somewhat of a goal-scoring threat.
12. San Jose Sharks -- They went on a roll by winning seven out of eight and looked like they were starting to become the team we expected them to be. Then they dropped three in a row going into the break, including games against the Los Angeles Kings and Arizona Coyotes. Erik Karlsson is starting to look like Erik Karlsson again, which is great news (he also received a two-game suspension ... which is not great news).
13. Buffalo Sabres -- Jeff Skinner and Jack Eichel have not cooled off, but the rest of the team has. Fortunately for them that early season winning streak and great start gave them a nice cushion so this recent slump has not hurt them too much.
The Bubble Teams
14. Montreal Canadiens -- Carey Price had a couple of good games this past week but he is still way below what they need from him. It is actually kind of remarkable they have won as much as they have this season with the level of goaltending they have received from Price and Antti Niemi.
15. New York Islanders -- They keep hanging around, especially impressive when you consider Mathew Barzal and Josh Bailey have only combined for 12 goals at this point.
16. Anaheim Ducks -- They occupy a playoff spot at the moment but I am still skeptical they will hold on to it. The team is too dependent on goaltending and has been outscored by 14 goals on the season. Not a good sign!
17. Edmonton Oilers -- After the initial surge that followed the coaching change the Oilers have started to look like, well, the Oilers again. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl can only carry this team so far on their own.
18. Vancouver Canucks -- They have put together a little run here in recent weeks to get back closer to a playoff spot. They’ve been an extremely hot and cold team this season, but the two constants have been the play of Brock Boeser (when healthy) and rookie forward Elias Pettersson. They are great building blocks.
19. Dallas Stars -- They backed into the break by losing six out of eight. Getting John Klingberg back will help a lot in their push for a playoff spot, though.
20. Minnesota Wild -- The offense has dried up and now they are without one of their top defenders in Mathew Dumba for the foreseeable future.
[Related: Bad news for Wild as Dumba to miss significant time]
The Lottery Teams
21. Carolina Hurricanes -- Andrei Svechnikov looks like he has a bright future ahead of him. Sebastian Aho is a star right now. These are the positives for the Hurricanes at the moment. They also played really well in the Hartford Whalers uniforms.
22. Philadelphia Flyers -- The Carter Hart era has officially started. Will he be the one to finally solve the decades long problem in net, or will he be doomed to whatever it is that happens to goalies once they put on a Flyers uniform? He has won two of his first three decisions. The Flyers have already used six different goalies this season.
23. Florida Panthers -- Aleksander Barkov finally got whistled for his first penalty of the season this past week. He has drawn more than 20. He has taken one. Just one of the under-the-radar things that makes one of the league’s most under-the-radar stars so dominant on the ice.
24. St. Louis Blues -- I still wonder what this season would have looked like for the Blues with better goaltending. A flawed team for sure, but they should not be this far down in the standings.
25. Los Angeles Kings -- Points in five out of their past six and a three game winning streak to head into the break. Ilya Kovalchuk is back in the lineup and played his best hockey of the season with three points, including an overtime goal, in his first two games back.
26. Chicago Blackhawks -- They had their first three game winning streak of the season with wins over Nashville, Dallas, and Colorado. A nice little stretch, but not enough to make much of a dent in the deficit they face for a playoff spot.
27. New York Rangers -- It has been a tough month for the Rangers with just two wins, and only one of them coming in regulation. Kevin Hayes is having a strong season and could be an attractive trade chip as we get closer to the trade deadline later in the season.
28. Arizona Coyotes -- After a promising start to the season the Coyotes have really struggled in recent weeks with losses in seven of their past 10 games.
29. Detroit Red Wings -- What will this team look like if -- or when -- they trade Jimmy Howard? He has been one of the few bright spots on the roster this season.
30. Ottawa Senators -- Just what the Colorado Avalanche, owners of the Senators’ 2019 first-round pick, want to see happening this season.
31. New Jersey Devils -- Other than Taylor Hall and Kyle Palmieri there just is not much going on here with this team. Goaltending is a massive issue right now as it looks like Cory Schneider might be completely done.
MORE: Your 2018-19 NHL on NBC TV schedule
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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.