Pittsburgh Penguins Lead Week 2 NHL Metro Division Power Rankings

After the zamboni leaves the ice, and the starting lineup heads to the faceoff circle, let’s check in on the Pittsburgh Penguins and their division rivals in our City of Champions Metro Division Power Rankings:

1) Pittsburgh Penguins (3-1-0) – Last Week #1: The Pens knocked the New York Islanders from the ranks of the unbeaten on Saturday as they defeated the Isles 3-1 at CONSOL Energy Center.

With two assists in the victory over the Islanders on Saturday, Sidney Crosby became the sixth-fastest player to reach 500 career assists. The captain is tied with Patric Hornqvist for the team lead in goals with four apiece.

Mike Johnston’s crew is at the top of the National Hockey League with eight power play goals on 17 opportunities.

2) New York Islanders (4-1-0) – Last Week #4: The Isles have been a revelation on offense so far this season as they are tied with the Montreal Canadiens and the defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings for the most goals scored with 20.

Jaroslav Halak has been solid between the pipes in four games as he has contributed a 2.70 goals against average and a .913 save percentage.

3) Washington Capitals (3-0-2) – Last Week #5: The Caps are undefeated in regulation and in five games, they have surrendered just 11 goals while scoring 18 of their own.

Alex Ovechkin enjoys being on right wing as he has five goals and one assist to lead coach Barry Trotz’s squad with six points. Mike Green leads the blue line crew with two goals and three assists for five points in four games.

4) Columbus Blue Jackets (3-2-0) – Last Week #2: The Jackets’ leaders in points are center Ryan Johansen and left wing Nick Foligno who each have seven. Johansen has three goals and four assists while Foligno has two goals and five assists.

Meanwhile, it will be difficult for Columbus to continue to move up in the standing as they have been hit hard with injuries with Brandon Dubinsky, Brian Gibbons, Boone Jenner, Nathan Horton and Ryan Murray all on the shelf.

5) New Jersey Devils (3-2-0) – Last Week #3: The Jersey Boys followed up three consecutive wins to start the season with two straight losses.

Left wing Mike Cammalleri has moved up the leader board to lead the team with five goals and seven points. Jaromir Jagr just keeps rolling along and has three assists in five games.

More from Pittsburgh Penguins

• Pittsburgh Penguins: A Look Back at 2019
• Penguins Will Continue to Persevere Despite Injuries
• Penguins: Alex Galchenyuk May Finally Start Meeting Expectations
• Penguins’ Three Keys to Help End Islanders’ Point Streak
• Penguins: Without Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin Will Be an MVP Candidate

6) New York Rangers (3-3-0) – Last Week #6: The Blue Shirts won twice at home last week to even their record as they took the wind out of the Hurricanes 2-1 in a shootout on Thursday and shutout the San Jose Sharks 4-0 on Sunday.

Left wing Rich Nash has been finding the back of the net in six games putting up seven goals and one assist to lead the team with eight points.

7) Philadelphia Flyers (1-2-2) – Last Week #7: The Bullies from Broad Street got their first win of the season when they took a 6-5 shootout from the Stars in Dallas. They may be on the verge of turning it around.

Right wing Wayne Simmonds has been staying out of the sin bin and leads the team with five goals in the early going. He has two assists for seven points which ties him with Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek as the team’s point leader.

8) Carolina Hurricanes (0-2-2) – Last Week #8: The Canes and the Edmonton Oilers at 0-4-1 are both still chasing after their first victory of the season. Their last game was on Thursday and resulted in a 2-1 shootout loss on the road to the New York Rangers.

General manager Ron Francis on Sunday recalled center Patrick Brown from the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League to help offset the holes in the ranks due to the injuries to Jordan Staal, Patrick Dwyer, and Nathan Gerbe.

The news is better for some of the walking wounded as center Eric Staal skated before practice on Sunday while defensemen John-Michael Liles and Andrej Sekera practiced on Monday. Left wing Jeff Skinner is likely to play on Tuesday against the Winnepeg Jets.

With the puck dropping on Week 3 of the regular season, the Black and Gold are back in action on Wednesday, Oct. 22 at Consol Energy Center and take on the Philadelphia Flyers at 8 p.m. The game will be broadcast nationally on the NBC Sports Network.