Helene Elliott’s NHL rankings

Through Sunday’s games

Rank Team Record Comment (Previous rank)

1. Kings 8-3-0 Jonathan Quick shares NHL lead with seven wins, third in save percentage (.936) and fourth in goals-against (1.84). Drew Doughty ( concussion) aiming for Thursday return. (3)

2. Tampa Bay 7-2-1 Steven Stamkos (nine goals, league-leading 19 points) leads Lightning in back-to-back wins. (4)

3. Detroit 6-2-1 Pavel Datsyuk-Henrik Zetterberg- Tomas Holmstrom line is thriving, but Mike Modano (one goal, minus-7) is struggling. (1)

4. St. Louis 6-1-2 Blues are 5-0-0 at home. Last season they didn’t get fifth home win until December. (7)

5. Philadelphia 7-4-1 Flyers have won four straight. Claude Giroux leads them with seven goals and 12 points. (20)

6. Washington 7-4-0 Capitals’ offense awakens while winning three times in four games. Pasting Calgary, 7-2, was the capper. (9)

7. Chicago 7-6-1 Patrick Sharp leads NHL with 10 goals. Dreaded upper-body injuries take out Marian Hossa and Dave Bolland. (8)

8. Montreal 7-3-1 Canadiens have won four out of five, welcomed defenseman Andrei Markov back from knee problems. (10)

9. Boston 6-2-0 Tim Thomas shut out Ottawa Saturday for 20th career shutout and fifth against Senators. (11)

10. Pittsburgh 6-5-1 Brent Johnson (5-0-1, 1.16 goals-against, .960 save percentage) is carrying Penguins while Marc-Andre Fleury (1-5, 3.35, .863) struggles (6)

11. Nashville 5-2-3 Predators have lost two straight in regulation after earning points in each of first eight. (2)

12. Colorado 6-4-1 Goalie Craig Anderson’s right knee injury might not be as bad as feared. (21)

13. San Jose 5-3-1 Sharks have NHL’s top power play, at 31.8%. Joe Thornton (15 points) is rolling. (24)

14. Vancouver 5-3-2 Canucks have won last three straight. But they’re still winless on the road (0-3-1). (17)

15. N.Y. Rangers 6-4-1 Henrik Lundqvist earns 25th career shutout after blanking Toronto. He’s keeping them afloat. (14)

16. Dallas 6-4-0 Kudos to Andrew Raycroft for shutting out Sabres to earn shutout in his first start with the Stars. (5)

17. Columbus 6-4-0 Blue Jackets might lead the NHL in league meetings. Here’s an idea: score some goals. (19)

18. Atlanta 5-4-2 Dustin Byfuglien’s end-to-end rush against Buffalo has to rank among season’s best goals. (18)

19. Carolina 5-6-0 Hurricanes can’t win at RBC Center: only “home” win was as designated home team in Helsinki. (15)

20. Toronto 4-3-2 Maple Leafs have scored only seven goals in last six games and are 1-4-1 in that span. (13)

21. Minnesota 4-4-2 Punchless Wild loses Antti Mietinen to a concussion from Dustin Brown hit last Monday. (23)

22. Calgary 6-5-0 Jarome Iginla’s slow start (two goals, seven points) fuels talk about rift with Coach Brent Sutter. (16)

23. Florida 4-5-0 David Booth scores on a penalty shot as Panthers earn tough win in Montreal. (26)

24. Edmonton 3-4-2 Dustin Penner has one point in his last five games after scoring three times in first four games. (29)

25. N.Y. Islanders 4-5-2 Nino Niederriter was sent back to juniors. He will be a good one. (12)

26. Phoenix 3-4-3 Coyotes have yet to win two games in a row. Goals are hard to come by. (22)

27. Ottawa 4-6-1 Ottawa Sun writer Don Brennan: “Thank God the Canadian military does a better job protecting this country than the Senators’ Brian Elliott did Saturday at Scotiabank Place.” Ooookay. (28)

28. Ducks 4-7-1 They gave up a league-worst 42 goals in their first 12. It’s not all the fault of mediocre defense corps. (25)

29. Buffalo 3-7-2 Nothing going right for Sabres, who are 0-4-1 at home. Longtime Coach Lindy Ruff, four games from 1,000, may have lost players’ attention. (27)

30. New Jersey 3-9-1 Adding injury to insult: Zach Parise will undergo arthoscopic knee surgery after injury at Los Angeles. NHL’s lowest-scoring team, with 20 goals. (30)