The NHL keeps setting them up and the Colorado Avalanche keep knocking them down.

Colorado defeated all three opponents it faced last week to extend its winning streak to five games and points run to eight contests as it enters Week 12 of the 2025-26 NHL season. The Avalanche (26-2-7) have earned at least one point in 33 of their 35 games this campaign but surprisingly haven’t opened up a sizable lead in the race for the Presidents’ Trophy as the Dallas Stars (25-7-5) trail them by only four points.

Dallas also won all three of its games in Week 11 after splitting its four contests the previous week. The Avalanche edged the Stars 5-4 in a shootout at home on Oct. 11, and the clubs don’t meet again until March 6 in Dallas.

The Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres went 3-0-0 last week as well. It should be noted that despite being in the bottom-third of the NHL standings, it was the second straight such week for Buffalo, which enters Week 12 with the longest active winning streak (six games) in the league.

After winning six of seven games, including all three in Week 10 to make their debut in the ratings, the New York Islanders struggled last week, going without a victory as they lost twice in regulation and once in a shootout. The Vegas Golden Knights had identical results in Week 11 following a seven-game point streak (6-0-1), and as a result, both teams fell out of the top 10.

While this article focuses on team play, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby’s impressive accomplishment this past week. A 10-time All-Star, three-time Stanley Cup champion and two-time Hart, Art Ross, Maurice Richard and Conn Smythe Trophy winner, the 38-year-old future Hall-of-Famer recorded a goal and an assist in Pittsburgh’s 4-3 shootout win against the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday to pass the legendary Mario Lemieux and become the Penguins’ all-time leading scorer with 1,724 points.

Each week during the season I’ll rank the league’s top-10 teams based on both the previous week’s performances and overall body of work in 2025-26. I’ll also give brief synopsis for each club that explains why they’re ranked where they are.

Let’s dive into the power ratings entering Week 12 of the 2025-26 NHL season and highlight a few of the teams’ notable accomplishments.

NHL Week 12 power ratings 1. Colorado Avalanche (3-0-0 in Week 11; 26-2-7 overall)

Colorado sandwiched road victories against the Seattle Kraken (5-3) and Wild (5-1) around a home triumph over the Winnipeg Jets (3-2) last week to improve to 7-0-1 since suffering its second regulation loss of the season, a 6-3 setback versus the Islanders on Dec. 4. Nathan MacKinnon had another strong offensive week as he collected four goals and two assists while extending his point streak to eight games. The 2024 Hart Trophy winner has posted six multi-point performances and three two-goal efforts during the run as he became the first player to reach 30 goals this campaign but enters Week 12 second in the NHL in scoring with 61 points as Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid overtook him. Two-time Norris Trophy recipient Cale Makar notched five points (one goal, four assists) over the Avalanche’s three games and tops all defensemen with 32 assists and 43 points. Meanwhile, Martin Necas has recorded points in eight of his last nine outings after scoring a pair of goals and setting up two others last week.

2. Dallas Stars (3-0-0; 25-7-5)

The Stars were on fire offensively last week, scoring at least five goals in each of their three games and 18 overall. Mikko Rantanen ended the previous week with a two-point performance and began Week 11 with a pair as he finished with five assists over Dallas’ three wins. After enduring a three-game drought, Jason Robertson has rediscovered his scoring touch as he tallied three times in the Stars’ last two contests. Prior to his dry spell, the 26-year-old left wing had a stretch during which he converted in 13 of 16 games. Miro Heiskanen picked up four assists last week and is third among the NHL defensemen with 33 points. Roope Hintz went three straight contests without point before beginning Week 11 with back-to-back outings in which he registered a goal and an assist.

3. Minnesota Wild (3-1-0; 22-10-5)

The Wild opened last week with three consecutive victories to extend their winning streak to seven games before closing with the 5-1 loss to the Avalanche. Kirill Kaprizov continued his offensive onslaught, racking up two goals and three assists. The 28-year-old Russian left wing has recorded at least one point in 14 of his last 18 contests and posted a pair of three-point performances over his last five outings. Matt Boldy had his four-game goal-scoring streak halted by Colorado on Sunday but amassed four tallies and two assists last week. Vladimir Tarasenko mirrored Boldy’s effort with four goals and a pair of assists. An eight-time 20-goal scorer who set his career high with 40 in 2015-16 while with the St. Louis Blues, the 34-year-old Russian right wing netted only three tallies over his first 26 games this season.

4. Carolina Hurricanes (1-1-1; 22-10-3)

Carolina began its Week 11 three-game road trip with a 4-1 victory against the Nashville Predators to extend their winning streak to five games but proceeded to drop a 4-3 shootout decision to the Florida Panthers and were defeated 6-4 by the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Hurricanes were encouraged by the play of Sebastian Aho, who posted back-to-back two-goal performances versus Nashville and Florida after five games without a tally. The 28-year-old Finnish center recorded just one goal in 12 contests before breaking out against the Predators. Andrei Svechnikov also was a solid offensive contributor during the trek, netting one tally and setting up four others. Carolina will need continued production from those two as it will be without Seth Jarvis for a while. The 23-year-old center, who is second on the team with 29 points, converted in the win over Nashville and notched a pair of assists versus the Panthers but crashed into the post in that contest after being tripped and was placed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury.

5. Detroit Red Wings (3-1-0; 21-13-3)

The Red Wings won three of their four games last week and are 8-2-1 since their four-game slide (0-3-1) in late November. Alex DeBrincat helped Detroit get off to a good start in Week 11, as he tallied with 2:17 remaining in the third period against the Islanders last Tuesday to snap a 2-2 tie and cap his third two-goal performance in four outings. The Red Wings held on for a 3-2 win and were defeated 4-1 by the Utah Mammoth the following night but bounced back by sweeping a home-and-home series with the Washington Capitals over the weekend. German defenseman Moritz Seider, the 2022 Calder Trophy winner, tallied in both triumphs over the Capitals and also added three assists last week. The 24-year-old gave Detroit a four-goal lead in Saturday’s 5-2 victory at Washington and netted the overtime winner at home a night later.

6. Tampa Bay Lightning (2-1-0; 20-13-3)

Tampa Bay was limited to one goal in a loss to the Los Angeles Kings in its first game of Week 11 but proceeded to score a total of 10 times in triumphs over the Hurricanes and Blues. Nikita Kucherov missed the game against Los Angeles with an illness but returned to notch three assists over the next two contests. The three-time Art Ross Trophy winner is seventh in the NHL with 45 points and has been kept off the scoresheet in only three of his last 18 outings. Jake Guentzel collected two goals and three assists last week and has recorded at least one point in six of his last seven games, while defenseman Darren Raddysh posted his fourth three-point performance of 2025-26 with a tally and two assists against St. Louis on Monday. The 29-year-old is proving to be a late bloomer as he already has set a career high with eight goals and has registered 27 points in 30 contests this campaign after amassing a personal-best 37 in 73 games last season. The Lightning received a major boost last week as 2019 Vezina Trophy winner Andrei Vasilevskiy returned from an undisclosed injury that sidelined him for seven contests and won two of his three starts.

7. Anaheim Ducks (1-2-1; 21-14-2)

The holiday break came at just the right time for Anaheim, which won only one of its four games last week and is 2-4-1 in its last seven contests. The Ducks’ top four scorers combined for one goal and one assist in Week 11, with Leo Carlsson (team-high 41 points) missing Monday’s 3-1 loss to the Seattle Kraken with a lower-body injury. There were some positives for the team, however, as Ryan Poehling collected four points over his first three games of the week while Mikael Granlund woke from his slumber and landed on the scoresheet in every contest. A three-time 20-goal scorer who has played for five teams over the last four seasons, the 33-year-old Granlund tallied in each of Anaheim’s four games and added a pair of assists after recording only one point (goal) over his previous eight outings. Meanwhile, defenseman Jackson LaCombe continued to contribute offensively, notching a goal and two assists as he has picked up a point in eight of his last 10 contests.

8. Edmonton Oilers (3-1-0; 18-13-6)

Edmonton is the first of two teams to make their season debut in the ratings this week as it won three of its four games. Shocking to no one, superstar Connor McDavid led the charge for the Oilers with five goals and five assists as he overtook Colorado’s MacKinnon for the NHL scoring lead with 62 points. A five-time Art Ross Trophy winner and three-time Hart Trophy recipient, the 28-year-old Edmonton captain enters Week 12 with a 10-game point streak during which he has collected 12 tallies and 14 assists. Reigning Maurice Richard Trophy winner Leon Draisaitl failed to score a goal last week as his drought reached eight games, his longest since an eight-game dry spell during the 2020-21 season, but he still has been a factor offensively. The 30-year-old German has registered 15 assists during the current drought, including nine over Edmonton’s four contests in Week 11. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins netted three tallies and set up two others over his last three outings while Zach Hyman picked up two goals and three assists last week, giving him at least one point in nine of his last 12 games.

9. Philadelphia Flyers (2-1-1; 18-10-7)

The Flyers join the Oilers as first-time members of this season’s top 10, thanks largely in part to the man in charge. Rick Tocchet began and ended his 18-year NHL playing career with the Flyers, with five other stops in between, and was a fan favorite in the City of Brotherly Love. The winner of the Jack Adams Award in 2024 as head coach of the Vancouver Canucks, Tocchet has the Philadelphia faithful in his corner again during his first season behind the Flyers’ bench as the team enters Week 12 tied for second place in the Metropolitan Division, just four points behind Carolina. Philadelphia has won only two of its last seven games, with both victories coming last week, but failed to earn a point just once in that span (2-1-4). Trevor Zegras was acquired from Anaheim in June and has been an excellent addition as he is riding an eight-game point streak and has landed on the scoresheet in 12 of his last 13 contests. The 24-year-old center leads the Flyers with 15 goals and 36 points. Travis Konecny has notched at least one point in 10 of his past 12 outings, while Christian Dvorak has done so in six of his last eight.

10. Washington Capitals (1-2-1; 19-12-5)

Washington’s struggles continued in Week 11 as it won just one of its four games. The Capitals’ 4-0 triumph over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday is their lone victory in their last six contests (1-3-2) and marked the only time the team produced more than two goals during its current rough patch. Alex Ovechkin, the NHL’s all-time leader in goals, has gone eight games without a tally since converting twice on Dec. 3 against the San Jose Sharks. However, Jakob Chychrun continues to be an offensive force from the blue line. The 27-year-old recorded two of Washington’s four goals against Toronto and is tied with Zach Werenski of the Columbus Blue Jackets for the league lead among defensemen with 14