Welcome to another edition of our Power Rankings as we enter the stretch run of the regular season.

Currently, two Canadian teams occupy playoff spots, with a third emerging as a serious candidate to defy the odds and secure a postseason spot in the Eastern Conference.

In our last Power Rankings, the Ottawa Senators ranked eighth despite sitting 19th in the NHL in points percentage. Our model was bullish on the Sens for being a team that routinely outplayed its opponents.

The one catch is goaltending – as in, league-worst goaltending. With an improvement in net, our model was confident this team would go on a run, and that’s exactly what has happened.

Since our last edition, the Senators are 5-1-2, good for the fifth-best points percentage in the league. The Sens currently have just under a 50 per cent chance of making the playoffs, but if Linus Ullmark can continue to provide stability in net, they just might pull it off.

The Edmonton Oilers sit ninth on our list, following a 4-2 win in Vegas on Sunday. Edmonton, another team sunk by poor goaltending at times this season, brought in defenceman Connor Murphy and forward Jason Dickinson at the trade deadline in hopes of improving defensively.

The Oilers rank top five in the NHL in slot shots, rush chances, and goals for, but bottom-10 in the same categories against. The Oilers are in Colorado on Tuesday and Dallas on Thursday as they get set to face two of the hottest teams in the league.

Speaking of goals, the Montreal Canadiens continue to be one of the most exciting teams in the league. Ranking 13th on our list, the Habs remain one of the most high-event teams in the NHL. In three games in March, the Canadiens have played in games featuring 12, 11 and seven goals.

Cole Caufield is inching closer to his first-ever 40-goal season. Caufield’s 37 goals are tied for a career high, with 22 of them counting as go-ahead goals, coming when the game is tied. Caufield leads the league in that category, by far, as Utah Mammoth forward Dylan Guenther ranks second with 14.

The Olympic break seems to have rejuvenated the Winnipeg Jets, who sit 15th on our list. Winnipeg is 4-0-2 since the break, allowing 2.33 goals against per game – a 22 per cent improvement relative to their season average.

Mark Scheifele has led the way offensively, with 10 points in six games since the break. The Jets, whose playoff odds sit at 16 per cent, are five points out of a playoff spot with four teams to jump.

The Toronto Maple Leafs, 29th on our list, have had a much tougher time since the NHL returned to action a couple of weeks ago. The Leafs are a league-worst 0-5-2 since the Olympic break, and after trading away Nicolas Roy, Scott Laughton and Bobby McMann at the trade deadline, the white flag has been officially waived on making the playoffs this season.

The Leafs are tied with the Florida Panthers for second last in the Eastern Conference with 65 points. Team defence will go down as the main reason for the Leafs downfall this season as Toronto ranks last in the league in shots, slot shots, rush chances and cycle chances against.

One spot behind Toronto, ranking 30th in our Power Rankings, is the Calgary Flames. The Flames have shipped out Nazem Kadri, MacKenzie Weegar and Rasmus Andersson as it appears a true rebuild is underway.

While tough times may lay ahead for the Flames, this could be the first step in finally escaping the mushy middle of the NHL and building a perennial playoff team.

Lastly, the Vancouver Canucks sit last in our Power Rankings as well as the league standings.

The Canucks are 10 points clear of the New York Rangers for last place in the league and have the best odds of obtaining the first-overall pick in the upcoming NHL draft. That, and pride, are about all that’s left for the Canucks this season as they start an eight-game homestand tonight against the Senators.

Power Ranking – March 9

RankTeamGoal DifferentialxG DifferentialPoints %1Col1.37.61.7662Dal.75.41.6983Car.63.46.6834Buf.45-.05.6565Ott.18.47.5736TB.79.67.6617Min.47.09.6648Pit.52.12.6199Edm.19.49.54710Uta.44.24.57111CBJ-.03.01.58912VGK.14.59.56213Mtl.26-.27.62914Det0.02.61715Wpg-.16-.12.50016Phi-.27-.03.55617NYI.09-.26.60218Bos.21-.41.60319Wsh.19-.07.53920NJ-.47.04.51621Fla-.35.25.51622SJ-.39-.18.54123Ana-.29-.29.57924LA-.34.16.51625StL-.70-.19.46826Nsh-.51-.07.50827Sea-.10-.40.54028NYR-.52-.21.45229Tor-.34-.43.50830Cgy-.53-.49.46031Chi-.54-.62.45232Van-1.16-.54.365