Daily Faceoff's Weekly NHL Risers and Fallers

There wasn’t much movement in the top-10 this week, as the top three teams remain the same. The Toronto Maple Leafs move up three spots into the top-10, but everybody else stays the same.

There are some troubled teams in the Metropolitan Division this week, as both fallers this week (Islanders & Devils) hail from the Metro and moved down 10 spots, cumulatively, in the power rankings

Hopefully, you capitalized on last week's suggestions: The Los Angeles Kings went 2-1, while Roman Josi cleared his shots on goal line in both games against the Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks.

With help from our friends at Daily Faceoff, let's take a look at the biggest risers and fallers in their weekly power rankings.

Jump ahead here:

• Week 20 risers
• Week 20 fallers
• Week 21 lookahead

Let's dive in!

Risers

Nashville Predators

18th -> 13th (+5)

Last Week's Record: 4-0. +8 points.

Tuesday: 5-3 win over the Vegas Golden Knights (12th)

Thursday: 4-1 win to the Los Angeles Kings (11th)

Saturday: 4-2 win over the San Jose Sharks (32nd)

Sunday: 4-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks (29th)

Division Standings: Fourth in the Central (+1), nine points behind the Colorado Avalanche.

Wild Card Standings: Second in the wild card (+1), four points ahead of the St. Louis Blues.

Player of the Week: Goaltending

The Predators goaltending tandem of Juuse Saros and Kevin Lankinen split the four games this week and had spectacular showings.

Saros finished with a 2-0 record, a 1.53 goals against average and a .942 save percentage. Lankinen was no slouch either, finishing with a 2-0 record, 2.54 goals against average and a .910 save percentage.

Nashville was in the spotlight as one last week's biggest fallers, with Josi being the team’s biggest letdown. He bounced back in a big way; finishing the most recent four-game stretch with one goal, three assists, a +7 rating and hitting his shots on goal prop in half of games played.

Predators' Week 21 Schedule: Ottawa Senators (26th), Minnesota Wild (20th), Colorado Avalanche (8th)

Toronto Maple Leafs

10th -> 7th (+3)

Last Week's Record: 4-0. +8 points.

Monday: 4-2 win over the St. Louis Blues (21st)

Wednesday: 6-3 win over the Arizona Coyotes (28th)

Thursday: 7-3 win over Vegas Golden Knights (12th)

Saturday: 4-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche (8th)

Division Standings: Third in the Atlantic (-), six points behind the Florida Panthers.

League Standings: Eighth in the league (+2), eight points behind the Vancouver Canucks.

Player of the Week: Auston Matthews

This was a tough one between Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, but ultimately, I went with the goalscorer over Marner's nine-assist performance this week.

Matthews scored in three of the Leafs' four games this week, totalling four goals, two assists and a +4 rating. The former first overall pick scored his 50th and 51st goals of the season in his home state, Arizona, including the eventual game-winning goal. Shots on goal bettors would have hit their bet in two of four games this week.

Maple Leafs' Week 21 Schedule: Vegas Golden Knights (12th), Arizona Coyotes (28th), New York Rangers (4th)

Fallers

New York Islanders

17th -> 23rd (-6)

Last Week's Record: 1-2. +2 points.

Tuesday: 5-4 overtime win to the Pittsburgh Penguins (19th)

Thursday: 4-0 loss to the Dallas Stars (2nd)

Saturday: 4-2 loss over the St. Louis Blues (21st)

Division Standings: Seventh in the Metropolitan (-2), seven points behind the Philadelphia Flyers.

Wild Card Standings: Sixth in the wild card (-2), nine points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Let Down of the Week: Adam Pelech & Ryan Pulock

There was no one standout letdown for the New York Islanders this week, but looking into some numbers, these two as a pairing struggled the most.

The Pelech-Pulock pairing was regarded as one of the best shutdown pairs in the league a few years back when they went on multiple trips to the Eastern Conference finals in 2020 and 2021. This week paints a different picture.

The duo was on the ice for six goals against in the Islanders three games. While Pelech scored his first goal of the season in overtime against the Penguins, for a premiere shutdown defensive pairing to allow six goals in just three games will earn that pair a spot on this list.

Islanders' Week 21 Schedule: Dallas Stars (2nd), Detroit Red Wings (14th), Boston Bruins (5th)

New Jersey Devils

13th -> 17th (-4)

Last Week's Record: 1-3. +2 points.

Tuesday: 6-2 loss to the Washington Capitals (22nd)

Thursday: 5-1 loss to the New York Rangers (4th)

Saturday: 4-3 win to the Montreal Canadiens (30th)

Sunday: 4-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning (15th)

Division Standings: Fourth in the Metropolitan (-), five points behind the Philadelphia Flyers.

Wild Card Standings: Third in the wild card (-), seven points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Let Down of the Week: Nico Daws

Oh boy, Luke Hughes made this decision difficult for me with his -8 rating, but his two assists narrowly edge him behind the Devils' goaltender.

Nico Daws 1-2 record but had a 4.73 goals against average and a .792 save percentage. Jack Hughes was right. It's easy to win when they get a save, and with Daws in the net this week, that didn't happen too often.

Devils' Week 21 Schedule: San Jose Sharks (32nd), Anaheim Ducks (29th), Los Angeles Kings (11th)

Week 21 lookahead

New Jersey Devils look to bounce back during California road trip

The Devils begin their only trip to California this week as they start with a match-up with the San Jose Sharks, visit next with the Anaheim Ducks and round out their week on Saturday against the Los Angeles Kings.

As they are highlighted as one of this week's Fallers, meetings with the Sharks (32nd) and Ducks (29th), they could likely get back in the win column and catch their division rival Philadelphia Flyers for the third and final Metropolitan division playoff spot. While the Kings are ranked 11th in this week's power rankings, their 11-10-6 home record should not be intimidating for Devils fans.

Consider taking their money-line and puck-line bets throughout the week -- and while we're on the Devils conversation…

New Jersey Devils Shots on Goal props

The Devils should feast this week in the shots on goal department against some lighter match-ups as they lead the league in shots on goal over their last 10 games, averaging 34.9 shots per game.

The Sharks allow the second most shots on goal (34.6), while the Ducks allow the third most shots on goal (34.3). The Kings rank around the middle of the pack, allowing 29.8 shots per game. Considering they rank in the bottom five in shots allowed on the season, this increase shows they've been a bit leaky to shots over their last 10 games.

Consider the Devils' top-end talent this week. Jack Hughes, Luke Hughes and Nico Hischier have covered their line in six of their last eight games, while Jesper Bratt has cleared his line in eight straight games.