With the All-Star Break in the books, it's time to hone in on the second half of the 2018-19 NHL season.
The biggest observation heading into February has to be the continued dominance of the Tampa Bay Lightning, whose numbers look even more impressive now that we've had a week-long breather. Take away the Calgary Flames, who have already exceeded expectations behind Bill Peters and a red-hot Johnny Gaudreau, and Tampa is an astounding 11 standings points ahead of the next-best team in the NHL. Throw in their goal differential and basically every other important stat, and it all seems even more bonkers. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, this team is simply the best, and it'll be a major upset if they aren't in the Stanley Cup Final come summertime.
Behind the Lightning, there are still plenty of teams worth watching, and the San Jose Sharks have to be among them. On the rise in this week's rankings, their 7-6 dismantling of the reigning champion Washington Capitals before the break still rings loud and clear, and while it may have confirmed the Caps are victims of a very rough stretch of schedule, it more so confirms the Sharks are locked and loaded for a second-half run.
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Joining the Sharks on the rise in this week's pecking order are the Arizona Coyotes and Boston Bruins, among others:
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | They've been No. 1 almost all season, yet we still probably don't talk about them enough. This team is a machine. | -- | 45-29-8 |
| 2 |  | They're going to be fun in the playoffs. And who's stopping Johnny Gaudreau these days? | -- | 38-39-5 |
| 3 |  | How about the goaltending depth here? We like to talk about their scoring, but that might be the X-factor for a postseason run. | -- | 52-24-6 |
| 4 |  | Fresh off the All-Star festivities, they're really pulling off their preseason All-Star reputation. It seems like they're primed to be firing on all cylinders come playoff time. | 3 | 19-54-9 |
| 5 |  | With Austin Watson out indefinitely, maybe there's an even better chance they go fishing at the deadline. Keeping pace is key for playoff positioning. | -- | 47-30-5 |
| 6 |  | Who would've guessed that they'd be markedly better *without* John Tavares? Not us! | 2 | 39-27-16 |
| 7 |  | Turns out they're still lethal on offense. The slump wasn't pretty, but as long as Auston Matthews is in town, they're going to be a threat. | 1 | 46-26-10 |
| 8 |  | Time and time again, we will repeat it: They can't *just* win in Vegas. That won't fly in the playoffs. | 2 | 45-29-8 |
| 9 |  | Rangers slip-up aside, they're back in full force. And it's a big testament to David Pastrnak and co. that Boston was able to weather its injuries for so long. | 1 | 47-20-15 |
| 10 |  | Congrats to them on literally reversing a trade they made from a season ago. Maybe they have another up their sleeve to kick this season into hyper-drive. | 1 | 38-32-12 |
| 11 |  | They're still not too convincing against top-tier teams, but they also refuse to die. | 2 | 30-36-16 |
| 12 |  | Between Sergei Bobrovsky and Artemi Panarin, they've got a decent amount of drama to go along with their slow start to the week. | 1 | 27-43-12 |
| 13 |  | They can thank the Avalanche for falling like an avalanche. All of a sudden they have a relatively straightforward path to the playoffs. | 1 | 39-34-9 |
| 14 |  | Have they had a rough schedule? Yes. But you can't just fully excuse a 3-5-2 stretch, either. Time to straighten up. | 2 | 40-31-11 |
| 15 |  | Their turnaround has been pretty swift. Now let's see if their front office is serious about ending that playoff drought. | 1 | 52-23-7 |
| 16 |  | It's times like these (win vs. Jets) when you wonder just how good they could be. And it's also fair to start wondering how well this team has been assembled. | 1 | 52-21-9 |
| 17 |  | Nathan MacKinnon's foot injury might be the nail in the coffin. What a shame. | -- | 50-25-7 |
| 18 |  | The All-Star recognition shows their prospects are making progress. It's still disappointing to see how they've wasted a solid start. | -- | 39-37-6 |
| 19 |  | We're not convinced they'll stay in the top 20, but a 6-2-2 stretch will get you recognized. | 4 | 36-41-5 |
| 20 |  | At the very least, as we've said before, they have reason to look forward to 2019-20. The core is admirable. | 1 | 50-23-9 |
| 21 |  | These last few weeks have been fun, but how are we to evaluate this whole season? This team publicly announced its rebuild, remember? | 1 | 55-23-4 |
| 22 |  | The way they've been steadying themselves lately, they almost belong higher on this list. Another good week should send them up. | 1 | 43-33-6 |
| 23 |  | The fact that they've won three straight and just dominated San Jose yet remain eight games under .500 speaks to how damaging their slump really was. | 1 | 52-24-6 |
| 24 |  | Maybe if the general manager swap came sooner, Connor McDavid might be playing with a playoff-caliber roster at this point. | 2 | 49-27-6 |
| 25 |  | Does anyone in Philly care they've won four straight? Maybe not until next season. | -- | 38-33-11 |
| 26 |  | They have won only six of 20 road games this season. That'll ruin a season. | 1 | 38-39-5 |
| 27 |  | The Oilers might want to thank them for accelerating the changes up top. | 1 | 41-32-9 |
| 28 |  | They have the most deceiving spot in the standings of all NHL teams. | 1 | 27-50-5 |
| 29 |  | Good for them to put up a fight despite that awful start, but the season has been a ticking time bomb for a while now. Let's get on with the roster shuffle. | 3 | 44-27-11 |
| 30 |  | Anyone predict a minus-34 goal differential for them entering the season? | 1 | 23-53-6 |
| 31 |  | Poor Mark Stone and Matt Duchene, we guess. | 1 | 37-41-4 |
