NHL

NHL Power Rankings: Fiery Tortorella has Canucks rolling

John Tortorella wore out his welcome in New York as coach of the Rangers, and many wondered how he would do once he took over for the Canucks. While there have been some struggles 36 games in, he has the Canucks right where they are used to being: near the top of the standings. Vancouver sits in fourth place in the Pacific Division, but is just seven points behind the first-place Ducks.

The Canucks were 11-8-4 following a five-game losing streak, but have now won eight of 10 after Tuesday’s 3-2 shootout loss to the Wild snapped a seven-game winning streak. And most of the wins haven’t been close and were over good teams, such as the Coyotes, Avalanche and Bruins. Similar to how he rode Henrik Lundqvist while in New York, Tortorella has been giving Roberto Luongo the bulk of the starts. Unlike in past years, Luongo isn’t worried about his future with the team. He has 16 wins, a 2.19 goals against average and a .921 save percentage.

But Tortorella’s fiery personality has rarely surfaced until Saturday’s game against the Bruins. After Vancouver allowed the Bruins to tie the game, 1-1, Tortorella called a timeout and lit into the team. The Canucks then scored five more goals to win the game, 6-2. In typical Tortorella fashion he told reporters it was “none of your business” when asked after the game about his tirade.

Perhaps the coach has learned sometimes that anger is necessary, but can’t be a constant as it was with the Rangers. Yelling or no yelling, Canucks players and fans could care less if Tortorella leads them to the first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history.

(Last week’s ranking in parentheses)

1. Ducks (4): At 7-0-2 in their past nine games, the Ducks continue to roll. The latest was a 5-2 win against the Red Wings on Tuesday in which they scored four first-period goals.

2. Blackhawks (1): Chicago has scored three or more goals in six straight games, giving backup goalie Antti Raanta plenty of support to work with as he fills in for Corey Crawford, who’s been dealing with a lower body injury.

3. Penguins (6): Pittsburgh has won nine of 10, but having eight players on IR, including four top defenseman, is sure to catch up with them. Evgeni Malkin has a leg injury and could miss some more time.

4. Kings (2): Martin Jones is making it hard for the Kings to bench him — let alone send him to the minors — when Jonathan Quick gets healthy. He notched his third shutout in six career NHL games with a 3-0 blanking of the Oilers on Tuesday.

5. Bruins (4): This time, Jarome Iginla did register a point against his former team, picking up two assists as the Bruins topped the Flames, 2-0, on Tuesday.

6. Canucks (9): Suffered their first loss of the month Tuesday when the Wild prevailed 3-2 in a shootout. And most of those seven wins came without production from either of the Sedin twins.

7. Blues (5): The 4-2 loss against the Sharks on Thursday was their third loss of the season against San Jose, while being outscored 16-7. That doesn’t bode well if they were to meet in the playoffs.

8. Canadiens (8): Montreal has gone largely unnoticed after a poor start, but remains just three points behind the Bruins for the Atlantic Division lead.

9. Sharks (7): The Sharks face the Kings on Thursday in a rematch of the 2013 Western Conference Semifinals. It should be one of the best games of the season.

10. Wild (10): Minnesota’s third leading scorer, defenseman Ryan Suter, has logged almost 30 minutes of ice time per game. And you thought you were tired.

11. Coyotes (11): The Coyotes are in ninth place in the Western Conference, but not only would be in playoff position if they played in the Eastern Conference, they would have home-ice advantage as a four seed.

12. Avalanche (13): We knew they couldn’t keep up their blazing hot start, but three wins in eight games won’t get it done, especially in the ultra-competitive Western Conference.

13. Capitals (14): Fun fact: Alex Ovechkin has more power-play goals (12) than any other Capital has goals. Joel Ward has 10, a mere 18 behind Ovechkin’s total.

14. Lightning (16): Excellent news for Lightning fans: Steven Stamkos, who broke his tibia, began skating with the team and is ahead of schedule. Boy, do they miss his scoring touch.

15. Stars (15): Tyler Seguin has six goals and 10 points in the past six games, and is on pace to shatter his career high in both goals (29) and points (67).

16. Predators (20): Impressive homestand with wins against the Stars and Sharks before falling 3-1 to the Blackhawks on Tuesday.

17. Red Wings (12): Joe Louis Arena used to be a huge home-ice advantage for Detroit. Not anymore. They had an eight-game home losing streak earlier this season, and have currently lost five in a row at home.

18. Hurricanes (22): The Hurricanes have 14 wins and 20 losses, but it’s good enough for third place in the Metropolitan Division – and an automatic playoff berth – if the season ended today.

19. Maple Leafs (18): The Maple Leafs are free fallin’ faster than Tom Petty, having lost 10 of 13. The problem isn’t just one thing. The offense has gone dry and the goalies and defense have shown more holes than Swiss cheese.

20. Jets (17): Seems like the Jets take two steps back for every one forward. Four losses in five games, including one to the Sabres. Yuck.

21. Devils (19): They dominate the Penguins for all but five minutes of a game and lose 3-2, but get completely outplayed by the Lightning – who outshot the Devils 33-19 on Saturday – and earn a 3-0 shutout victory. Go figure.

22. Flyers (24): Two days after blowing a 4-1 lead in the third period of a 5-4 shootout loss against the Capitals, the Flyers got some revenge Tuesday with a 5-2 win against Washington.

23. Rangers (21): Finally ended a lengthy home losing streak, and now look for consecutive wins  for the first time in almost a month.

24. Senators (25): Craig Anderson seemed a virtual lock for the U.S. Olympic team in 2014 until this season. Anderson allowed two goals on four shots in under five minutes in Saturday’s 5-2 loss against the Kings, and he might not even be the Senators starting goalie for much longer, especially with backup Robin Lehner playing well.

25. Panthers (27): Looks like the coaching change has paid off. The Panthers have won four games in a row and six of seven, the only loss coming to the Blackhawks. The streak includes wins against Red Wings (twice), Capitals, Canadiens and Maple Leafs.

26. Blue Jackets (23): Since Sergei Bobrovsky went down with an injury two weeks ago, the Blue Jackets are 3-2-1, with all three losses coming by one goal. They are 4-9 in one-goal games.

27. Flames (26): Almost half of the Flames’ wins this season (six of 13) have come after regulation, and they’ve won just two games by more than one goal.

28. Oilers (28): Edmonton has scored a total of two goals on a three-game road trip and has been shut out twice, granted those three games were against the Canucks, Ducks and Kings.

29. Islanders (29): The Islanders have had many devastating loses, but not many as bad as on Tuesday night when a 2-0 lead with 2:53 left in the third period turned into a 3-2 shootout loss after the Lightning tied it with under four seconds left.

30. Sabres (30): Buffalo scored four goals in regulation in Tuesday night’s win against the Jets for just the second time all season.