Helene Elliott’s NHL rankings

Through Monday’s games

Rank; Team; Record; (last week’s ranking)

1. Toronto; 4-0-1; Maple Leafs finally lose one, and, of course, they blame the officiating. Hold off on that Stanley Cup parade. (2)

2. Dallas; 4-1-0; Brad Richards (two goals, 10 points) leading the way for Stars (6).

3. Washington; 4-1-0; Alexander Ovechkin (four goals, eight points) and rookie goalie Michal Neuvirth (2.16, .930) start strong. Penalty killers are 21 for 21. (9)

4. Nashville; 3-0-1; You never know how the Predators keep doing it, but they’re always competitive. (12)

5. Kings; 3-1-0; Jonathan Quick’s goals-against average is 0.97. That’s not a typo. Save percentage is a sizzling .963. (14)

6. Detroit; 3-1-1; A salute to Kirk Maltby, who retired last week. An honorable pest. (1)

7. Atlanta; 3-2-0; Thrashers finish tough West Coast trip with rally to beat Sharks. Anthony Stewart leads team with four goals (16).

8. Chicago; 4-2-1; Marian Hossa is early league leader in goals (seven) and points (11). Patrick Sharp (six goals) is off to good start too. (19)

9. Pittsburgh; 4-3-0; Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury has struggled early. Sidney Crosby has been slowed, reportedly by a hip problem. (24).

10. Tampa Bay; 4-1-0; New Coach Guy Boucher is motivating his troops to a good start. (8).

11. Montreal; 3-1-1; Canadiens’ power play was one for 17 in first five games. (23).

12. N.Y. Islanders; 3-1-2; Giant killers take down Maple Leafs. They’ll be tough to play against, as coaches like to say, but not likely to make playoffs. (25)

13. St. Louis; 2-1-2; Jaroslav Halak and Ty Conklin have been a solid goaltending duo, despite OT loss to Chicago. (7)

14. Colorado; 4-2-0; Winger Chris Stewart (five goals, seven points) makes an impact. And nice brother act with Anthony of Atlanta. (13)

15. Philadelphia; 2-2-1; Flyers’ power play (two for 22) needs to get going. Defensemen could be helping more. (5)

16. Boston; 2-1-0; Early returns are good on trade for Nathan Horton (three goals, five points). (18).

17. Columbus; 2-2-0; Paging Mr. Nash, Mr. Rick Nash. Please report to the Blue Jackets’ score sheet. He has one goal in four games. (20)

18. N.Y. Rangers; 1-2-1; Injuries to Marian Gaborik (finger) and Chris Drury (finger) will test their depth. Or lack thereof. (11)

19. Edmonton; 2-2-0; Oilers will go as far as Nikolai Khabibulin carries them. Rookie forward Magnus Paajarvi looks good. (3)

20. Vancouver; 2-2-1; Backup goalie Cory Schneider gets them a win over Carolina. They need more scoring from non-Sedins. (15).

21. Florida; 2-2-0; Goalie Tomas Vokoun (1.26 goals-against, .952 save percentage) is an early standout. (27)

22. Calgary; 2-2-0; Averaging two goals per game won’t get them back into the playoffs. (21)

23. San Jose; 1-1-1; Jumbo Joe Thornton gets a three-year, $21-million extension. Three more years to not pick Sharks to win? (10)

24. Carolina; 2-2-0; Hurricanes opened season in Helsinki and don’t play at home until Oct. 27. (4)

25. Phoenix; 1-2-1; They’re not scoring a lot of goals and will need another big season from Ilya Bryzgalov. (17)

26. Ducks; 2-3-1; Big line of Bobby Ryan- Ryan Getzlaf-Corey Perry wakes up. But the team is still allowing too many shots against. (30)

27. Minnesota; 1-2-1; Home sellout streak ends. Fans are impatient with flailing team, and with good reason. (26)

28. Ottawa; 1-4-1; Goalie Pascal Leclaire seems to get hurt getting dressed. (28).

29. New Jersey; 1-4-1; They’ve scored only 10 goals in six games and given up 21. Martin Brodeur is fading. (29).

30. Buffalo; 1-4-1; Averaging only two goals a game and giving goalie Ryan Miller little help defensively. (22)