Power Rankings: Philadelphia Flyers soar to No. 3, while Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers jostle for top spot

JOE MCDONALD via <a href="http://espn.go.com/" title="ESPN" class="espn_sc_byline">ESPN </a>

December 12, 2016, 1:11 PM ET

3 min read

— -- When a team like the Philadelphia Flyers is on a remarkable nine-game winning streak, it's a no-brainer that it will move up in the rankings. The same can be said for the Minnesota Wild and Calgary Flames, who are enjoying winning streaks of four and six games, respectively. Still, it takes more than that to dethrone the top two teams. Once again, the New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens switch places atop our rankings, with the Flyers shooting up to third.

We're also seeing some individual performances boost the St. Louis Blues, Minnesota Wild and Boston Bruins.

The bottom of the barrel has minimal change, with the Vancouver Canucks, Arizona Coyotes and Colorado Avalanche still looking up at the rest of the league.

1. (Last week 2) New York Rangers, 20-9-1

Coach Alain Vigneault has gone with the hot hand in net, and now the Rangers have a goalie controversy brewing.? Antti Raanta?went 3-0, forcing? Henrik Lundqvist?to the sidelines as a healthy backup for three games for the first time in three years.

2. (1) Montreal Canadiens, 19-6-3

With forwards Alex Galchenyuk and David Desharnais both sidelined with knee injuries, many thought the Canadiens would struggle offensively. Instead, Montreal scored 10 goals against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday, led by captain Max Pacioretty (four goals and one assist) and? Tomas Plekanec?(a career-high four assists in the win).