Welcome to the second edition of theScore's Norris Trophy Power Rankings.

These rankings focus more on analytics and defensive acumen rather than just points.

• xGF% calculates the share of expected goals a team produces while a player is on the ice at five-on-five
• OZS% calculates the percentage of offensive-zone starts a player receives at five-on-five (excluding neutral-zone and on-the-fly starts)

5. Darnell Nurse, Oilers

With Oscar Klefbom out for the season, the Oilers desperately needed someone on their blue line to step up, and Nurse has not disappointed. Edmonton has long waited for its 2013 seventh overall pick to break out.

Nurse has been elite at driving offense from the back end, but his game hasn't been perfect. Opposing offenses still generate too many chances against the Oilers when Nurse is on the ice at five-on-five. He also leads the league with 30 giveaways. He'll move up this list if he can minimize sloppy mistakes.

4. Shea Weber, Canadiens

Weber's appearance on this list may come as a surprise considering his counting stats don't jump off the page and the Habs have been skidding lately. However, Montreal's captain has been a rock defensively.

Among defensemen with 200 minutes at five-on-five, Weber ranks seventh in expected goals against per hour (xGA/60) and 12th in high-danger chances against per hour (HDCA/60).

For those who don't like fancy stats, consider this: Auston Matthews and Connor McDavid, the two likely Hart Trophy front-runners, have combined for zero goals and five assists at even strength in seven games against Montreal this season. That's a testament to Weber's shutdown ability, as he generally draws those difficult assignments.

3. Aaron Ekblad, Panthers

The Panthers' hot start is one of the season's biggest surprises so far. Much of it is due to their improved defensive play as a team, but Ekblad's emergence as one of the league's best shutdown blue-liners cannot be ignored.

Ekblad ranks 16th among defensemen in xGA/60, 15th in HDCA/60, and 20th in GA/60. He doesn't drive play offensively like other blue-liners on this list, but he sits tied for first among rearguards in goals thanks to his rocket of a shot.

2. Charlie McAvoy, Bruins

It's been incredible to watch McAvoy step up following the offseason departures of Torey Krug and Zdeno Chara. The Bruins didn't make any additions on the back end, so behind McAvoy, frankly, is a group of unknowns. Yet, Boston still leads its division and is the league's best shot-suppressing team.

There's a strong case to be made that McAvoy is his team's most valuable player. The Bruins survived the loss of David Pastrnak to begin the season, going 5-1-1. It's hard to imagine they'd be able to stay above water without their No. 1 defenseman, though. Boston's xGF% drops nearly 10% without McAvoy on the ice at five-on-five.

1. Cale Makar, Avalanche

Makar is still the no-brainer choice for top spot on this list. He ranks first among D-men in xGF%, 15th in HDCF%, and 19th in GF%. These numbers aren't merely the result of his jaw-dropping offensive ability, as he grades especially strong defensively, ranking second in xGA/60 and seventh in HDCA/60.

What's perhaps most impressive about Makar's season is that he's been incredibly responsible despite being heavily relied upon to make the first pass out of the defensive zone or carry the puck up the ice. The reigning Calder Trophy winner has recorded the eighth-fewest giveaways per hour among rearguards while accruing the second-most takeaways per hour.

Honorable mentions: Jakob Chychrun, Justin Faulk, Shea Theodore, Victor Hedman, Dougie Hamilton

(Analytics source: Natural Stat Trick)

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Auston Matthews' bid for the Hart Trophy looks even more impressive following a postgame revelation from Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe.

Matthews didn't take the first faceoff in overtime during the Maple Leafs' 2-1 win over the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night, and Keefe explained why afterward.

Keefe added that the injury will be treated and monitored, but he doesn't believe it's any worse than what the superstar forward has dealt with throughout the campaign, according to TSN's Kristen Shilton.

Matthews, who leads the NHL with 18 goals, assisted on both of William Nylander's markers against the Flames on Wednesday.

In doing so, Matthews became only the third player in Maple Leafs history to notch a point in at least 18 of his first 20 contests in a season, joining Babe Dye (19 in 1921-22) and Darryl Sittler (18 in 1975-76).

The 23-year-old center put together a pair of stellar scoring runs earlier in 2021, racking up 11 goals over 10 games from Jan. 16 to Feb. 8 and amassing another seven across four contests from Feb. 15 to 20. He's averaging nearly 22 minutes of ice time.

It's unclear if it's related, but Matthews sat out last season's on-ice All-Star events to receive treatment for an ongoing wrist condition. He did attend the festivities.

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Our heater suffered a minor setback as a 1-2 start to the week has pushed our current run to 15-6.

Let's get it back with a sweep Thursday.

Devils (+100) @ Sabres (-120)

New Jersey closed as -145 favorites when these teams met less than 48 hours ago. The Sabres won 4-1 on Tuesday and are now -120 favorites for Thursday. Granted, this game is in Buffalo, but one win doesn't negate the fact that this is a team in turmoil.

The Sabres' issues run deep and haven't been magically fixed overnight despite Tuesday's victory. The Devils thoroughly outplayed Buffalo, with Linus Ullmark standing on his head before a power-play goal swung the momentum in his team's favor.

New Jersey is far from a perfect team, but its issues over the past week can largely be attributed to inexperience. This is a young, talented roster that's going through growing pains. The Devils are still undervalued, especially with a large edge in goal.

MacKenzie Blackwood is excellent, and while he was outdueled by Linus Ullmark on Tuesday, that was the exception, not the rule. If Ullmark starts again Thursday, it'll be his fifth in eight nights. As a result, it's very possible we see Carter Hutton, who's a massive drop-off from Ullmark. Either way, the Devils will hold the edge in this department and are good value in what's a prime bounce-back spot.

Pick: Devils (+100)

Canadiens (-115) @ Jets (-105)

The Canadiens made the right decision firing Claude Julien. This is a deep team with a lot of speed that needs to be aggressive and energetic offensively. Julien's insistence on sticking to a conservative game plan - clogging the neutral zone and waiting for your opponent to make mistakes - wasn't the right fit for this roster.

In a move that was overdue, Kirk Muller is also gone. The Canadiens have had a bottom-10 power play in each of the last three seasons, and their penalty kill has also been below average. That's inexcusable given the personnel at their disposal. Both units have been nothing short of disastrous over the last few weeks, with no adjustments made.

Julien's successor, Dominique Ducharme - who coached the Halifax Mooseheads to a Memorial Cup win and Canada to World Juniors gold - is known as an innovative offensive bench boss. Whether he's the answer remains to be seen, but the change should provide a necessary spark for a still very good Canadiens team.

The market has soured on Montreal a bit due to this rough stretch. That works to our benefit as the Canadiens take on a Jets team the market is too high on. Winnipeg sits 29th in expected goals percentage, with Montreal in first. Better days are ahead for the Canadiens, while the Jets - who were far from convincing in a pair of somewhat fortunate wins over a bad Canucks team - are due for some regression.

Pick: Canadiens (-115)

(Odds source: theScore Bet)

Alex Moretto is theScore's supervising editor of sports betting. A journalism graduate from Guelph-Humber University, he has worked in sports media for over a decade. He will bet on anything from the Super Bowl to amateur soccer, despises how the NHL handles starting goalie announcements, and will never trust a kicker. Find him on Twitter @alexjmoretto.

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The KHL says it was never apprised of any matter pertaining to Andrei Nazarov's recent abuse allegation regarding Artemi Panarin.

The league has "not been aware of or received a complaint in relation to any incident involving Artemi Panarin in December 2011," the KHL said in a statement to ESPN's Emily Kaplan.

If a complaint had been made, the league insisted Wednesday it would have investigated, "as we take any allegations of misconduct incredibly seriously."

Panarin is at his home in Connecticut and doesn't intend to fly home to Russia at the moment, reports Kaplan.

The New York Rangers star stepped away from the team indefinitely Monday in the wake of Nazarov's allegation that Panarin got into a physical altercation with an 18-year-old woman on a KHL road trip to Riga, Latvia. The Rangers called the story "fabricated" and "unfounded," while throwing their full support behind the forward.

No evidence has been presented, no victim has come forward, and no court or police records have been found that would corroborate Nazarov's allegation since Panarin took leave, according to Kaplan.

Nazarov, a former NHLer who coached Panarin with KHL club Vityaz at the time, is a known supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Panarin has shown solidarity with opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was sentenced to more than three years in prison earlier this month after being poisoned over the summer.

The Rangers believe Nazarov's claims are in retaliation for Panarin's Instagram post in January, according to Kaplan. Panarin captioned the post "freedom for Navalny" in Russian.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said the league is also looking into the allegations.

Several of Panarin's former teammates with Vityaz questioned the allegations and defended him Tuesday.

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Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin explained his decision to fire head coach Claude Julien on Wednesday.

"I had talks with Claude in the last little while and I know the message he was telling the players and what was happening was not the same," Bergevin said, according to NHL.com's Dan Rosen. "It happens in all sports. Claude is a very good coach, it's just at some point the player needs a new voice."

The Canadiens won just two of their last eight games after starting the season 7-1-2. Bergevin said he saw his team trending in the wrong direction and decided to act before things got worse.

"We had two eight-game losing streaks last year, and I saw a pattern I didn't want to repeat," he said, according to The Athletic's Marc Antoine Godin.

Bergevin said the shortened season played a role in making the move when he did.

He added that his decision to promote assistant Dominique Ducharme to interim head coach wasn't impacted by COVID-19.

"Quarantine, no quarantine, Dom was my guy from the time I made my decision," he said.

Bergevin also said he won't be interviewing head coaching candidates and that Ducharme will remain interim head coach for the rest of the campaign and be evaluated after.

Ducharme is the Canadiens' third head coach under Bergevin's reign.

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The Montreal Canadiens fired head coach Claude Julien and associate coach Kirk Muller on Wednesday, the team announced.

Assistant Dominique Ducharme will take over as head coach on an interim basis.

Montreal started the season 7-1-2 but has just two wins in its last eight games. The Canadiens are coming off back-to-back losses to the Ottawa Senators and are now 1-1-2 against the North Division's last-place team this season.

"I would like to sincerely thank Claude and Kirk for their contributions to our team over the past five years during which we worked together," general manager Marc Bergevin said. "I have great respect for these two men whom I hold in high regard."

This marks the second time Montreal has fired Julien. His first stint with the club ended during the 2005-06 campaign after parts of three seasons.

Julien failed to lead the Canadiens past the first round of the playoffs during his second tour of duty with Montreal, though the team did upset the Pittsburgh Penguins in last year's qualifying round.

The 60-year-old owns a 201-175-10-50 record across his two stints with the Canadiens and ranks fifth on the team's all-time wins list.

Ducharme, meanwhile, was in his third season as Julien's assistant. He's best known for serving as Canada's head coach at the world juniors in 2017 and 2018, helping the team win silver at the former and gold at the latter.

"In Dominique Ducharme, we see a very promising coach who will bring new life and new energy to our group," Bergevin said. "We feel that our team can achieve high standards, and the time had come for a change. "

Former NHLer Alex Burrows, who previously served as an assistant coach with the AHL's Laval Rocket, will join Ducharme's staff. Luke Richardson and Stephane Waite are staying on as assistant coach and goalie coach, respectively.

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