The Red Wings return to top the rankings this week. Photo courtesy of nhl.com
An abbreviated week of power rankings, largely due to a 15 page research paper staring me in the face over this Thanksgiving week. This week sees a return by Detroit for position of top dog, a lot of teams tank, and the Islanders are still awful. Remember when the Atlantic division had four teams get into the playoffs? It will be interesting to see if the top two teams for the lottery are from the Atlantic this year.
1. Detroit Red Wings (13-3-2) Week 5 Rank – 3: A thrashing of St. Louis and then two nail biters in overtime that the Wings split. Typically not good enough for top spot, but Detroit has the most points and best winning percentage, so there.
2. Washington Capitals (14-5-2) Week 5 Rank – 2: After enacting some revenge against Buffalo, the Caps get shutout by the Thrashers. Yes, the Thrashers. Then they lose a slugfest with Phily via shootout. Still, the Caps are one of the top teams, so they stand pat.
3. Los Angeles Kings (13-6-0) Week 5 Rank – 1: That big time game against San Jose…yeah didn’t go so well. A 6-3 loss to the Sharks and then the Kings cough up leads in each of their next three games. Thankfully for L.A. they steal a win from Boston after blowing a 3-0 lead.
4. Montreal Canadians (13-6-1) Week 5 Rank – 5: The Canadians may be streaky, but currently are more on the positive side then the negative. What helps is Carey Price posting two more shutouts, including against Phily.
5. Columbus Blue Jackets (12-6-0) Week 5 Rank – 9: The Golden State did wonders for the Blue Jackets as they went on a three game swing through California and came back with three wins. Something special may be developing in Columbus, in large part thanks to Rick Nash who is really looking like the leader in a lot of aspects that the Jackets need him to be.
6. Philadelphia Flyers (13-6-2) Week 5 Rank – 4: The Flyers split their week going 2-2, but two losses were big ones first being iced by Montreal and then getting out offensed by Tampa in an 8-7 match.
7. Boston Bruins (11-5-2) Week 5 Rank – 8: The Bruins win their two easier matches handedly, sneak by the Rangers but can’t complete their rally against Los Angeles. An upcoming trip to the Southeast division could easily result in the Bruins jumping some more spots soon.
8. St. Louis Blues (11-5-3) Week 5 Rank – 7: The Blues righted the ship midway through the week, partially thanks to getting some contests in against some sloppy Eastern conference teams. Still, in their first two games the Blues gave up six and then seven goals.
9. Colorado Avalanche (12-7-1) Week 5 Rank – 16: A huge week for the Avs. Averaging close to five goals a game and winning all four games equates to the biggest jump in the rankings this week. And John-Michael Liles is playing like a Norris candidate.
10. Dallas Stars (10-7-1) Week 5 Rank – 14: In the standings Dallas may not be reflected as accurately as their record would indicated. They have more wins than San Jose, and have lost the least games in their division outside of L.A. Plus they are actually above .500.
11. Tampa Bay Lightning (11-7-2) Week 5 Rank – 18: Tampa may have turned things around after a disastrous start to November. Then again it also helps when two of your opponents are the Islanders and Sabres. Steven Stamkos adds on another four goals.
12. New York Rangers (11-9-1) Week 5 Rank – 12: How did Marian Gaborik fare in his Minnesota homecoming? One assist. Still, New York split for the week including a big win against Pittsburgh.
13. Pittsburgh Penguins (11-8-2) Week 5 Rank – 15: The loss to the Ranger was the low point of the week but the Pens rebounded solidly enough. Fleury remains up and down, and Sidney Crosby yet again does the heavy lifting.
14. Minnesota Wild (10-7-2) Week 5 Rank – 17: The Wild remain to hang around, and also keep causing teams headaches. Two overtime wins, and Minnesota keep their heads above .500.
15. Vancouver Canucks (10-7-3) Week 5 Rank – 6: A long plummet for the Canucks with four straight losses. Funny how things can completely shift and just like that the Canucks are at .500 hockey. More of an issue is the offense drying up.
16. San Jose Sharks (9-6-4) Week 5 Rank – 10: Despite holding off the Kings, the Sharks otherwise had a pretty poor weak. They do pick up two points via two OT losses, but having more wins than losses still has got to be worrisome in Northern California.
17. Phoenix Coyotes (10-5-5) Week 5 Rank – 23: While the real story may be Star Wars night coming up, the Coyotes extend their winning streak to six, including three more wins this past week. Things remain pretty soft for the desert dogs, and the Coyotes could be challenging for the division lead in a week or two.
18. Nashville Predators (9-6-3) Week 5 Rank – 19: After some how allowing Toronto to win, the Preds shutout Montreal and sneak a win out of Carolina. Still, the Central is incredibly tight, and Nashville is at a standstill in the bottom.
19. Florida Panthers (9-9-0) Week 5 Rank – 21: I really should just rank the Panthers higher based off their website. “Watch the Panthers stuff these turkeys for $10” is a great sales pitch. Florida remains good enough just to make things interesting, despite clearly being outmatched by some higher caliber teams.
20. Chicago Blackhawks (11-10-2) Week 5 Rank – 22: A 5-0 win, a 2-7 loss, and then a 7-1 win. It is anyone’s guess as to which Blackhawks will show up. Another team with high expectations with more losses than wins though.
21. Anaheim Ducks (10-10-3) Week 5 Rank – 11: Following up there six game winning streak, the Ducks are on a five game skid. And to answer who is filling out the defense and bottom six forwards…I have no idea. What is known is that the Ducks’ defense is still terrible.
22. Ottawa Senators (9-10-1) Week 5 Rank – 13: And just like that Brian Elliot is out as the Sens average nearly six goals against average for the week. Pascal Leclaire looks due to get another shot, and Ottawa has to be hoping for great things, as they appear to be spiraling a bit.
23. Carolina Hurricanes (9-9-2) Week 5 Rank – 20: Surprise, surprise, Patrick O’Sullivan is on waivers. Perhaps the Canes could get someone to take shootouts, seeing how they dropped back-to-back contests in these situations.
24. Atlanta Thrashers (9-9-3) Week 5 Rank – 25: The Thrashers at home are lights out against the Capitals, which is still baffling. Atlanta also proves they are a notch above the worst, beating the Islanders in overtime.
25. Calgary Flames (8-10-1) Week 5 Rank – 24: The Flames just can’t seem to get enough going to actually win games where it appears they have a real opportunity. Fortunately for them, they had more than a chance against Chicago, en route to a 7-2 stomping. However, the Flames being more than a team capitalizing on sloppy opponent certain days remains to be seen.
26. Toronto Maple Leafs (7-9-3) Week 5 Rank – 28: It was a long time coming, but Toronto finally did it. Winning not just one, but TWO games. IN A ROW. Replicating success only lasts so long though, as the Leafs got the door closed on them by their rivals in Montreal.
27. Buffalo Sabres (8-11-3) Week 5 Rank – 26: Things are getting competitive in Buffalo again. All their games were decided by two or fewer goals, and the Sabres split for the week. Not a drastic improvement, but ahead of what they were doing prior.
28. Edmonton Oilers (5-10-4) Week 5 Rank – 29: The Oilers win one, so that’s a drastic improvement. They also limit goals to two in one game, which I believe cuts their goals against average by about 50 percent.
29. New Jersey Devils (5-13-2) Week 5 Rank – 27: The Devils improved all week, increasing their goal totals each game. Unfortunately it was from zero to one to two. Also they got scored on three times in each game. You can do the math from there.
30. New York Islanders (4-12-4) Week 5 Rank – 30: Retaining the spot in the cellar are the New York Islanders. The losing streak has reached 13, and the Isles can’t seem to generate any offense, only scoring four goals in their three games. There was also another Rick DiPietro sighting, however this time he actually looked like a goalie, stopping 33 of 35 shots and giving the Islanders their first point in a while.
Related posts:
- NHL Power Rankings Week 3 A new week, a new leader. Photo courtesy of NHL.com....
- NHL Power Rankings Week 4 Are the Kings able to claim top spot this week...
- NHL Week 2 Power Rankings Photo courtesy of NHL.com. The Detroit Red Wings are off...
- NHL Power Rankings Week 5 The leader of the rankings hasn't changed (yet), and the...
