Wings Blog

Category: NHL power rankings

Posted by Dana Wakiji (The Detroit News) on Thu, Nov 26, 2009 at 2:50 AM

Power rankings, week 8

Look out for the Blackhawks. They're creating some separation in the Central Division and Marian Hossa is back and appears to be the same sniper he always was. Last week's rankings are in parentheses after this week's.

1. (1) San Jose Sharks (16-6-4): Despite a 7-2 loss at home to Chicago, the Sharks remain tied with the Capitals for most goals scored with 87.

2. (8) Chicago Blackhawks (16-5-2): Apparently Marian Hossa's shoulder is 100 percent as he scored twice in his Blackhawks debut. The Blackhawks have won eight straight.

3. (2) Washington Capitals (14-5-6): Alex Ovechkin has fallen behind the Rangers' Marian Gaborik and the Sharks' Dany Heatley in the goal race (Ovechkin has 17, Heatley 18 and Gaborik 19) but the Capitals are still on top of the Southeast Division.

4. (3) New Jersey Devils (15-6-1): The Devils remain the stingiest team in the league, having allowed just 49 goals in 22 games.

5. (5) Pittsburgh Penguins (17-8-0): The Penguins have pushed past the Devils in the Atlantic Division with three straight wins.

6. (4) Colorado Avalanche (14-7-4): The Avalanche are showing a few signs of slipping. They have scored just two more goals than they have allowed and are 4-4-2 in their last 10 games.

7. (10) Calgary Flames (14-6-3): The Flames have started playing better at home, improving to 7-5-0 with Wednesday's 2-1 win over the Phoenix Coyotes.

8. (22) Boston Bruins (12-8-4): The Bruins may have started to figure some things out as they're on a four-game win streak and moved ahead of Ottawa for first in the Northeast Division.

9. (21) Nashville Predators (14-8-1): Had the Blackhawks not been winning so much, the Predators would be the story in the Central with seven straight wins, including an overtime victory over Colorado Wednesday.

10. (7) Los Angeles Kings (14-9-2): The Kings are still six points behind the Sharks in the Pacific Division but they are an impressive 9-5-1 on the road.

11. (14) Dallas Stars (11-6-7): The Stars are another team in the Pacific that's better on the road (6-3-3) than at home (5-3-4).

12. (9) Philadelphia Flyers (13-8-1): The Flyers may be third in the Atlantic but they've scored 15 more goals than they've given up.

13. (20) Ottawa Senators (12-7-3): Alex Kovalev should return today after missing three games to attend his mother-in-law's funeral in Russia.

14. (6) Buffalo Sabres (12-7-2): The Sabres are struggling a little of late but goaltender Ryan Miller (MSU) still leads the league with a 1.98 goals-against average.

15. (16) New York Rangers (13-10-1): Rookie P.A. Parenteau is a shootout wizard, apparently. Wednesday he got his second shootout winner in 12 days.

16. (15) Phoenix Coyotes (13-11-1): The Coyotes have lost two straight but goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov is still tied for second in the league with a 2.13 goals-against average.

17. (13) Columbus Blue Jackets (12-8-3): The Blue Jackets played better after getting blown out 9-1 at home against the Wings but they are still looking for consistency.

18. (11) Atlanta Thrashers (11-7-3): The Thrashers came into Detroit and left with a 2-0 victory, not something that's happened a lot over the years.

19. (12) Detroit Red Wings (11-8-4): The Wings are having a hard time putting the puck in the net lately. Losing top-4 defenseman Niklas Kronwall doesn't help much either. The injuries must stop now.

20. (19) Vancouver Canucks (12-11-0): The Canucks wish they could play all their games at home, where they're 8-3-0, instead of on the road, where they're 4-8-0.

21. (18) Tampa Bay Lightning (9-6-7): The Lightning finally lost a game at home in regulation, falling to 5-1-4.

22. (17) New York Islanders (9-9-7): The poor Islanders are in a tough division in the Atlantic, which is why they're in last place.

23. (24) Montreal Canadiens (12-12-1): The Canadiens finally lost in overtime (8-1) when the Wings beat them in a shootout last Saturday.

24. (27) Florida Panthers (10-9-4): The Panthers have climbed above the .500 mark and are finally out of the bottom five.

25. (23) Edmonton Oilers (10-12-3): The Oilers have won just four of their last 16 games, dropping a home game to the Kings Wednesday.

26. (25) St. Louis Blues (9-9-4): Former Wing Ty Conklin backstopped the Blues to a 4-3 shootout win over the Stars. The Blues are 3-1 in their last four games.

27. (28) Anaheim Ducks (9-11-3): Corey Perry's point streak is at 16 games and Jean-Sebastien Giguere finally got his first two wins.

28. (27) Minnesota Wild (8-12-3): The Wild are still doing well at home (6-3-1) but can't get it going on the road (2-9-2).

29. (29) Toronto Maple Leafs (5-11-7): The Maple Leafs finally got their fifth win of the season, handing the Lightning their first home loss in regulation.

30. (30) Carolina Hurricanes (5-14-5): The Hurricanes have given up a whopping 31 more goals (86) than they have scored (55) and extended their franchise-record road losing streak to 12 games.