Power Rankings: Pens Claim Top Spot

With the best record in the NHL, and coming off their best performance of the season on Tuesday night, the Pittsburgh Penguins take the top spot in our power rankings for the week. How does the rest of the top 5 shake out? Check out our latest rankings:

More Coverage: Analyzing Minnesota's Weakness on Defense

1. Penguins (Last Week: 2)
The Penguins in the top spot is pretty much a no-brainer this week. Not only do the Pens have the best record in the league at 8-1, they've won six in a row and are coming off back-to-back dominant performances. The most recent win against St. Louis came with a price, however, as they lost Sergei Gonchar for over a month.
2. Avalanche (3)
Colorado continues its improbable and unexpected start, losing just one game in regulation. Kyle Quincey, acquired in the Ryan Smyth trade this offseason, is currently tied for the team lead in points (eight) and is averaging over 25 minutes of ice-time per game. Kind of incredible this team is 6-1-1 and Paul Stastny hasn't started to score yet.
3. Rangers (1)
The Rangers get knocked out of the top spot due to back-to-back losses at home. Michael Del Zotto is putting his name in the early-season Calder Trophy discussions with nine points (four goals, five assists) in 10 games.

4. Capitals (5)
The Capitals are back on track after their three-game skid a couple of weeks ago, winning three in a row. They still managed to score five goals on Thursday against Atlanta without the services of Alexander Semin.

5. Flames (6)
Flames games have been exciting to watch this season if you're a fan of high-scoring hockey. Calgary has scored the most goals per game and allowed the fourth-most goals per game. Rene Bourque is off to a great start with 11 points in eight games.

6. Coyotes (10)
A fast start that seems to be sliding under the radar. Phoenix is now 6-2 and has allowed fewer goals (12) than any team in the league. Goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov is leading the league in both goals against average and save percentage.
7. Oilers (16)
If Dustin Penner would have played like this three years ago nobody would have made any jokes about the contract Kevin Lowe signed him to. The 27-year-old winger has 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) in nine games, and is coming off a dominating performance against Columbus on Thursday, scoring two goals, adding three assists and recording 11 shots on goal. Where has this been hiding?

8. Sabres (9)
Ryan Miller is playing some tremendous hockey in Buffalo, opening with a 5-0 record and a .942 save percentage to lead the Sabres to a 5-1-1 start.

9. Kings (12)
Is this going to be the year Anze Kopitar puts himself on the map as one of the game's best players? Looks that way through the first four weeks of the season as the 22-year-old center already has 16 points in 10 games. He's on pace to set new career-highs in just about every category.

10. Senators (15)
Five goals in the third period still wasn't enough to get Ottawa a win on Thursday, but Chris Phillips' last-second shorthanded goal at least earned the Sens a point.
11. Blackhawks (4)
Do we have a goaltending controversy in Chicago? After his first four starts, Antti Niemi is outplaying Cristobal Huet, who is near the bottom of the league in just about every statistical category for goalies.

12. Blue Jackets (8)
Steve Mason, the reigning Calder Trophy winner, is off to a slow start in net for the Jackets, but they're still finding a way to win games. I refuse to use the phrase "sophomore slump," and fully expect Mason to bounce back soon enough.
13. Thrashers (19)
Poor Ondrej Pavelec. He's this year's Vesa Toskala thanks to the fluke bounces he encountered this week. Still, it's hard not to like what Atlanta has shown so far. Ilya Kovalchuk looks like he might challenge Alex Ovechkin for the Rocket Richard Award.
14. Devils (17)
The Devils are starting to get on a roll, winning five of their last six and they still have Patrik Elias waiting in the wings. Martin Brodeur is closing in on yet another milestone as he's just one shutout behind Terry Sawchuk on the all-time list.
15. Flyers (7)
Philadelphia has lost three of its past four after a 3-0 start. Ray Emery has started every game in goal for the Flyers and has been OK with a .900 save percentage. I still think this is what does-in an otherwise great team this year.
16. Sharks (18)
Joe Thornton looks like he could challenge for 90 assists again this season. He's already done it twice in his career, and now that he's clicking with Dany Heatley, a two-time 50-goal scorer, that 90 mark isn't out of the question.
17. Stars (14)
Inconsistent. Dallas has alternated wins and losses all season, and has yet to string together back-to-back wins.

18. Red Wings (11)
Just three wins in eight games for the Wings, and they've watched third period leads turn into losses in each of the past two games, including an overtime loss in Phoenix on Thursday night. Some good news? Pavel Datsyuk returned to the lineup and tallied his first goal of the year. Still very early, they won't be here for long.

19. Bruins (21)
Some bad injury news in Boston this week with Marc Savard and Milan Lucic set to miss some significant time. It's probably safe to assume at this point that Boston won't finish the No. 1 team in the East this season.

20. Canucks (23)
The Canucks are slowly starting to get back on track. Willie Mitchell has the highlight of the week for his crushing (and clean!) hit on Jonathan Toews in Vancouver's 3-2 win. Roberto Luongo probably can't wait for October to end. Not his best month on the ice.
21. Lightning (24)
Vincent Lecavalier still doesn't have a goal in Tampa Bay, but Steve Stamkos, Ryan Malone and Martin St. Louis are picking up the slack offensively. Mike Smith finally picked up his first win on Thursday against San Jose.
22. Canadiens (25)
Two wins in a row helps, but here's a bad combination for the Canadiens: Carey Price is struggling, again, and the team isn't scoring much offensively.
23. Ducks (13)
Another surprising slow start in the West, as the Ducks find themselves at the bottom of the Pacific Division. Only one goal in eight games for Ryan Getzlaf.

24. Blues (20)
St. Louis took a big step forward with a 5-0 win in Anaheim, then followed it up with an absolute clunker of a game in Pittsburgh, losing 5-1. Europe hangover? The Blues have won just one game since Sweden.

25. Predators (27)
The Predators finally had an offensive outburst, scoring six goals in an overtime win against the Senators. Still, the Preds remain the lowest scoring team in the league in terms of goals per game. Congratulations to Colin Wilson for his first NHL goal on Wednesday.

26. Hurricanes (22)
Cam Ward is fantastic, but what about the rest of the team? Eric Staal is off to a slow start, and the 'Canes as a team are averaging just 2.13 goals-per-game. I don't care how good your goalie is, that's not enough offense.

27. Panthers (29)
Another team that's struggling after opening the season in Europe. Scott Clemmensen had the shortest outing of his career against Buffalo, playing just two minutes before being pulled after giving up two goals on three shots.
28. Islanders (26)
How good can John Tavares be? Look at it this way: in his first eight games he's helped Matt Moulson, a former ninth-round pick that's bounced around between Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and New York, score five goals and lead the team in scoring.

29. Wild (28)
Does Minnesota miss Jacques Lemaire? Defensively, it might. The Wild are just 2-6 and have given up nine more goals than it did at the same time a year ago.

30. Maple Leafs (30)
The good news for the Maple Leafs is they didn't lose in the past week. They also didn't play any games, but thanks to the Islanders' win against Carolina, Toronto is still the only team in the league searching for a win. The Leafs open a five-game road trip starting Saturday night in Vancouver.