Losing Alex Ovechkin for two weeks didn't stop the Washington Capitals from winning games, and he picked up right where he left off in his return, scoring his 15th goal of the season in a 4-2 win against the New York Rangers on Tuesday night. With that, the Caps take over the top spot in this week's NHL Power Rankings, while another team reclaims its familiar spot at the bottom of the pile.
- 1. Capitals (Last Week: 4) Alex Ovechkin returned to the lineup on Tuesday night and helped lead the Capitals to a 4-2 win against the Rangers. The Caps continued winning in his absence, and have earned at least a point in 14 of their past 16 games. - Adam Gretz
- 3. Devils (2) New Jersey doesn't call up prospects until they're more than ready. You don't hear much about them and then, seemingly overnight, they get solid contributions from rookies like Niclas Bergfors and Matt Halischuk. The Devils are playing six rookies most nights and keep on winning. - Christopher Botta
- 4. Avalanche (3) The beat goes on. The Avalanche keep having lapses where it looks like they might be slipping -- becoming the bad team that everyone outside of their locker room thought they would be. Then Craig Anderson makes a huge save, someone throws a huge hit, or they get a(nother) timely goal. They keep winning, and people keep waiting for them to fail. Even if it happens, you have to give Joe Sacco and his staff credit for how they've gotten these guys to play. - Bruce Ciskie
- 5. Penguins (5) The Penguins received some help on the injury front when Sergei Gonchad and Max Talbot returned on Thursday, but they're still fielding what is, essentially, a minor league defense as long as Alex Goligoski, Kris Letang, Brooks Orpik and Jay McKee are out. - Adam Gretz
- 6. Blackhawks (9) For the second time this season the Blackhawks had an offensive explosion against the Flames, scoring seven consecutive goals in Calgary on Thursday night. Rumors continue to fly about new contracts for Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith, which leaves us asking who will be going to make room under the cap? - Adam Gretz
- 7. Flames (6) Rumors of a locker-room dispute between Dion Phaneuf and coach Brent Sutter aren't helping matters. Calgary is struggling to score consistently, as they just don't have a lot of depth up front. Unless Darryl Sutter can work some deadline magic, that isn't going to change anytime soon. - Bruce Ciskie
- 8. Sabres (7) Only two games this past week, including Ryan Miller's worst outing of the season in a 6-2 loss against Florida. - Adam Gretz
- 9. Flyers (11) Philly has looked good lately and is in the middle of a crucial west coast swing against the other conference's best teams -- Colorado, San Jose and LA. - Kevin Schultz
- 10. Red Wings (10) They've rebounded nicely from a slow start and are quickly moving their way up the Western Conference standings. Henrik Zetterberg is starting to get hot with 10 points in his past four games - Adam Gretz
- 11. Kings (8) Losing Ryan Smyth is going to be costly for the Kings, as the veteran winger was having his best season in at least three years. Anze Kopitar still has a five-point lead in the scoring race. - Adam Gretz
- 12. Blue Jackets (16) Columbus loaned super-prospect Nikita Filatov to the KHL, but are playing some strong hockey, winning six of eight. Rick Nash is a beast. - Adam Gretz
- 13. Canucks (14) Give the Canucks credit. They lost a Sedin and Luongo, but somehow they were able to keep things together. Now, it's time for Luongo's annual "It's not October anymore" surge. The Canucks are way too leaky on defense, and if it doesn't get fixed, it will kill their playoff chances. - Bruce Ciskie
- 14. Rangers (12) Without Brandon Dubinsky and Chris Drury -- who wasn't scoring anyway -- the Rangers are reminiscent of the New York Knicks of old. The Knicks had Bernard King, the Rangers only have Marian Gaborik. Blueshirts better find solutions quick or they will sink like a stone. - Christopher Botta
- 15. Senators (18) They brawled with Toronto on Tuesday night, and emerged as 3-2 winners, and then dominated Pittsburgh on Thursday night. Mike Fisher had himself quite a week, scoring two goals to go with three assists. - Adam Gretz
- 16. Stars (15) Alternating wins and losses. The Stars have only won back-to-back games once this season, and only lost back-to-back games twice. - Adam Gretz
- 17. Thrashers (21) They had won four in a row (before their shootout loss to Boston) after losing six of eight. Will the real Atlanta Thrashers please stand up? - Kevin Schultz
- 18. Islanders (23) Little-known fact: in Dwayne Roloson's 12 starts, the Islanders have earned points in 11. Led by unknown Matt Moulson and his well-known young friend John Tavares, the Islanders are winning behind timely goal scoring, sturdy goaltending and the re-emergence of mammoth defenseman Andy Sutton as a physical force. - Christopher Botta
- 19. Coyotes (13) I still want to believe in the Coyotes, but they've hit a rough stretch the past couple of weeks, dropping six of nine. Ilya Bryzgalov is still playing strong between the pipes. - Adam Gretz
- 20. Predators (22) Pekka Rinne has won six of his past seven starts, while Nashville has won four in a row as a team. Offense is still a struggle as no player has more than five goals after 20 games - Adam Gretz
- 21. Lightning (17) Steven Stamkos is turning into a star. He's leading the team in goals and points, and his tally against the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night was one of the best you'll see all season. - Adam Gretz
- 22. Canadiens (19) Brian Gionta, eight goals in 19 games, is going to miss some time with a broken bone in his left foot. Of their 10 wins this season, only two of them have come in regulation. - Adam Gretz
- 23. Bruins (20) The Bruins ended a three-game losing streak with a shootout win against Atlanta on Thursday, helping to salvage a week that included an improbable loss in Pittsburgh when they were 0.4 seconds away from a win. - Adam Gretz
- 24. Oilers (24) So far, Pat Quinn has done nothing that Craig MacTavish couldn't, outside of getting Dustin Penner to be a beast again. The Oilers still aren't bringing a consistent effort, they don't have the strong defensive play they had on their Cup Finals run, and they don't have the look of a serious contender. That said, Quinn has done some good things with this team, and there's a lot of hockey left. - Bruce Ciskie
- 25. Panthers (27) They're starting to play better, but still find themselves near the bottom of the conference. Still waiting for Nathan Horton to turn it on in the goal-scoring department. - Adam Gretz
- 26. Blues (25) Only two wins in their past nine games. Surprising stat? Defenseman Erik Johnson is leading the team in scoring with 13 points. - Adam Gretz
- 27. Ducks (26) Scott Niedermayer helped the Ducks end a four-game losing streak with an overtime winner against Tampa Bay, and then watched as fans fought for his game-used stick. - Adam Gretz
- 28. Wild (28) Ouch. A Wednesday night loss to Phoenix seemed to frustrate head coach Todd Richards, who conducted an intense practice Thursday morning. Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that guys were breaking and throwing their sticks around. It's been a frustrating start for the Wild, who sit in 14th in the West. It doesn't get much better with news that Martin Havlat is dinged up, joining Petr Sykora, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, and Chuck Kobasew on an injured list that could probably beat the rest of the active roster. - Bruce Ciskie
- 29. Hurricanes (30) Epic losing streak over! Hopefully Manny Legace can keep this situation from getting uglier. - Kevin Schultz
- 30. Maple Leafs (29) Ugh. Back to the basement. After a brief two-game winning streak that saw them knock off Carolina and Detroit, the Leafs have since lost five in a row, including Thursday's highly entertaining loss to the 'Canes that saw them blow a 3-0 lead, as well as a 5-4 lead with 30 seconds to play. - Adam Gretz
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
The Avs are 4-5-1 in their last 10 games including an 8-2 loss AT HOME against Vancouver and you have them ranked as the 4th best team in the leauge? So much for the integrity of this article.
Good to see the Islanders moving up a little bit.
They started slow, but in their last 11 they are 7-2-2
The Isles have some good young players and it is starting to pay dividends.
How in the hell does everyone else in the world have the Blackhawks at number one or two and this hack site has them at 6th. Let me ask you a question, do you even watch the NHL???????