October 29, 2009
NHL Power Rankings - Oct. 29th, 2009
To the surprise of many, Colorado continues its dominance of the West while Detroit continues to sputter. The Montreal Canadiens make a big jump, while the Minnesota Wild and Ottawa Senators take a big plunge.
1. (1) Pittsburgh Penguins
The Penguins have lost Gonchar for four weeks (at least), but they've been here before. Young blueliners Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski are filling in nicely, and Sidney Crosby's goal-assist numbers look reversed compared to his past seasons. Still, losing Evgeny Malkin for 2-3 weeks will force Pittsburgh to dig deep in order to remain on top.
2. (3) Colorado Avalanche
The Avs are 10-1-2 and actually top the Penguins in points, but we are all wondering how long this ride will last. We're not saying Craig Anderson won't take them to the playoffs, but Vancouver and/or Calgary should be coming into form anytime now.
3. (14) Buffalo Sabres
The 7-1-1 Sabres make a huge leap into the #3 slot, thanks to a solid team game on offense and defense. Good decision by Lindy Ruff and the staff to keep rookie behemoth defenseman Tyler Myers; we're all looking forward to a Chara-Myers ruckus.
4. (10) Washington Capitals
Alexander Ovechkin is doing what he does best, and as a result, the Capitals are winning. Both Jose Theodore and Semyon Varlamov have registered wins recently, giving fans a bit more confidence in Washington's goaltending.
5. (12) Los Angeles Kings
The Kings continue to dominate on the power play and at full strength with Anze Kopitar (21 points) and Ryan Smyth (15 points). Sophomore Drew Doughty is tied for 2nd-most points by a defenseman, yet Los Angeles has the second-worst Goals Against total in the league.
6. (7) San Jose Sharks
The Big Three of Thornton, Marleau and Heatley have combined for 20 goals and 28 assists over 12 games. The Sharks appear to be returning to their dominant 2008-2009 form, and it'll be interesting to see how long the Kings will be able to keep up with them.
7. (4) Chicago Blackhawks
The team isn't fully healthy (Brent Seabrook, Jonathan Toews) but Marian Hossa is well on his way towards a full recovery. A shutout by Cristobal Huet temporarily silenced his critics, but this could actually be Antti Niemi's time to take the reins.
8. (6) Calgary Flames
The Flames are 7-3-1, thanks to a scorching-hot Rene Borque (14 total points) and a 2nd-ranked power play. If by some strange accident Borque is still around in your fantasy league, snag him right now.
9. (2) New York Rangers
The Rangers have been mediocre despite leading the league with 47 team goals. Marian Gaborik (10 goals) didn't play last night against the Islanders, which is giving the Rangers' fans an understandable scare.
10. (9) Phoenix Coyotes
No defense has impressed us more this season than the Coyotes' group. Ranking 2nd in the NHL in goals-against (23 in 11 games), this unit is being led by the somehow-rejuvenated Ed Jovanovski and Adrian Aucoin. Ilya Bryzgalov is talented, but not 1.97 GAA-talented.
11. (15) New Jersey Devils
The Devils go as far as Martin Brodeur takes them. (Though, to his credit, backup Yann Danis played exceptionally well in tonight's 2-1 win over Boston.) Zach Parise continues to provide a big percentage of New Jersey's offense with six goals in nine games.
12. (22) Vancouver Canucks
Speaking of elite goaltenders, Roberto Luongo has found his groove. With Daniel Sedin, Pavel Demitra and Sami Salo out with injuries, yet again it's on Lou to pull his 6-6-0 squad above .500.
13. (21) Dallas Stars
The Stars make a big jump into the top half of the league, having only lost twice in regulation. Brad Richards, James Neal and Loui Eriksson all have more than 10 points.
14. (16) Philadelphia Flyers
Philadelphia is in limbo right now, playing great one night and poorly the next. Simon Gagne is having injury troubles again, and is now on the long-term IR. The Flyers need forwards besides Mike Richards and Jeff Carter to both produce offense and be defensively responsible.
15. (24) Montreal Canadiens
The retooled Canadiens finally looked like a team with three wins in a row, including an impressive showing against the Rangers. Yeah, they got sacked by the Cup-champion Penguins, but there's still plenty to build on; Michael Cammalleri, Brian Gionta and Scott Gomez are starting to win over the Montreal faithful, and goaltender Jaroslav Halak is making a strong case for the #1 role.
16. (5) Columbus Blue Jackets
The Blue Jackets have stumbled recently, with sophomore netminder Steve Mason looking much more mortal than he did in 2008-2009. Any Ken Hitchcock team should be able to overcome a rough patch, though; we're not worried.
17. (17) St. Louis Blues
St. Louis continues it's climb towards the top of the Central Division, but it's been a bumpy road. Fan favorite T.J. Oshie is out with an appendectomy, while the Blues' other young skaters (Patrick Berglund, David Backes, etc.) are finally starting to look comfortable out there.
18. (19) Boston Bruins
With Marc Savard and Milan Lucic out, Boston is struggling mightily. Tonight's 2-1 loss to the Brodeur-less Devils came on a late game-winning goal by Travis Zajac, but the B's should be handling these kinds of matches with ease.
19. (11) Edmonton Oilers
Just like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Dustin Penner has been reborn (8 goals and 15 points).
...was that a bit much? Yeah, we thought so.
20. (8) Ottawa Senators
Ottawa has taken a spill in our rankings, capping an abysmal stretch with a 5-2 loss to Tampa Bay tonight.
21. (23) Tampa Bay Lightning
Martin St. Louis (13 points) and Steven Stamkos (7 goals) are carrying the Lightning these days as Vinny Lecavalier and Mike Smith are struggling. Rookie defenseman Victor Hedman looks to be fitting into the NHL just fine.
22. (18) Detroit Red Wings
Slow starts from Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg...a four-month absence of Johan Franzen...key losses of Jiri Hudler, Marian Hossa and Co...
The Red Wings can overcome all of this. The only thing standing in their way?
Chris Osgood.
23. (13) Atlanta Thrashers
No Ilya Kovalchuk. 'Nuff said.
24. (25) Nashville Predators
Same story for the offensively-anemic Predators: no goal-scoring, and a league-worst 10.3% power play efficiency.
25. (20) Anaheim Ducks
Anaheim is 3-6-1. Ryan Getzlaf is a shadow of his former self, the whole Selanne-Koivu thing hasn't been generating results, and the Ducks somehow went from having two reliable goaltenders to none.
26. (28) New York Islanders
The Isles' win over the Gaborik-less Rangers was a good moral victory for the team, but they've moved up two spots mostly because of other teams moving down.
27. (26) Carolina Hurricanes
The Hurricanes are 2-6-3 and rank in the bottom third of the league in both Goals For and Goals Against. Ray Whitney leads his team with 8 points in 11 games, and Eric Staal is nowhere to be seen.
28. (19) Minnesota Wild
No team has more regulation losses than Minnesota's nine, and they are 0-8-0 on the road. Despite having some of their top forwards on the IR, the Wild made Petr Sykora (one goal in six games) a healthy scratch last night against the Predators.
29. (27) Florida Panthers
The Panthers are dead last in the NHL with 22 Goals For, and have a third-worst 39 Goals Against.
30. (30) Toronto Maple Leafs
It only took a hat-trick by Niklas Hagman, five power-play goals, and a zombie-like opponent in Anaheim for the Maple Leafs to register their first win of the 2009-2010 season. And then they lose to the Stars the following night in OT.
Still, these days in Toronto, two games without a regulation loss is something to be proud of.
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