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Power Rankings: A change at the top Print
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Monday, November 09, 2009 03:15
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HPT Power Rankings (Week 6):




It seems to happen once a year. Richard Zednik. Adam Burish. Clint Malarchuk. Teemu Selanne.

This week, Cam Ward joined the list of hockey players who found themselves on the wrong end of skate blades, and we hope it's the last one we see this year. It's more bad news for a Carolina team that seems mired at the bottom of the rankings. The defending Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins, once mired at the top, are slipping thanks to injuries of their own.

Who  dethroned the champs this week?

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1. San Jose Sharks (12-4-2): The Sharks went 2-0-1 this week and got Joe Pavelski back in the lineup in a 5-0 romping of the Penguins on Saturday. The trio of Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton, and Dany Heatley have combined for 63 points just 18 games into the season.



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2. Colorado Avalanche (12-3-2): The Avs are still playing some terrific hockey, tied with the Sharks for the best record in the league. Peter Budaj is healthy but, unfortunately for him, it doesn’t look like he’s the team’s number one choice in net.



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3. Pittsburgh Penguins (12-5-0): The Pens went 1-2-0 this week. Evgeni Malkin is nursing an injury and the Pens won’t be able to stay on top for long without him. Marc-Andre Fleury gave up five goals to Los Angeles on Thursday before giving up four and getting pulled in San Jose on Saturday.



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4. Washington Capitals (10-3-4): Besides a loss to the Devils, the Caps don’t seem to have missed a beat without Alex Ovechkin in the lineup. The team swept a weekend home-and-home with the Florida Panthers with 4-1 and 7-4 wins. The Caps have three days off until the Islanders and Wild come into D.C. on Wednesday and Friday. Ovechkin eyes a Saturday return in New Jersey.


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5. New Jersey Devils (11-4-0): A five-game winning streak and an 8-0 record on the road is darn impressive considering Patrik Elias, Rob Niedermayer, Jay Pandolfo, Paul Martin, and Johnny Oduya were out of the lineup Saturday in Ottawa. Elias was impressive Friday but rested Saturday and will look to return full-time Wednesday. Andy Greene has stepped up to look like a number one D-man in the absence of Martin and Oduya.


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6. Los Angeles Kings (10-5-2): Following a 2-1 week, Anze Kopitar is the league leader in points and Ryan Smyth is looking like he did in Edmonton, with 20 points in 17 games. The Kings have a tough week coming up with four road games in six days.



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7. Calgary Flames (10-4-1): The Flames finished a 3-0 week by beating the Rangers on Saturday. Rene Bourque still leads the team in points with 17. Dion Phaneuf (six goals) is playing very well after coming under fire by fans and media.



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8. Philadelphia Flyers (9-4-1): The Flyers go into their four-day break riding a four-game winning streak. Besides the injuries, the flu bug has hit the Flyers locker room. Ray Emery has played all but one game this season and still looks solid.



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9. Buffalo Sabres (9-4-1): The Sabres went 1-2 this week, including losses to the Flyers and Bruins. Losing three of their last four, is this team slowing down? The Sabres remain in first place almost by default, in a Northeast Division where no team is on fire.


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10. New York Rangers (10-7-1): In a 2-2 week, the Blueshirts lost Chris Drury and Brandon Dubinsky to injury. They’ll get four days to recover before hosting the Atlanta Thrashers. Marian Gaborik and Vinny Prospal continue to be two of the most productive players in the league.



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11. Chicago Blackhawks (8-5-2): The Hawks dropped out of the top eight in the West this week, losing both of their games. Next week doesn’t look to get any easier as the Kings and Avs visit. The Hawks better look to right the ship by Sunday’s home game against the Sharks; they only have two wins on the road and a six-game road trip follows.


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12. Phoenix Coyotes (10-7-0): The Coyotes lost three of four this week, and all signs point to a slowdown in an increasingly tough Pacific Division. If only 5,855 people saw the Coyotes lose to the Kings last Monday, then did it really happen?



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13. Columbus Blue Jackets (9-5-2): The Blue Jackets have been on a tear lately and now sit on top of the Central Division. While that’s impressive, they’ll have a tough time staying there with a goals for-to-goals against ratio of 51-to-54. The Steve Mason of last year is going to have to make an appearance to right the ship.


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14. Vancouver Canucks (10-8-0): The Canucks went 3-1 this week despite being hit hardest by a league-wide injury bug. Henrik Sedin’s foot injury was just a false alarm. He hasn’t missed a game and still leads the team in points. Ryan Kesler has 16 points and is enjoying his best season so far. Andrew Raycroft has been a solid replacement while Roberto Luongo is healing.



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15. Ottawa Senators (7-5-2): The Sens blew a 2-0 lead Saturday in a home loss to New Jersey, but are still playing well. Jason Spezza only has one goal this year and the team would benefit greatly if he were able to start finding the net on a regular basis. Jonathan Cheechoo: 14 games, 0 goals.



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16. Dallas Stars (7-4-6): The Stars sit in fourth place in the Pacific Division after a 1-1-1 week. The team has four days off before taking the ultimate test by traveling to the Shark Tank on Thursday. Loui Eriksson is the latest youngster to step up as he has 15 points in 17 games.



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17. Detroit Red Wings (7-5-3): The Wings went 2-1 this week, getting two strong starts (and one bad one) from Chris Osgood. Scoring is still a concern: Nick Lidstrom is averaging a point every three games and Pavel Datsyuk is still not at the top of his game.



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18. Boston Bruins (7-7-2): The B’s are doing a decent job of staying afloat until the injured players (Savard, Lucic, Krejci) can return to the lineup. The Bruins will face the Penguins twice following a 1-1-1 week.



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19. Montreal Canadiens (8-9-0): The Habs fell below .500 with a 1-2 week. Brian Gionta scored his seventh goal in a loss to visiting Tampa Bay on Saturday. It’s hard to believe that one player, Andrei Markov, could influence the team so much with his absence.



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20. Edmonton Oilers (7-8-1): The Oilers snapped a three-game losing streak Sunday with a 5-3 win over Colorado. Ales Hemsky only has four goals through 16 games, and the team is 12th in the league at 2.94 goals per game. Denis Grebeshkov stands out in a bad way in the plus/minus column with a minus-8 stat.


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21. Tampa Bay Lightning (6-4-5): The Bolts sit in second place in the worst division in hockey, seven points behind the first-place Capitals. Vinny Lecavalier only has two goals and Martin St. Louis has three. If it weren’t for Steven Stamkos, this team would be lucky to score at all.



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22. Atlanta Thrashers (6-6-1): The Thrashers went 1-2 this week as they continue to play without superstar Ilya Kovalchuk. Rich Peverley leads the team in points and Nik Antropov is still looking for his first goal. Johan Hedberg may be seeing more action soon as Ondrej Pavelec is like an on/off switch in net. He’s either Patrick Roy or Dan Cloutier on any night.


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23. New York Islanders (6-6-5): The Islanders got some bad news Wednesday, when Radek Martinek was pushed into the boards awkwardly by Zach Parise and will be out for the season. The Isles are playing some good hockey at home with a 5-2-2 record. Matt Moulson (who?) is tied with John Tavares for the team lead in goals. Dwayne Roloson has looked good in net; Martin Biron has not.


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24. Nashville Predators (6-6-1): The injured Preds fell down to Earth in a 1-1 week, losing to the Ducks and beating the Kings on a Southern California swing. Scoring is even more scarce without leading scorer J.P. Dumont, who hasn’t played in November because of an upper-body injury.


25. Anaheim Ducks (6-7-2): Scott Niedermayer won’t get to play his brother Wednesday in New Jersey as Rob is sidelined with an upper-body injury. Ryan Getzlaf (one goal) seems too content to pass. Jonas Hiller remains the number one goalie with J.S. Giguere sidelined with a strained groin, though Giguere is expected to return, at least as a backup, on the four-game road trip.



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26. St. Louis Blues (5-6-4): The Blues are closing in on the basement of the Western Conference. It’s not a good sign when your leading scorer is 37-year-old Keith Tkachuk, with nine points in 15 games. Patrik Berglund was a player on everyone’s radar to begin the season but he has been disappointing so far (four points in 14 games).


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27. Minnesota Wild (6-10-0): The Wild sit at the bottom of the Western Conference with six wins. If things don’t improve, expect Marek Zidlicky and Andrew Brunette to draw interest from contenders. The Wild now have a four-game road trip with stops in Toronto, Tampa, Washington, and Carolina.



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28. Florida Panthers (5-9-1): The Cats got pounded in a home-and-home with Washington this weekend by scores of 4-1 and 7-4. They have four days to regroup before traveling to Boston on Thursday, then returning home Saturday for a date with the Islanders in the “Battle For Relocation Rights!” matchup.



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29. Toronto Maple Leafs (3-7-5): The Leafs are out of the Eastern Conference basement and are playing some decent hockey for a change. The Leafs head west this week to face the Wild, Blackhawks and Flames. Phil Kessel has three points in his first three games of the season.



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30. Carolina Hurricanes (2-11-3): Guys, I know you like to start off slow and then pick things up later and surprise everyone in the playoffs, but this isn’t funny anymore. The Canes are just flat-out terrible. To make things worse, Cam Ward (gruesome leg cut) is expected out of the hospital Monday and will miss at least four weeks. Also, former Selke winner Rod Brind’Amour is a minus-12. Who saw that coming?

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Last Updated on Monday, November 09, 2009 08:45