Planning a parade down Broadway is premature, but the Rangers are certainly doing their best to give their fans hope. They've won six straight games and fan favorite Sean Avery has been freed from his exile in the AHL (at least, momentarily).
1 New York Rangers (9-3-3) – The Rangers have won six straight and Sean Avery scored his first goal of the season, and the lone first period goal, in New York’s 5-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. We can only hope that NHL 24/7 captures how gloriously awkward we imagine that locker room was during intermission.
2 Chicago Blackhawks (11-4-3) – Wow. Even mouth surgery won’t be able to shut Dan Carcillo up.
3 Pittsburgh Penguins (10-4-3) – Crosby Watch ’11 has officially started, as Sid the Concussion was rumored to be returning to action over the weekend but disappointed us all by thinking about his health first. How selfish of him.
4 Detroit Red Wings (9-5-1) – Ian White will miss Detroit’s upcoming road trip with a fractured cheekbone. If the Wings' season has taught us anything so far, White might be back in time to join in to Detroit’s next maddening losing streak.
5 Boston Bruins (8-7-0) – Tyler Seguin is fourth in the league in points and second in goals. Something tells me that trading Phil Kessel is working out pretty well for the Bruins.
6 Dallas Stars (11-5-0) – If you haven’t noticed, Eric Nystrom is working out pretty well with the Stars.
7 Washington Capitals (10-4-1) – The Caps’ blue line is so depleted right now that Brooks Laich played defense for them on Saturday night against the New Jersey Devils. Even if it’s something he works on, something tells me it’s not something he wants to have to do often.
8 Florida Panthers (8-5-3) – Embattled Evgeny Dadonov is returning to the lineup with Scottie Upshall on the shelf. It’s always good that you’ve got a team with enough depth that you can call up your lone All-Star from last season to fill in.
9 Toronto Maple Leafs (10-6-1) – Phil Kessel is first in the league in points and goals. Something tells me that trading for him is working out pretty well for the Leafs.
10 Buffalo Sabres (10-6-0) – In case you didn’t know, Ryan Miller doesn’t like Milan Lucic anymore, especially now that he has a concussion.
11 Phoenix Coyotes (8-4-3) – Phoenix has been playing well to start the season, but the true test is going to come on its longest road trip of the season. Thankfully for them, this road trip doesn’t involve a return to Winnipeg.
12 San Jose Sharks (9-5-1) – Logan Couture got left off the NHL All-Star fan ballot and, to no one’s surprise, he’s not too worried about it.
13 Edmonton Oilers (9-6-2) – It’s never a good thing when you can’t find your goals.
14 Philadelphia Flyers (9-4-3) – Apparently it's time for the Flyers to get back to business – presuming that their game against the Lightning isn’t being lumped into their vacation.
15 Nashville Predators (8-5-3) – If you’re like most people, you’re probably asking yourself who is Craig Smith? Not the artist that specializes in multiple mediums; the kid who’s leading the Predators right now.
16 Los Angeles Kings (8-6-3) – Congratulations to Terry Murray on his 1,000th win. Also, congratulations to Terry Murray for being the oldest coach in the league. The latter gets you nothing more than a good ribbing.
17 Minnesota Wild (9-5-3) – If their current two-game slide – by a combined score of 8-3 – wasn’t bad enough, Minnesota is now going to be without Guillaume Latendresse and Marco Scandella. So, in other words, they’re not getting help anytime soon.
18 New Jersey Devils (8-6-1) – Ask anyone who follows the Devils these days who their best player is and you’ll get the same answer: Adam Henrique.
19 Tampa Bay Lightning (8-6-2) – Did you hear? The Lightning played a really boring game on Wednesday. There's no shortage of opinions out there already, but here's one question: when did the defense become responsible for the offense?
20 St. Louis Blues (8-7-1) – In other news, St. Louis didn’t seem to mind Tampa’s system one bit. Just sayin’, Chris.
21 Montreal Canadiens (7-7-2) – Some are concerned about Montreal’s offense and it could be valid. Defense wins championships, but offense wins games.
22 Vancouver Canucks (9-8-1) – Aaron Rome wasn’t suspended for his hit on Ducks rookie Devante Smith-Pelly, nor was he fined. Good thing, too – the "Vote 4 Rome" campaign starting in Vancouver could potentially have an entertaining end.
23 Ottawa Senators (8-9-1) – Admit it. The first thing you thought when you saw the headline “St. Denis leads Bulldogs past Senators in Ottawa” was that the Sens got beat by an AHL team.
24 Calgary Flames (7-8-1) – The annual earning power of Calgary’s healthy scratches lately: $7 million. That just screams “good personnel decisions.”
25 Colorado Avalanche (8-8-1) – Colorado is 3-6-1 in its last 10 games and 1-4-1 in its last six after starting the season 6-2-0. Is it time to start the Joe Sacco Watch yet?
26 Carolina Hurricanes (6-8-3) – Many think the reason that Eric Staal is struggling this season is because of his hit on his brother. That’s just ridiculous. Most people would pay to give their brother a concussion.
27 Anaheim Ducks (6-8-3) – Lubomir Visnovsky is going to miss time with a broken finger and a result of that is going to be Kurtis Foster seeing more power-play time. This should excite Ducks fans and terrify Ducks forwards who have to screen his slap shot.
28 Winnipeg Jets (5-9-3) – The Jets are still undergoing some growing pains in Winnipeg, which is to be expected. No one's talking about moving the team to a non-traditional market, so they’ve got that going for them.
29 New York Islanders (4-7-3) – Kyle Okposo is having a rough start to the year. Like, really rough.
30 Columbus Blue Jackets (3-12-1) – The Blue Jackets won a game. That is all.
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