1. Pittsburgh Penguins (11-3-0): The Pens lead the league with 11 wins after posting a 2-1 record this week, and remaining a perfect 6-0 on the road. Pittsburgh has a West Coast swing coming this week with games in Anaheim, Los Angeles, and San Jose. Chris Kunitz flipped the switch finally and now has 11 points. He’ll play his old ’mates in Anaheim on Tuesday.

 

 

 

2. Colorado Avalanche (10-2-2): The Avs are still tied with the Pens for the best record in the NHL. Peter Budaj, who was supposed to split the goaltending duties with Craig Anderson, has the swine flu. Meanwhile, Anderson (10-2-2, 2.04 GAA) is making a case for Olympic inclusion. Ryan O’Reilly has thrown his name into the Calder Trophy discussion with 11 points in 14 games.

 

3. San Jose Sharks (10-4-1): After a busy week, the Sharks find themselves on a five-game winning streak. San Jose leaps up from 10th after going 4-0 and outscoring opponents 14-4. Defenseman Dan Boyle has 13 points in 15 games and is playing well with an ‘A’ on his jersey.

 

4. Washington Capitals (8-2-3): The Caps’ six-game win streak was snapped by a 4-3 OT loss to the Islanders. Alex Ovechkin has 23 points and is showing no signs of slowing down. Semyon Varlamov (3.20 GAA, .895 save percentage) is 5-0 and getting more goal support than Jose Theodore (2.66, .915).

 

 

 

5. Buffalo Sabres (8-2-1): Buffalo is looking like an elite team, and Ryan Miller (1.86 GAA, .936 save percentage) is my pick for the Vezina so far. Derek Roy still has no goals. Scoring is still a question, and who knows where the Sabres would be without Miller in goal?

 

 

6. Chicago Blackhawks (8-4-1): The Hawks went 2-1 this week with wins over Minnesota and Montreal. A five-day rest follows before back-to-back away games in Phoenix and Colorado. Defenseman Brent Sopel has fallen off the charts; he has played all but one game and has zero points.

 

 
 

7. New Jersey Devils (8-4-0): Will Devils fans stop showing up to home games? The Devils are 7-0 on the road and just 1-4 at home. Dainius Zubrus scored two goals in his last three games. The injuries are mounting, with Paul Martin, Jay Pandolfo, and Patrik Elias still out.

 

 

8. Phoenix Coyotes (9-4-0): The Coyotes are still playing good hockey and still getting NO support. Fewer than 7,000 people witnessed a 3-2 shootout win over Anaheim on Saturday. Their three-game winning streak will get tested in a busy week, with games against Los Angeles, Colorado, Chicago, and the Ducks.

 

 

9. New York Rangers (8-5-1): First, the good news: Marian Gaborik is healthy and scored the game’s only goal on Sunday in a 1-0 win over the Bruins. That win also stopped a two game losing streak. The bad news: Games in Vancouver, Edmonton, and Calgary are next and threaten to push the Blueshirts closer to .500.

 

 

 

10. Los Angeles Kings (8-4-2): The Kings are looking like playoff contenders and people are noticing: The average attendance at Staples Center is around 16,000. Alexander Frolov is out of the doghouse and onto the score sheet, with 12 points in 13 games.

 

 

11. Calgary Flames (7-4-1): The Flames went 0-2 this week with losses to Detroit and Colorado. Dion Phaneuf is enjoying a productive season so far, with nine points and his usual complement of ridiculous hits. Jay Bouwmeester has six points in 12 games.

 

 

 

12. Ottawa Senators (6-4-2): The Sens are still playing average hockey. They unloaded 51 shots on Atlanta goalie Ondrej Pavelic on Saturday and lost 3-1. Jason Spezza still has no goals this year. The Heatley trade is starting to heavily favor the Sharks; Milan Michalek is playing well but Jonathan Cheechoo has no goals and 2 assists in 12 games.

 

 

13. Philadelphia Flyers (6-4-1): The Flyers have gone 1-2 this week as they are looking less impressive. The usual suspects (Simon Gagne, Daniel Briere) have been put on the injured list. Rookie winger James Van Riemsdyk is picking up some of the slack, with 10 points in nine games.

 

 

 

14. Dallas Stars (6-3-5): The Stars went 1-1-1 this week and are in fourth place in a very competitive Pacific Division. Captain Brenden Morrow is enjoying a productive, injury-free season so far with 13 points.

 

 

15. Edmonton Oilers (7-6-1): The Oilers were shut out three times this week — by the Bruins, Avs, and Canucks. Their only win came in a 6-5 win over Detroit. The Islanders and Rangers arrive this week, with a five-game road trip to follow Thursday’s home matchup with the Rangers.

 

 

 

16. Columbus Blue Jackets (6-5-1): The Jackets took a step back this week, going 0-2-1. Losses to the Kings, Coyotes, and Penguins bring them into their Sunday night matchup in D.C. Calder Trophy winner Steve Mason (.881 save percentage and 3.48 goals against average) is not playing like he did last year.

 

 

17. Boston Bruins (6-6-1): The Bruins certainly don’t look like the powerhouse of a season ago. Phil Kessel’s absence was noticeable in a 2-1 loss to the Devils and 1-0 loss to the Rangers this week. Their only win since Oct. 24 came on Halloween, a 2-0 win over Edmonton.

 

 

18. Montreal Canadiens (7-7-0): The Habs went 2-2 this week. Brian Gionta has cooled off and sits at eight points through the team’s first 14 games. Jaroslav Halak (5-2) is very close to winning the starting goalie position over Carey Price (2-5).

 

 

19. Atlanta Thrashers (5-4-1): Ondrej Pavelec is certainly the goaltender of the week. He was completely under siege in Ottawa on Saturday, facing 51 shots, and only gave up one goal. Pavelec is making sure the Thrashers don’t miss Kari Lehtonen (back surgery). Nik Antropov is trying to score his first goal of the season but Max Afinogenov (10 games, seven points) looks happy in baby blue.

 

 

20. Vancouver Canucks (7-7-0): The Canucks are experiencing an injury frenzy and are playing .500 hockey. Daniel Sedin, Roberto Luongo, Sami Salo, and Rick Rypien are still out of the lineup. The Canucks look to rebound from an embarrassing 7-2 loss to the lowly Ducks before blanking the red-hot Avalanche behind Andrew Raycroft.
 

21. Detroit Red Wings (5-4-3): The Wings appear to have woken up and start playing hockey in a 2-0-1 week. Pavel Datsyuk has turned on; he’s got 10 points and sits in second on the team in points.

 

22. Tampa Bay Lightning (4-3-4): The Bolts went 1-0-1 this week, including a 2-1 shootout loss to the Devils in which they looked horrific. Tampa recorded 19 shots on goal while yielding 38. Tampa visits the Flyers, Leafs, Sens, and Habs this week.

 

 

23. St. Louis Blues (5-6-1): The Blues started off hot and quickly cooled, as they sit in last place in a less-than-impressive Central Division. The Blues have been shut out in back-to-back games by the Coyotes and the Panthers. They have four days to think things over before facing the Flames and Flyers at the end of the week.

 

 

 

24. Nashville Predators (6-6-1): The Preds are playing well of late, winning three straight. They are doing it without Jason Arnott, who has now missed six games. J.P. Dumont missed four games with dizziness and still holds the team lead in points.

 

 

25. Minnesota Wild (5-9-0): The Wild are tied with the Ducks for the worst record in the West. Their play on the road is going to have to get better (1-8-0). So will an offense, that’s averaging little more than two goals per game.

 

 

 

26. Anaheim Ducks (4-6-1): The Ducks are struggling and have the fewest wins of any team in the Western Conference. Handing Toronto its first win was the low point, though they gained some confidence by scoring seven on a decimated Canucks squad Friday. Ryan Getzlaf, Scott Niedermayer and Saku Koivu have one goal each, and need to rescue this team out of the basement before it is too late.

 

 

27. New York Islanders (4-4-5): The Isles are starting to play some good hockey while making the Atlantic Division even tougher to play in. The Isles went 3-0-1 this week, including a very impressive 5-0 win over the Sabres on Sunday.

 

 

28. Florida Panthers (4-7-1): The Panthers are one of three teams yet to gain 10 points in the standings. Nathan Horton (goal, six assists in his last three games) must have read these rankings (or anyone’s) the past few weeks; he’s up to 10 points in 12 games.

 

 

 

29. Toronto Maple Leafs (1-8-4): The Leafs are getting some much-needed scoring in the lineup Tuesday, when Kessel is expected to make his debut in blue and white. Tomas Kaberle is having an impressive season so far as he leads the team with 17 points.

 

 

30. Carolina Hurricanes (2-8-3): The Canes now have nine losses in a row and are competing with the Leafs for the title of the league’s Most Ridiculously Awful Team. After last year’s playoffs, Cam Ward was throwing himself into the discussion for Team Canada’s No. 1 goaltender. Now he’s 28th in the NHL in goals-against average and has appeared in all but one game.

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