Week 1 of the Power Rankings brought on some thunderous debates from the masses. Some thought we were downright insane with our picks and some actually thought we were just about right. The latter is more scary than the former…believe me! This week we seek to stir up even more banter with Week 2 of The Power Rankings.
So get your Friday on and time to get this thing started. As always we go in reverse order from 15 to 1. Our results this week are based somewhat on the body of work and previous rankings combined with what happened in this week’s course of hockey events.
Time to see if your team made the cut so to speak…..
15. Ottawa Senators (15-11-4, 34 pts, LW: 2-2 PR: 14)
Why did they drop? Well one shutout last night against an inept team on the road does not make up for other meltdowns this week (see Montreal loss in particular). It was great to see Brian Elliott get the shutout last night but the key may be how he and the team follows this Philly win up with winnable games against Carolina and Toronto on the horizon. That will tell us also if they stay in the TOP HALF or not for next week. Ottawa has to score more goals as well. Where are their top guys? That question hopefully gets answered this coming week.
14. Columbus Blue Jackets (14-11-6, 34 pts. LW: 1-1-1 PR: 13)
Well in a word…a shutout, a bad loss, and an OT loss. This is not exactly a week that would keep you in the Top 15 but not too many teams had impressive weeks in the 10-15 grouping except for maybe Nashville. Steve Mason is finally starting to turn it around but is still giving up some god awful goals. He only gave up 3 goals this week in 2 games and that is progress. Also Mason got his first shutout of the season against the Florida Panthers. Rick Nash scored again (2 pts) last night against Nashville and the PP is still pretty lethal. Their next two games are at home against Anaheim and Nashville…got to get at least 3 of 4 points or all 4 here.
13. Phoenix Coyotes (18-11-2, 38 pts, PR: NR)
Dave Tippett and crew play it close to the vest. You have heard it 1 million times before. Well it helps your goalie and defense in particular and Phoenix is sold on this system. They may play some real clunkers at times but “Nobody Beats The Bryz” who has 4 shutouts on the season. Phoenix was 2-0-1 on the week despite scoring only 7 goals. They fought back hard for a point last night against Los Angeles. Their leading goal scorer is Scotty Upshall so this team is not going to blitz you with offense. There is no Malkin-Crosby combo or even maybe a Zach Parise to dazzle you. They just play HARD. This week they play home to San Jose and at Detroit in their next two. Those would be a test for the young Phoenix team.
12. Atlanta Thrashers (15-11-3, 33 pts, LW: 1-3 PR: 9
Ouch…falling three spots this week on a brutal road trip. I know it seems cold but Atlanta did not play all that well either. For a team that was really good on the road, this might hurt the young team a bit down the road because we saw the dark side of Ondrej Pavelec come out for the first time all season. The loss to Toronto was also nasty. Thankfully this week their next two come against Montreal and the New York Rangers. That may help some and it may let the duo of Moose and Pavelec get a win maybe two. The other key is the defense has to get back to what it was doing in the first 24 games and not what they have done for most of the last 5.
11. Colorado Avalanche (17-10-6, 40 pts, LW: 2-1 PR: 11
Steady as she goes. The Avs were 2-1 last week only suffering a tough 1-0 loss to Minnesota on Wednesday at home. They beat Columbus and St. Louis on the road to start off the week. Sometimes you never quite know which Colorado team you are going to get but they have been right around .500 since their ultra hot start. That is very encouraging considering many expected them to fall right off the table about now or sooner. The big thing for Colorado other than the steady goaltending of Budaj and Anderson (for the most part) has been the health of Paul Stastny (32 pts in 33 games). Stastny has helped lead this team offensively and even Milan Hejduk has chipped in with 12 goals. Home games Friday against Tampa and Sunday against Calgary await Colorado.
10. Nashville Predators (18-11-2, 38 pts, LW: 3-1 PR: 12
A pretty good week but always a tiny bit of concern thrown in. A huge road win at Chicago to start the week followed by a dud against Minnesota topped off with home wins against Vancouver and Columbus. The last two teams are teams that Nashville has to keep on beating if they want to ultimately make the playoffs. Martin Erat made an appearance this week netting a hat trick against Vancouver and the Preds need more of that. Pekka Rinne has been holding down the fort for a team that does give a little more up defensively than last season and that is a bit of a concern going forward. With Arnott and Sullivan working magically together, maybe Nashville can offset that some. Their next two are home to Detroit and at Columbus. A bit tougher test.
9. Buffalo Sabres (17-9-2, 36 pts, LW: 1-2 PR: 7)
Losing to New Jersey is not so bad but losing to the Rangers is much worse. Yes they came up big against Washington last night but that only makes up for so much worse when the margin in the Top 10 is too close to call. Ryan Miller gave up only 5 goals in 3 games this week yet went 1-2 because the Sabres scored 4 goals. Paging Vanek and Pominville…..STAT! The Sabres have 76 goals in 28 games which is not too bad but not too great either. See New Jersey with 85 in 29 games for later example. With Chicago coming to town tonight they are going to have to start scoring and going to MSG tomorrow to play the Rangers, something is going to have to give. Well that and Miller cannot play both….or can he? All of the team’s wins have come from Ryan Miller.
8. Boston Bruins (16-9-5, 37 pts, LW: 2-1 PR: 8)
Did not really rise because honestly there was not much above that fell any or enough. It gets crowded at the top you know. After getting clubbed on Centennial Night in Montreal…Boston bounced back and took care of business against Toronto twice. Not really much to say there other than the Tuukka Rask lovefest continues in Boston. Maybe Tim Thomas should not have gotten that contract? Okay…okay…enough about that. A clear 1a and 1b situation has set up in net though who is 1a and who is 1b is not as clear. Boston has very balanced scoring that has served them well and at least health wise they are getting almost there. They will need that as the schedule gets more grueling. Boston travels to Long Island tomorrow and is home to Philly on Monday. They should come out of that with two wins and nothing less.
7. Los Angeles Kings (20-10-3, 43 pts, LW: 3-0-1 PR: 10)
A big mover…up 3 spots this week! Dustin Brown with a huge game winner against San Jose then a shootout win over Phoenix last night made for two crazy games for Kings fans but with very happy endings. The Kings have the fourth best winning percentage in the West and 7th overall hence they are 7th here. They score a lot and give up a lot but find ways to win unlike last year where they generally just played more defensively (GF: 103 GA: 99). This is all being done without Ryan Smyth who really paced Anze Kopitar throughout the early part of the season. They are most certainly fun to watch though Kings fans may have had several coronaries by now or more. Bottom line is the team keeps winning and they keep moving up.
6. Pittsburgh Penguins (21-10-1, 43 pts, LW: 1-1-1 PR:3)
Boom goes the dynamite! In a week where almost every team was similar record wise…the Penguins simply fall victim to a numbers game where they were good against Montreal but not so good against Chicago and especially Carolina. They only gave up 7 goals in 3 games this week but only scored 6. This is the Penguins? Are you serious? Well in those 3 games, the Penguins went 0-9 on the Power Play. That is correct. A team with Malkin and Crosby went 0-9 this week on the man advantage. The Penguins have a chance to move up though with games against Florida and Philadelphia. These are teams they normally excel against and on the Power Play as well.
5. Calgary Flames (19-8-3, 41 pts, LW: 2-1 PR: 4)
It is a brutal rankings this week. Really it is almost not fair. But they were kind of sluggish offensively all week and rode Miikka Kiprusoff to 2 victories they had no business winning. Kipper is playing like he did in that second half of the 2003-04 season if anyone remembers where he torched the league and nearly won the Vezina (M. Brodeur won it that year). The Flames only scored 6 goals this week but gave up only 4! They are winning the tough games in the West in the way Coach Sutter likes but the offense needs to step up a bit. This week they have Minnesota and Colorado ahead.
4. Chicago Blackhawks (19-7-3, 41 pts, LW:2-1 PR: 2)
Again another one that is just not fair. But Chicago also looked kind of sluggish this week….beating Pittsburgh and the NY Rangers in OT but losing to Nashville bad at home. A lethal team like Chicago only scored 5 goals this week but gave up 6. Cristobal Huet was awful this week while Antti Niemi but solid yet again. What else is new? It is just becoming crystal clear that Niemi is the 1A and Huet is the 1B. With the contract extensions announced this week…maybe that caused some offensive rustiness from the Hawks. Whatever the reason…that part of the game needs to be straightened out and quick. Chicago gets to play their next 2 against the more wide open Eastern Conference (@ BUF, home to Tampa).
3. San Jose Sharks (19-7-6, 44 pts, LW: 0-1-1 PR: 1)
Almost dropped them more…almost but we took the lucky Dustin Brown spin-o-rama into account. Both games they lost were by one goal and the reality is the big stars did not shine when it counted most (especially against Calgary (Heatley, Thornton, Marleau). I am not really surprised by that as Calgary had a plan against San Jose and it was called K I P P E R! There is really not much more to say here honestly. San Jose plays Dallas and Phoenix back to back this weekend. They have to get 3 of 4 points in this back to back or they may fall further down the rankings. Its that tight each week!!!!
2. New Jersey Devils (21-7-1, 43 pts, LW: 4-0 PR: 6)
They are certainly not the best team in hockey but every week they just find new ways to win. Sometimes it is Rob Niedermayer, sometimes it is Andy Greene and sometimes it is the ZZ Pop line but the Devils just find a way and the will to win even if they do not always play their best. The Devils nearly blew a 3-0 lead Wednesday Night against Carolina with a 2:00 brain fart but held on for a 4-2 win and that is how the Devils play at times. It is not pretty but they have the firepower to come back from a deficit unlike previous years. That is why they have a 11-2-1 record on the road. They play better there. Their home games are a bit more dodgy (10-5 home record somehow). As Martin Brodeur said it the other night on MSG+….”it is how we play those 60 minutes that determine if we win”. He could not have said it better. Up next for Jersey is Florida and Philly back to back.
1. Washington Capitals (19-6-6, 44 pts, LW:2-1, PR: 5)
Another four spot riser and the only reason they beat Jersey was because right now Washington is just a bit better but not by very much. The 3-0 Buffalo whitewashing almost put them at 2 but the body of work was pretty good this week. After easily handling Philly and Tampa on the road, Buffalo was going to be a test. Well call it lesson learned for a young team as Washington just did not move its legs enough and ran into the stone wall known as MILLER TIME! Washington gets to play a back to back against the sisters of the poor in Carolina and Toronto and about a couple hours ago it was announced that Carolina would be minus Mr. Larose and Mr. Cole who are both out about 3 weeks. Talk about gift wrapped but Washington will have to SKATE to keep their #1 ranking next week.
So who will be #1 next week? Well we will find out when the Power Rankings strike again! I almost forgot here are the three times that were just outside the top 15 this week. Maybe they will be in next week.
- Detroit
- Vancouver
- Dallas
See you next week.
