When Penguins fly
The Hockey News
The red-hot Wings – winners of six straight games – ascend to the top spot in this week's Power Rankings, knocking the Rangers down to second. But back in the top 10 are the injury-riddled-yet-still-resilient Pittsburgh Penguins, who also have won six in a row.
The Pens are staying in the playoff hunt in large part due to large superstar Evgeni Malkin, now the league's leading point-getter (58) despite missing seven games with injuries. However, they're also getting stellar contributions from James Neal (whose 26 goals have him tied with Malkin for the team lead), Marc-Andre Fleury (2.26 goals-against average) and Chris Kunitz (on pace for a 52-point season, which would be his best since 2008-09). They have a tough final test before the all-star break when they take on St. Louis Tuesday, and when they return, they'll take on the increasingly desperate Leafs in a home-and-home series on back-to-back nights, then square off against the defending champion Bruins Feb. 4 in Boston. Can the Pens climb higher? Will more of them get hurt? That will be reflected each and every Monday when the new Power Rankings are posted at THN.com.
RK. | TEAM | LW | OVERALL | P10 | THE SCOOP |
1 | 4 | 32-15-1 | 8-2-0 | Johan Franzen leads league in game-winning goals (8), one ahead of Pens star Evgeni Malkin | |
2 | 1 | 30-12-4 | 7-3-0 | Brad Richards is the Blueshirts' most dangerous power play performer, leading the team in assists (10) and points (13) | |
3 | 2 | 31-13-2 | 6-3-1 | Bruins and hated rival Canucks are both 21-0-0 when leading after two periods | |
4 | 5 | 29-12-6 | 8-1-1 | Stingy Blues have allowed more than three goals in a game only once since Dec. 5 - and they won that game (beating Columbus 6-4) | |
5 | 3 | 26-14-5 | 6-3-1 | Patrick Marleau, Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture, Ryan Clowe and Brent Burns each have four power play goals | |
6 | 8 | 29-14-6 | 5-3-2 | Hawks' 27th overall penalty kill (78.2 percent) remains a work-in-not-very-much-progress | |
7 | 6 | 29-15-4 | 5-3-2 | Ten of 14 games in February come on the road; fortunately, the Canucks are better there (16-9-1) than at home (13-6-3) | |
8 | 9 | 28-16-4 | 8-2-0 | Six Predators (Martin Erat, David Legwand, Colin Wilson, Patric Hornqvist, Nick Spaling and Matt Halischuk) have at least two game-winning goals | |
9 | 7 | 28-14-5 | 6-3-1 | Matt Read (15 goals, 31 points, plus-12) still a frontrunner for Calder Trophy | |
10 | 15 | 27-17-4 | 6-4-0 | James Neal has 12 power play goals - second only to Philly's Scott Hartnell (13) | |
11 | 10 | 27-17-6 | 7-2-1 | Sens finish January with three road games, then begin Feburary with crucial five-game homestand against Isles, Leafs, Blues, Preds and Oilers | |
12 | 11 | 25-19-3 | 5-4-1 | Caps have East's most impressive home record (17-6-1), but still struggle on the road (8-13-2) | |
13 | 13 | 26-19-2 | 5-4-1 | Devils still winning despite Martin Brodeur's awful .893 save percentage | |
14 | 12 | 23-16-10 | 4-2-4 | Anze Kopitar has a team-best 15 goals, but just one game-winner; Dustin Brown has 13 goals, and five game-winners | |
15 | 14 | 22-15-10 | 3-4-3 | Stumbling Panthers have just two wins in eight attempts this month, and just one game left (against Flyers) to try and make it three | |
16 | 17 | 26-22-2 | 5-4-1 | Avs still have league's best shootout record (7-0) | |
17 | 18 | 23-19-5 | 5-5-0 | Leafs epitome of mediocrity: even goals-for/against ratio; 13 wins and 12 losses at home; and 10 wins and 12 losses on the road | |
18 | 16 | 24-21-2 | 3-6-1 | Stars haven't won in five games, and are without Jamie Benn and Mike Ribeiro; have their playoff-chances taken a death blow? | |
19 | 19 | 22-20-6 | 3-6-1 | Jets haven't won two consecutive games all month, get another chance this week with back-to-back road games against Canes, Rangers | |
20 | 22 | 23-20-6 | 5-4-1 | Curtis Glencross' injury another hurdle for Flames to attempt to overcome | |
21 | 20 | 23-18-7 | 3-6-1 | Dany Heatley on pace for a 23-goal season; five seasons ago, he had 50 | |
22 | 21 | 21-20-8 | 2-4-4 | Ageless wonder Ray Whitney leads Coyotes in assists (26), points (41), plus-minus (plus-12) | |
23 | 25 | 19-21-6 | 6-4-0 | John Tavares on pace for a 51-assist, 84-point season; he already has five game-winning goals - one more than he did last season | |
24 | 26 | 18-22-7 | 8-1-1 | Five consecutive wins is nice, but Ducks remain 11 points out of eighth and have won just five road games all season | |
25 | 24 | 18-21-9 | 4-4-2 | With a puny 8-9-7 home record, Canadiens are tied with Jackets (8-13-3) for fewest wins in their own building | |
26 | 29 | 20-23-4 | 3-6-1 | Three straight wins for Bolts, but they're still 13th in the East and nine eight points out of eighth; look for Dominic Moore, possibly Pavel Kubina to be shopped around | |
27 | 27 | 17-24-9 | 4-3-3 | Trading Alexei Ponikarovksy just the beginning of Canes' serious roster alterations | |
28 | 23 | 19-24-5 | 2-7-1 | Playoffs just a dream for Sabres at this stage; who pays for such a shocking underachievement? | |
29 | 28 | 17-26-4 | 2-7-1 | Fading Oilers average just 26.3 shots per game; only Ducks (25.9) are worse | |
30 | 30 | 13-28-6 | 3-6-1 | With a little more than a month until the trade deadline, very few Jackets should feel secure in their place with the franchise |
The Hockey News ranks the teams 1-30 each Monday based on a combination of last week’s play and a squad’s overall outlook.
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