NHL Power Rankings

Sunday, November 16, 2008-10:48:pm
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The San Jose Sharks continue to lead our weekly NHL Power Rankings. Detroit, Pittsburgh, New York Rangers and Boston round out the top five.

NHL Power Rankings: Through Sunday November 16
Rk Team Prv Comment
1 San Jose 1 Sharks power play is finally starting to heat up, scoring eight times in the last two games and 11 times in the last four.
2 Detroit 2 Chris Osgood  is racking up the wins for the Red Wings, but he's not happy with the way he's doing it.  "I'm just tired of letting in three goals," said Osgood.
3 Pittsburgh 5 Penguins have won six straight and picked up defenseman Philippe Boucher from Dallas in exchange for Darryl Sydor.
4 NY Rangers 4 Henrik Lundqvist has allowed two goals or fewer in 11 straight games and in 15 of 17 games overall this season.
5 Boston 6 Bruins, who are 8-1-1 in last ten games, have lost D Andrew Ference for 6-8 weeks with broken tibia.
6 Washington 8 Caps are 5-0-1 in their last six games and Alexander Ovechkin is just now starting to heat up offensively.
7 Montreal 3 Canadiens have won just twice in their last six games. Carey Price having some ups and downs in goal.
8 Chicago 10 Big test ahead for the Blackhawks. They are just 1-3-0 on the road  and they open a six-game road trip this week.
9 Buffalo 9 The Sabres have lost three of four games and team defense is becoming an issue.
10 Anaheim 7 Ducks, who snapped a three-game winless streak Sunday, have lost defenseman Francois Beauchemin for six months.
11 Vancouver 12 Pavol Demitra returns and notches three assists in win over Leafs. Kevin Bieksa out two weeks with broken foot.
12 Minnesota 11 Struggling to find some balance on his forward lines, Jacques Lemaire moves defenseman Brent Burns to forward and it appears to work.
13 Calgary 13 Flames have lost three of four games including 6-1 losses to Chicago and San Jose.
14 New Jersey 14 The Devils have lost five of seven games since Martin Brodeur went out due to surgery.
15 Philadelphia 21 Flyers with three wins in their four games and are 7-3-1 in their last 11 games. Simone Gagne with 16 points (6 goals, 10 assists) in his last nine games.
16 Carolina 16 Hurricanes snap three-game slide with win over Tampa Bay, but Eric Staal's offensive funk continues.
17 Toronto 18 With Brian Burke no longer the GM in Anaheim the speculation is he could end up taking over in Toronto.
18 Columbus 19 Pascal Leclaire is back from injury for the Blue Jackets, who will have to decide on what to do about the backup position.
19 Edmonton 22 With just four points in his first 16 games, Dustin Penner ends up being a healthy scratch and ends his streak of playing in 180 straight games.
20 Colorado 23 Avalanche power play struggling and so is their overall offense, but they've still found a way to win three games in a row.
21 Nashville 24 Predators wrap up road trip by taking all three games in California, beating the Sharks, Ducks and Kings.
22 Los Angeles 26 The Kings' go on a four-game winning streak, including a home-an-home sweep of Dallas, before finally losing to Nashville.
23 Dallas 20 The Stars bring back a familiar face in Darryl Sydor, who was acquired from Pittsburgh for Philippe Boucher.  Stars still looking for consecutive wins.
24 Phoenix 25 Coyotes' special teams are struggling. They are also the worst faceoff team in the league at 43.4 percent.
25 Ottawa 17 Senators' losing streak hits four games after they lose a home-and-home series to the Islanders.
26 Atlanta 27 Thrashers five-game winning streak comes to an end with a loss to the Flyers. Ilya Kovalchuk getting chances, but is struggling to score goals.
27 Tampa Bay 15 The Barry Melrose era doesn't last long in Tampa Bay. The Rick Tocchet era starts with a shootout loss to Carolina.
28 St. Louis 28 Blues have won just once in the last eight games (1-5-2) and are 2-7-2 since their 4-1-0 start to the season.
29 Florida 29 The Panthers are 2-6-1 on the road this season and are heading out on another road trip this week.
30 NY Islanders 30 Islanders snap three-game winless streak with a win over the Senators and then beat the Senators again to complete a home-and-home sweep.