NHL Power Rankings Week 13: Constant West Shuffling, Movement in East

This week, we actually see some movement in the East. The Bruins move up to the second seed, while the Caps make a charge and the Canadiens fall.  The West sees a ton of shuffling, not least of which is the Kings falling two spots.

The Canucks are also close to taking over the Flyers for the NHL's best, and when you factor in all that the Canucks do better, they're probably already better (their one-game sample not-withstanding) based, among other things, on their more difficult schedule.

Eastern Conference

	This Week	Last Week	Rationale	Rating
	1	1	The Flyers maintain the top spot in the East (and the league) despite a sloppy win against the Kings and an ugly loss to the Ducks for a few reasons: They outscored their opponents 12-11 for the week, they beat the two best opponents they played, and they had a really huge lead. But Vancouver is very close behind.	1.893
	2	3	The Bruins leap over the Penguins despite being 5 points back in the standings. But the Bruins have a better 5-on-5 ratio, and only a slightly worse adjusted points per game. It's very tight, and the Bruins lost two shootouts last week. Look for the Bruins-Penguins matchup on Monday.	1.682
	3	2	Going 0-1-1 dropped the Penguins out of the number 2 spot, but with 5 games in the next 8 days, they will have plenty of opportunity to regain it.	1.638
	4	7	Welcome back to the top of the East, Washington. After a long, long skid, the Caps beat the Penguins in the Winter Classic, then lost an overtime game. Next week, they face off against the Panthers, Panthers, and Lightning. Games they should win, but could easily lose.	1.268
	5	5	Just barely behind the Caps, the Rangers missed a chance to move up for the second straight week after only scoring one goal against the Panthers and Lightning. Back-to-back games against Dallas and St. Louis on the road this weekend won't be easy.	1.260
	6	6	What to make of the Thrashers. They beat the Bruins in a shootout and beat the Canadiens in OT on the road, but lose to the Devils. They play Florida, Toronto, and Carolina this week, looking to separate themselves from the bubble teams.	1.150
	7	8	The Panthers just keep moving up the power rankings, and they're moving up the standings too. They beat Carolina, lost to Montreal in overtime, and shutout the Rangers. A little more consistency from the Panthers, and they're within striking distance of 8th place.	1.129
	8	4	The biggest loser in the East this week, the Canadiens are 2-5-1 in their last 8 games. They're not far behind the Panthers here, but they aren't far ahead of them in the standings either.	1.125
	9	9	Everybody seems to be in love with the Lightning, and I have to admit, I'm pretty impressed as well. Unfortunately, it isn't translating to the Power Rankings, as the Lightning are still suffering from a 0.85 five-on-five goal ratio. Only Philadelphia has a higher adjusted points per game ratio than the Lightning in the East, but their 5-on-5 play is 25th best in the League.	1.084
	10	11	Carolina finally jumps over Buffalo (Buffalo falls below Carolina?) with wins against the Devils and Senators. They are improving their 5-on-5 play, but Carolina is pretty close to the definition of "average NHL team" there is.	0.950
	11	10	For a team that wins the 5-on-5 battle, Buffalo's goal differential is less than optimal. At least they're separating themselves from the East's worst.	0.872
	12	12	Ottawa finally joined the bottom-3, making a very distinct Bottom-4 in the East. They are getting owned at 5-on-5, and they're giving up the 7th most goals per game in the league. A 5-1 loss to Toronto says "Welcome to the basement, Ottawa."	0.675
	13	13	Two one-goal losses to Columbus and Boston are tough to swallow, but it isn't difficult to see Toronto jumping over Ottawa soon. It probably won't be next week though, as Toronto goes West.	0.624
	14	14	Don't look now, but the Islanders are 5-1-1 in their last 7. An OT win in Detroit and a SO win against Pittsburgh highlighted the last week, but with a Western swing (Edmonton, Colorado, Chicago, and Vancouver) upcoming, the Islanders run appears over.	0.533
	15	15	At least the Devils won a game this week. They're that bad. See that number to the right? The Islanders are the second worst team in the league, and they're twice as good as the Devils. It's fascinating.	0.246

Western Conference

	This Week	Last Week	Rationale	Rating
	1	1	The Canucks are close to being the best team in the NHL. They have the highest adjusted points per game of anybody, and the highest goal-differential in the league. They also have the best record. They're 5-on-5 goal ratio is highest in the West as well.	1.805
	2	2	Detroit went 2-1-1 last week, but not at all what you would expect. They beat the Oilers - as you would expect - but lost to the Islanders in overtime. A loss the Flyers and a huge 7-3 win against Dallas was an unusual week for Detroi.	1.650
	3	4	Returning to the 3 spot, Colorado didn't do much to deserve it. They went 1-2-1, taking Edmonton to a shootout and Buffalo to overtime.	1.309
	4	5	The leader in the Pacific Division is back atop the Kings this week, despite getting outscored 13-8 last week. Big losses to Detroit and Vancouver put a damper on the Stars week.	1.288
	5	3	In a week where the Stars and Avs gave them room to establish themselves in the 3 spot, the Kings responded by giving up 18 goals in 4 games. Two three-goal losses were followed by two one-goal losses, leaving L.A. in a 5 game losing streak.	1.209
	6	8	The Coyotes jumped up a bit, but they're still in 11th place in the West. They are part of the very crowded West, but they aren't especially overwhelming.	1.142
	7	6	The Blackhawks lost to the Sharks and Ducks, but beat the Kings. Typical week for the middle of the pack, though they still have a rather impressive plus-10 goal differential.	1.122
	8	7	The Sharks have a chance this week with two weaker Eastern Conference teams (Buffalo and Toronto) coming to town, plus games against Nashville and Anaheim.	1.091
	9	10	After beating Minnesota and Columbus by a combined 8-2 score, the Predators jumped back over the Blues and are now on the Sharks heels. Nothing is particularly great about the Predators, but that's normal for the West.	1.084
	10	9	Another close week for the Blues, getting outscored 7-6 in a two-game split. They keep getting points in their games, which is good, but from here, all teams have a negative goal-differential.	1.028
	11	12	It's a very tight battle here, as the Wild are not ahead of the Flames by much. This is largely due to their poor 5-on-5 rating, but they keep getting points.	0.948
	12	14	A big week for the Ducks as they beat up on the Flyers, then beat the Blackhawks. In the middle of a 6-game homestand, the Ducks will need to collect points from those right around them (Nashville, Columbus, and St. Louis, specifically) if they want to maintain their 6th place standing.	0.932
	13	11	Columbus missed a few opportunities last week, with one-goal wins over Toronto and Ottawa, then got outscored 8-3 in Nashville and Phoenix. In the West, that's not good enough.	0.910
	14	13	A 2-1-0 week isn't too impressive when you play the Oilers and Islanders, but when you beat the Avalanche, there's something to be happy about. Plus, there are 5 Eastern Conference teams worse than Calgary.	0.884
	15	15	The Oilers are in the middle of an 0-5-2 skid, and the 2-1 loss to Calgary hurts. It doesn't get any easier with a game against the streaking Islanders, then road games against the Canucks and Stars.	0.632