NHL Power Rankings Week 20: Beginning to See Teams Fall Out

By Geoffrey Detweiler Mar 2, 2011, 4:44pm EST

This week, the middle of the East tightens up while the West begins to sift a few teams out. Surprisingly, the Stars rebounded while the Wild and Predators slid.

Eastern Conference

	This Week	Last Week	Rationale	Rating
	1	1	The Bruins maintain their position atop the Power Rankings this week thanks in no small part to getting all six possible points last week. A 3-1 win over Vancouver was particularly impressive	1.867
	2	2	Philadelphia did not have their best week, needing overtime to beat the Islanders before falling to the Senators 4-1. They stay barely above Vancouver for second though.	1.734
	3	3	The Penguins are the closest to falling out of the top-3 they've been all season. Getting three points out of six isn't bad, but just treading water until they get healthy has finally let other teams catch them. Washington is only two points out of 4th place in the Conference.	1.266
	4	4	Washington keeps inching up, and after a 6-0 loss to the Rangers, they were able to squeak by the Islanders twice.	1.211
	5	6	The Lightning moved up another spot this week and are keeping their hold on the Southeast division lead strong. A three point lead with two games in hand gives them some breathing room.	1.201
	6	5	Montreal helped their own cause by beating the Thrashers and Hurricanes last week, putting them six points up on 8th place. Not a bad week.	1.152
	7	7	The Sabres had a great week, notching 7 of a possible 8 points. They are still in 9th place in the conference, but they're only two points out with two games in hand. And they are tied in wins. You have to think the Hurricanes are already chasing them.	1.120
	8	8	New York only got two of six possible points, putting themselves in a dangerous position. Only one point up on Carolina (who has a game in hand) and three points up on Buffalo (who has three games in hand) means their current 7th place standing is a mirage.	1.027
	9	9	The Hurricanes seem to have let Buffalo pass them (only two points up with two more games played), but could knock the Rangers out of a spot.	0.965
	10	10	Atlanta continues to fall, as they are now 6 points out of the playoffs. Time to eulogize the Thrashers.	0.844
	11	12	The Maple Leafs move up a spot here, and they find themselves in 10th place in the East. And believe it or not, they have a better shot at making the playoffs than the Thrashers. Still won't happen though.	0.833
	12	11	Florida dumped most of their moveable pieces at the deadline; they've only gotten 7 points in their last ten games, and two points in four games last week. Coincidence? Nah, it's the dust settling from the demolition.	0.794
	13	13	The Devils scored 3 goals in two games last week, and still managed to beat the Panthers. Anybody still dreaming of the playoffs?	0.686
	14	14	New York faced the Capitals twice and the Flyers once, getting two points. Not bad for the Islanders.	0.618
	15	15	The Senators settled into the bottom spot on the power rankings rather nicely.	0.556

Western Conference

	This Week	Last Week	Rationale	Rating
	1	1	The Canucks continue to be the dominant team in the West. Not much else to say other than they are really good.	1.733
	2	2	Detroit is comfortably in the second spot in the West, which is making the top two in the West rather boring. Besides Edmonton, everything else is a jumbled mess.	1.448
	3	4	The Blackhawks moved up another spot this week, getting all 6 points in their games last week. They're in 7th, but with two games in hand and only two points out of 4th, they are back in control of their destiny.	1.281
	4	3	Phoenix had a rather terrible week, only collecting one point in four games. They're still in 4th place though. Which is surprising.	1.224
	5	5	The Sharks got all 6 possible points last week, but they required extra time in all three games. That stifles their room to move up here, but it's enough to solidify their spot in 3rd place.	1.184
	6	7	Los Angeles got 6 of 8 possible points, which is good, but it's that most recent game (a 7-4 loss to Detroit) which is troubling. They're in a three-way tie for 6th place, but find themselves in 8th due to their seven(!) shootout wins.	1.180
	7	9	The Flames got 5 of 6 points, which they'll have to keep doing if they want to hold off the teams below them, who have played fewer games.	1.172
	8	6	Nashville fell two spots, largely a result of only collecting 2 points in four games. They now see themselves on the outside looking into the playoffs.	1.131
	9	11	The Stars are still clinging to 6th place in the West, largely due to collecting all six possible points last week. A turnaround or a slight uptick before the final fall?	1.117
	10	8	Minnesota is two points out of the playoffs this week, thanks to only getting two points in three games last week.	1.056
	11	10	The Blue Jackets will need to do better than 3 points in three games. They're too far back for that to be enough.	1.017
	12	13	Anaheim did the same as Columbus last week, which just isn't enough for two teams looking up at a brawl.	0.915
	13	12	The Blues got two points in four games. They're done.	0.905
	14	14	Colorado has been done for a little while now, but only getting 1 point in four games (including a 5-1 loss to Edmonton) is pretty bad.	0.828
	15	15	The Oilers jumped over the Senators for 29th in the power rankings. Good for them.	0.615