With less than a week to go in the regular season,the NHL’s playoff matchups remain unclear. Out West, the Canucks are battling to catch up with the slumping Oilers, while the Thrashers are making one final surge in their attempt to surpass the Lightning for the East’s final spot.

The battle for the Atlantic Division crown, meanwhile, is shaping up for a particularly compelling finish. The Rangers fell to the Islanders on Tuesday night, and now they find themselves just three points ahead of Philadelphia in the race for the Atlantic Division crown, with the Flyers holding a game in hand and a home game against the Rangers. Nor are the Devils ready to be counted out: They are only two points behind the Broad Street Bullies, and they host the Flyers for two of their final four games.

Here’s how the teams line up in this week’s power rankings. Statistically, teams are measured from left to right in games remaining, standings points, wins, losses, overtime losses, goals scored, goals allowed, power play success, and penalty-killing success. The statistics for special-teams effectiveness also take shorthanded goals into account; each team’s ranking from last week appears in parentheses.

1 DETROIT RED WINGS (1) With their victory over the Oilers on Tuesday night, the Wings clinched the President’s Trophy with the NHL’s best record, guaranteeing themselves home-ice advantage for the duration of the playoffs.

2 OTTAWA SENATORS (2) The Senators are in a dogfight with the Hurricanes for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. The positioning could prove crucial: The winner gets to play either the Lightning or the Thrashers; the loser must go up against the Canadiens’ red-hot Cristobal Huet.

3 DALLAS STARS (4): Only Mike Modano and Sergei Zubov have scored more points with the man advantage than has Jussi Jokinen, one of many top-tier rookies overshadowed by the dynamic duo of Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby.

4 CAROLINA HURRICANES (3) Mike Rogers holds the franchise record for points in a single season with 105; Eric Staal (96 points) still has a shot to surpass that total, but it would take a superhuman effort in the final three games.

5 BUFFALO SABRES (5) Maxim Afinogenov (67 points) doesn’t receive much attention outside Buffalo, but the Sabres’ leading scorer is the most exciting player to watch in the Northeast Division.

6 NEW YORK RANGERS (6) The Rangers are already without blueliners Tom Poti and Darius Kasparaitis, and now Marek Malik has joined the list of walking wounded. Malik is officially out with an “upper body” injury – a familiar ailment during the playoffs – but it’s believed he’s suffering from shoulder pain.

7 CALGARY FLAMES (8) Miikka Kiprusoff extended his single-season franchise record shutout total to nine on Tuesday, blanking Anaheim. He is the front-runner to win the Vezina trophy as the NHL’s best goalie.

8 NASHVILLE PREDATORS (7) Goaltender Chris Mason stepped up with a strong performance for the Predators on Tuesday night in their first game following the announcement that Tomas Vokoun was done for the season, stopping 27 shots to blank the St. Louis Blues 2-0.

9 PHILADELPHIA FLYERS (9) Keith Primeau was thought to be done for the season with post-concussion syndrome, but it appears that the Flyers’ captain – and 2004 playoff hero – may soon return to the lineup.

10 ANAHEIM MIGHTY DUCKS (10) With 88 points in 76 games, Teemu Se lanne has been the Ducks’ most reliable scorer all season long, and his +32 rating is the team’s best.

11 NEW JERSEY DEVILS (14) The blazing hot Devils extended their winning streak to eight on Tuesday, topping the Hurricanes. Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta have combined for 31 points in their last 10 games.

12 SAN JOSE SHARKS (15) On Monday night, Jonathan Cheechoo became the first 50-goal scorer in Sharks’ history; he has been the primary beneficiary of the arrival of Joe Thornton, who has 82 points in 54 games with San Jose.

13 COLORADO AVALANCHE (11) Jose Theodore stopped 21 of 25 shots in his first start for the Avs en route to a 6-4 victory over the Coyotes. Can he still dominate as he did in 2002-03?

14 MONTREAL CANADIENS (13) In what might well have been a first-round playoff preview, the Habs demonstrated on Monday night that they have what it takes to compete with the high-flying Senators, coming away with an impressive 3-2 victory.

15 EDMONTON OILERS (12) By losing two straight games, the Oilers are giving the Canucks the opening they need to get back into the Western playoff race.

16 VANCOUVER CANUCKS (17) It’s been a season to forget for the Canucks, pre-season Cup favorites who find themselves battling for the West’s final playoff spot. But it’s not too late for them to make good on their enormous potential.

17 TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING (16) Just when it looked as though 39-year-old goalie Sean Burke had wrested the starting job from John Grahame, he gave up five goals on 14 shots against the surging Thrashers.

18 ATLANTA THRASHERS (19) The Thrashers looked dead in the water a week ago, but after their win over Tampa on Tuesday, they’re four points back, with a game in hand and a game left against the Lightning.

19 TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (21) Captain Mats Sundin (71 points) has dis appointed this season, but delivered a performance for the ages on Tuesday, tallying six points to help the Leafs beat the Panthers 6-5 and keep their playoff hopes alive.

20 LOS ANGELES KINGS (18) “Lucky” Luc Robitaille has decided to call it a career. The NHL’s all-time leading scorer amongst left-wingers with 668 goals and 1,394 points, Robitaille will put an end to his Hall-of-Fame career on Monday.

21 MINNESOTA WILD (22) Rookie goalie Josh Harding is serving notice that he’s ready to battle for the starting job next season. In just his second NHL game, Harding out-dueled Nikolai Khabibulin and shut out the Blackhawks 2-0 on Tuesday.

22 FLORIDA PANTHERS (20) With 44 points in 78 games, Jay Bouwmeester is quietly emerging as one of the NHL’s better offensive defensemen.

23 PHOENIX COYOTES (23) Wayne Gretzky’s charges have a long way to go before they can compete with the West’s elite teams.

24 NEW YORK ISLANDERS (24) Relishing the role of spoiler, the Isles in vaded Madison Square Garden with a vengeance on Tuesday. Will they match that intensity when they host the Flyers next Tuesday to close out the season?

25 BOSTON BRUINS (25) It’s been a season to forget for the Bruins, but one huge positive has been the emergence of prospect Brad Boyes as a top-flight scorer.

26 COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS (26) Sergei Fedorov has scored only 36 points in 62 games, in what has been the worst season of his storied NHL career. The Blue Jackets will need far better production from him in 2006-07.

27 WASHINGTON CAPITALS (27) With 100 points in 77 games, Alexander of the Caps’ next best scorer (Dainius Zubrus, 54 points). 46426-40-12 216 289 10.9% 81.2% 28 CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS (28) One of the Blackhawks’ streakiest scor ers, speedy Rene Bourque (34 points) should emerge as a top-tier forward next season.

29 ST. LOUIS BLUES (29) Smoothskating blueliner Christian Backman has improved dramatically this season, and should be the Blues’ power-play quarterback in 2006-07.

30 PITTSBURGH PENGUINS (30) The youngest player in NHL history to top 90 points, Sidney Crosby has survived a difficult debut season with style and grace.

Mr. Greenstein is the editor in chief ofInsideHockey.com.