Rangers Hold Steady Despite Dramatic Shifts Around NHL

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There have been some pretty dramatic shifts in this week’s New York Sun power rankings, most notably the Dallas Stars’ jump from seventh to third. Goaltender Marty Turco is proving to be one of the NHL’s best net-minders, while old-timers Mike Modano and Sergei Zubov still have plenty of gas left in their tanks. Meanwhile, a rash of injuries could mean this is the last week (for a while, at least) that the Philadelphia Flyers rank ahead of the Rangers.


Here’s how the teams line up. Statistically, teams are measured from left to right in record, goals scored, goals allowed, power-play success, and penalty-killing success. Each team’s ranking from last week appears in parentheses.


1 OTTAWA SENATORS (1) Despite playing without three of their most important players (Wade Redden, Zdeno Chara, and Martin Havlat), the league’s finest team still managed to double up Roberto Luongo and the Florida Panthers on Monday night.


W-L-OT GF GA PP% PK%
21-4-0 113 52 22.7% 86.2%


2 NASHVILLE PREDATORS (3) A big shootout victory over the Flyers last Sat urday night served notice that the Predators have what it takes to play with the NHL’s best. If he maintains his stellar play, Tomas Vokoun will win the Vezina Trophy in a landslide.


17-4-3 77 60 17.9% 86.5%


3 DALLAS STARS (7) With two regulation goals and a shootout game-winner , Mike Modano served notice that he’s still one of the game’s finest forwards.


17-7-1 85 72 17.7% 82.5%


4 DETROIT RED WINGS (2) Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk have ably inherited the reins on offense as Steve Yzerman fades into the sunset. Could former University of Maine standout Jimmy Howard be the Wings’ long-term answer between the pipes?


19-8-2 108 75 25.0% 85.2%


5 PHILADELPHIA FLYERS (4) The injury bug has bitten the Flyers, and hard. Peter Forsberg remains out with a groin injury, and now Joni Pitkanen, Eric Desjardins, and Robert Esche will join him.


16-6-4 101 85 19.6% 77.3%


6 NEW YORK RANGERS (6) If the Blueshirts can get some offensive pro duction from their second line of Michael Nylander, Marcel Hossa, and Petr Prucha, it will spell serious trouble for their Eastern Conference rivals.


18-8-3 88 71 17.5% 87.0%


7 CAROLINA HURRICANES (5) Kevyn Adams’s hat trick led the Hurricanes to a decisive victory over the Ducks in Anaheim on Tuesday. First-line left wing Erik Cole has cooled off considerably in recent weeks, which is cause for concern.


17-8-2 97 88 18.8% 77.4%


8 VANCOUVER CANUCKS (9) The best team in the NHL’s strongest divi sion, the Canucks have had to deal with a frenzy of trade rumors in recent weeks. Todd Bertuzzi to Ed Jovanovski could be on the move, but it seems that all the Canucks really need is for goaltender Dan Cloutier to return from his knee injury.


17-9-2 92 80 17.6% 82.6%


9 MONTREAL CANADIENS (10) In 2003-04, defenseman Sheldon Souray broke out, scoring 35 points in just 63 games. Now he’s back in the Habs’ lineup after missing a few games with a groin injury, and how he fares for the season’s final three quarters will go a long way toward determining the Canadiens’ fate.


15-7-5 76 81 18.2% 80.6%


10 CALGARY FLAMES (14) Miikka Kiprusoff has been stellar, perhaps nev er more so than in Tuesday night’s dramatic shootout loss to the Flyers. “Kipper” kept the Flyers off the score sheet for 65 minutes before finally giving up the game-winning goal.


16-9-4 68 68 14.3% 81.4%


11 BUFFALO SABRES (13) The red-hot Sabres are getting tremendous production from former Islanders prospect Tim Connolly (17 points in his last 15 games), and goalie Martin Biron (eight straight wins.)


17-10-1 90 90 21.4% 82.7%


12 LOS ANGELES KINGS (8) L.A.’s recent slide coincides with a slump that has befallen the top line of Pavol Demitra, Alexander Frolov, and Craig Conroy. Rookie power forward Dustin Brown scored both goals in a 2-1 victory over Toronto on Tuesday. Can he pick up the slack?


17-11-1 99 86 14.8% 82.6%


13 TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING (17) The defending Stanley Cup champions have, at least thus far, been suffering through a season to forget. Goaltender John Grahame has been inconsistent at best, while 2004 Hart Trophy winner Martin St. Louis has taken a huge step backward.


15-10-3 85 80 14.2% 84.7%


14 COLORADO AVALANCHE (11) Is a goaltending controversy brewing in Denver? Despite his losing record, backup Peter Budaj (3-4-3, 2.61 GAA, .904 SV%) is outplaying David Aebischer (11-6-0, 3.37 GAA, .890 SV%).


14-10-3 104 87 18.5% 84.2%


15 TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (12) Rookie Alex Steen (19 points and a +4 rating through 29 games) would be a bona fide Calder Trophy candidate but for the presence of the tremendous quartet of Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Dion Phaneuf, and Henrik Lundqvist.


15-11-3 97 90 22.2% 82.2%


16 EDMONTON OILERS (15) The pressing question in Edmonton right now is: Has the red-hot Mike Morrison (4-1-0, 1.75 GAA, .924 SV%) won the starting job over statistically inferior veterans Jussi Markkanen and Ty Conklin?


15-11-2 85 84 17.6% 81.8%


17 PHOENIX COYOTES (18) Wayne Gretzky’s club just keeps on improving. 7-3 in their last 10 games, they’ve man aged to turn their season around despite receiving less-than-expected production from captain Shane Doan.


15-12-2 84 74 19.6% 81.4%


18 NEW JERSEY DEVILS (16) The Devils continue to tread water, though it’s clear from their 5-2 defeat at the hands of Detroit on Tuesday that they do not have what it takes to outplay the NHL’s best teams. They could find themselves out of the playoff picture for the first time since 1995-96.


13-11-2 81 85 18.7% 84.7%


19 NEW YORK ISLANDERS (20) Mike York finally showed some offensive flair on Tuesday against the Blues, tying his career high with a five-point night. If the Isles can get some consistent production from their second line, they will pass the Devils.


14-12-1 85 91 18.5% 83.2%


20 SAN JOSE SHARKS (23) The arrival of Joe Thornton had an immediate and positive impact. He has energized the Sharks’ offense, while the loss of Brad Stuart hasn’t stung too badly … yet. Will goalie Evgeni Nabokov return to All-Star form?


11-12-4 77 87 15.6% 81.6%


21 ANAHEIM MIGHTY DUCKS (21) J.S. Giguere is healthy again, which is good news for the Ducks, because they will only go as far as he can carry them. Up front, their fortunes are inextricably tied to Teemu Selanne, who has tallied points in 10 of the team’s 12 victories.


12-12-4 74 73 15.7% 85.0%


22 MINNESOTA WILD (19) One of the NHL’s speediest teams, the Wild de pend largely on their counter-attack. Brian Rolston epitomizes the Wild forwards who – aside from Marian Gaborik – lack the finishing ability to emerge as a bona fide playoff group.


10-12-4 67 62 18.5% 88.6%


23 BOSTON BRUINS (24) Though it’s unlikely that Brad Stuart will emerge as the next Ray Bourque, he should provide some much-needed stability for the B’s on the blue line. The speedy Marco Sturm has thus far been a pleasant offensive surprise.


10-14-5 91 99 18.3% 83.2%


24 CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS (26) – Quietly and suddenly, Mark Bell has emerged as the Blackhawks’ best offensive threat. While that’s good news for Bell, it’s bad news for the Hawks, who have received underwhelming production from both Kyle Calder and Tyler Arnason.


10-14-2 70 91 15.0% 82.3%


25 ATLANTA THRASHERS (22) The goaltending debacle aside, the Thrashers have played much better in recent weeks. Marian Hossa is again scoring at more than a point per game. With 12 points in 29 games and a -9 rating, however, Bobby Holik has been every bit the disappointment he was on Broadway.


10-16-3 97 108 20.1% 78.3%


26 FLORIDA PANTHERS (28) Roberto Luongo is having a hard time play ing behind this poorly assembled team. He will need to raise his game considerably if the Panthers are to break out of their doldrums.


9-15-4 69 91 14.3% 79.3%


27 WASHINGTON CAPITALS (27) Jeff Halpern is rapidly emerging as one of the Caps’ most reliable forwards. His miniscule 3.8% shooting percentage is likely an aberration, and his scoring totals will rise when his luck inevitably changes.


9-15-2 72 102 12.3% 79.4%


28 PITTSBURGH PENGUINS (25) Instead of being a beneficiary of the crackdown on obstruction and interference, Mark Recchi is instead struggling mightily. His atrocious -19 rating is a clear and sad sign that the new game has passed him by.


7-14-6 76 109 15.9% 78.7%


29 ST. LOUIS BLUES (29) Expected to solidify the Blues’ goaltending, Patrick Lalime has been significantly worse than Chris Osgood, his maligned predecessor, while his former team (the Senators) is better without him.


5-16-3 65 95 15.2% 79.8%


30 COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS (30) In 13 games in Columbus, Sergei Fe dorov has managed to record only four assists. GM Doug McLean likely regrets committing more than $6 million to the aging Russian forward for this season … and two more.


7-19-0 46 93 10.1% 81.3%


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