NHL Power Rankings

When the San Jose Sharks pilfered Joe Thornton from the Boston Bruins one year ago, they were in the midst of a 10-game losing streak. But from the moment “Jumbo Joe” pulled the Sharks’ teal and white sweater over his shoulders, the franchise’s fortunes have reversed dramatically. Following his arrival, the Sharks went 36–15–7 to earn a playoff berth, and their 15 victories thus far this season is second best to the still-devastating Buffalo Sabres. But while Thornton has been the key to the Sharks’ revival, he has been far from the only reason for their success. With Thornton pivoting the top line, Patrick Marleau has been slotted down to the second line, giving the Sharks a devastating one-two punch that few teams can match.

There are also some lesser-known performers who have delivered critical performances for the surging Sharks. Milan Michalek, their first round pick from the 2003 Entry Draft, has emerged as one of the NHL’s most dominant scoring wingers. And Matt Carle, winner of the Hobey Baker Award as the nation’s finest college player in 2005–06, has stepped onto the Sharks’ blue line and made an immediate impact. With 14 points in 21 games, he is well on his way to a 50-point season or better.

With their consistently strong play, the Sharks have risen to second overall in the New York Sun’s Power Rankings. So here’s how the teams line up this week. Statistically, teams are measured from left to right by W–L–OTL, standings points, goals scored, goals allowed, power play success, and penalty-killing success. Please note that the data is up to and including games played on Monday night, and that our statistics for special teams effectiveness also take shorthanded goals into account. Each team’s ranking from last week appears in parentheses.

1 BUFFALO (1) The high-flying Sabres have SABRES no obvious weakness ; on Monday night, they absolutely torched the Lightning, coming away with a one-sided 7–2 victory. Tonight, they host the rival Maple Leafs in a critical divisional match-up.
17–3–1 35 90 62 18.5% 86.0%

2 SAN JOSE SHARKS (5) Vesa Toskala and Evgeni Nabokov both played well in goal, but the team performs far better (10–2 versus 5–4) when Toskala’s between the pipes. So it’s only a matter of time before he is anointed as the official starter.
15–6–0 30 70 47 24.3% 89.6%

3 DALLAS STARS (2): First Marty Turco was chased after just five shots , then captain (and leading scorer) Brenden Morrow went down with a groin injury. But the Stars still emerged victorious over the Avs on Monday night.
14–6–0 28 58 44 13.7% 90.5%

4 NASHVILLE PREDATORS (6) The Predators have managed to maintain their slim lead over the Detroit Red Wings (both teams are 8–1–1 in their last 10 games), due in no small part to the tremendous play of their leading scorer, diminutive forward Steve Sullivan.
13–4–2 28 64 55 16.0% 84.8%

5 ANAHEIM DUCKS (3): The Ducks lead the Pacific Division despite having a lower winning percentage than the Sharks or Stars. If they maintain their lead because of overtime losses, it will expose the need to remove that column from the standings.
14–2–5 33 73 51 21.2% 85.8%

6 DETROIT RED WINGS (4): Tomas Holmstrom and Niklas Kronwall (groin strains) are both expected to return to the Wings’ lineup for tonight’s game against the Vancouver Canucks.
12–5–2 26 51 39 9.1% 84.4%

7 NEW JERSEY DEVILS (9) : Tonight marks the beginning of a four-game West Coast road trip that will give new captain Patrik Elias a nice opportunity to establish himself as the team’s leader, both on and off the ice.
12–6–1 25 45 48 12.5% 84.6%

8 MINNESOTA WILD (7): The reefing Wild desperately need star forward reel-Marian Gaborik (groin injury) in the lineup if they’re to get back to their winning ways. But it looks as though his return is at least another week or two away.
12–7–1 25 56 51 19.6% 93.6%

9 MONTREAL CANADIENS (11): Hard -hitting blueliner Sheldon Souray leads the Habs in both goals (eight) and penalty minutes (37), and has found a nice niche for himself despite his relatively limited skating ability.
11–5–3 25 58 51 19.6% 94.9%

10 EDMONTON OILERS(15): Shawn Horcoff enjoyed a breakout season in 2005–06, tallying 73 points in 79 games. But he’s struggled a bit to rediscover that form this year (just 10 points in 20 games).
11–8–1 23 58 53 13.6% 91.1%

11 TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS(10): The Leafs managed to tread water despite the absences of captain Mats Sundin and starting netminder Andrew Raycroft. But “Rayzor” came back to beat the Isles on Monday night, and Sundin should be returning soon as well.
12–6–4 28 73 65 16.5% 88.3%

12 ATLANTA THRASHERS (8): After getting off to a red-hot start, franchise goaltender Kari Lehtonen has had a very tough time of late, due in no small part to the Thrashers’ frequent defensive lapses.
12–7–3 27 74 67 16.8% 84.8%

13 CAROLINA HURRICANES (16): He doesn’t get much press, but nifty winger Ray Whitney has quietly emerged as one of the Hurricanes’ most consistent offensive catalysts.
12–7–3 27 76 69 12.8% 87.5%

14 PITTSBURGH PENGUINS (14) Sidney Crosby suffered a mild groin strain on Monday night against the Flyers but is expected to be on the ice tonight against the Bruins.
10–7–2 22 62 59 15.9% 86.2%

15 NEW YORK RANGERS (12) Rangers acquired power forward Brad The Isbister from the Carolina Hurricanes yesterday; the perennial underachiever has never managed to match his production to his potential.
11–9–1 23 66 67 19.5% 84.4%

16 CALGARYFLAMES (18) Entering last night’s game against the Oilers, the Flames were riding a six-game winning streak, largely due to the spotless play of Miikka Kiprusoff (only six goals against during the streak).
9–7–2 20 50 42 12.2% 83.9%

17 TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING (13): Marc Denis was brought into Tampa to solidify their goaltending, but it’s been former Ranger Johan Holmqvist who’s been the Lightning’s best netminder.
10–10–1 21 64 66 14.8% 75.5%

18 VANCOUVERCANUCKS (20): Captain Markus Naslund got off to rough start, but he’s starting to round into form; he’s scored four points in the Canucks’ last three games.
10–10–1 21 49 52 10.2% 87.6%

19 NEW YORK ISLANDERS (19): With the exception of three bad periods, Rick DiPietro has been one of the NHL’s top netminders this season (.927 save percentage).
9–7–3 21 50 52 16.3% 79.1%

20 BOSTON BRUINS (23): The Bruins had a four-game winning streak snapped when they fell to the plucky Panthers on Monday night. Tonight, they’ll have their hands full trying to neutralize Evgeni Malkin and the Penguins.
8–8–2 18 49 63 17.6% 76.9%

21 COLORADO AVALANCHE (21): Peter Budaj has outplayed José Théodore by a wide margin, and appears to be taking over the starting job. For Théodore, a former Hart Trophy winner, this has been a spectacular fall from grace.
9–10–2 20 63 62 13.6% 83.3%

22 OTTAWA SENATORS (24): Anyone who thought Ray Emery would be devastated when the Sens signed Martin Gerber underestimated his tenacity; following a strong string of starts, Emery has taken full possession of the starting job.
9–11–1 19 70 61 7.6% 86.4%

23 WASHINGTON CAPITALS (17): That the Caps are only five points out of first in the Southeast (with two games in hand) is a testament to former Rangers goalie Glen Hanlon, who’s doing an excellent job behind the bench.
8–6–6 22 59 61 15.0% 84.2%

24 CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS (22): Nikolai Khabibulin is back between the pipes, while Finnish forward Tuomo Ruutu is finally healthy and making good on his enormous potential.
7–10–2 16 46 56 14.7% 85.5%

25 FLORIDA PANTHERS (26): Captian Olli Jokinen is doing his best to keep the Cats in the playoff hunt, but unless Todd Bertuzzi returns soon — and at 100% — the postseason is a long shot at best.
8–10–4 20 60 70 20.2% 83.2%

26 LOS ANGELES KINGS (27): After an atrocious start, talented forward Alexander Frolov has picked up his game in a huge way, tallying six goals and two assists in his last three games.
7–11–4 18 59 70 14.8% 86.6%

27 PHOENIX COYOTES (29): GM Mike Barnett recently shot down rumors that he’s shopping defenseman Ed Jovanovski, but big changes are definitely in store for the Coyotes if they don’t start winning.
6–14–0 12 50 82 10.6% 76.7%

28 ST. LOUIS BLUES (28): The Blues are substantially better than they were last season, but the results aren’t showing up in the standings. They’ll once again be sellers at the trade deadline.
5–11–3 13 45 66 8.4% 81.2%

29 COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS (25): With one assist (and a minus-5 rating) in his last eight games, underachiever Nikolai Zherdev is a big reason why the Blue Jackets are struggling so badly.
5–13–1 11 39 61 11.1% 83.3%

30 PHILADELPHIA FLYERS (30): It’s hard to find bright hard spots in Philadelelphia right now, but veteran Geoff Sanderson’s strong play (15 points in 20 games) and reasonable contract ($1.5 million) make him a very tradable asset.
5–14–2 12 50 85 9.3% 87.2%

Mr. Greenstein is the editor in chief of InsideHockey.com.