NHL Power Rankings

Back in 2003, when the upstart Anaheim (then Mighty) Ducks reached the Stanley Cup Finals, it seemed due mostly to the play of red-hot goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere, the eventual Conn Smythe Trophy winner. Giguere’s play slipped in the two seasons that followed (a lockout sandwiched between), but this season, he has re-emerged as one of the NHL’s finest netminders.

Due in no small part to Giguere’s resurgence, the Ducks have vaulted to the top of the Sun’s Power Rankings this week, and are 11–1–1 in their last 13 games. One logical explanation for Giguere’s stellar play, of course, is the presence of All-World defensemen Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger on the Anaheim blue line.

But there is another, more sinister, possibility as well. The last time Giguere delivered a top-tier season, he was in a contract year, and the payoff was quite considerable. But that lucrative contract expires at the end of this season, and a strong performance from Giguere will likely lead to another big payday.

Looking east, the speedy Buffalo Sabres have fallen from the top spot, but it is not due to a slip in the quality of their play. After starting off the season with 13 consecutive victories, the Sabres have continued to be one of the NHL’s best teams, and have gone 7–2–1 in their last 10 games. But alas, it hasn’t been quite enough to hold off the Ducks, who are currently the class of the NHL.

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 Tuesday 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 ANAHEIM DUCKS (2): With 20 points and a plus-16 rating over his past 20 games, Chris Kunitz has emerged as one of the Ducks’ most important offensive contributors.
24–3–6 54 119 75 22.7% 88.0%

2 BUFFALO SABRES (1): Blueliner Brian Campbell’s game has improved by leaps and bounds — his defensive play in particular (he’s a plus-15 this season versus a minus-14 last year).
23–5–2 48 118 88 15.9% 86.2%

3 SAN JOSE SHARKS (3): It’s been an up-and-down season for “Jumbo” Joe Thornton, but things are definitely up right now. He’s tallied nine points in his last four games to take over the Sharks’ scoring lead.
23–9–0 46 97 66 22.6% 90.0%

4 NASHVILLE PREDATORS (4): With seven goals in his last 10 games, rookie forward Alexander Radulov has earned a permanent spot on the Predators, and might battle his way into Calder Trophy contention.
19–8–3 41 97 81 16.7% 87.4%

5 ATLANTA THRASHERS (5): Though Ilya Kovalchuk gets most of the attention, Marian Hossa is without question the most important Thrashers’ forward. An excellent two-way player, Hossa leads all NHLers in power play points.
18–8–5 41 102 91 16.1% 82.5%

6 DETROIT RED WINGS (7): Last season, it was Jason Williams whose career took a huge step forward with the Wings; this year, it’s Daniel Cleary. He’s scored 19 points in 29 games to go with an impressive plus-9 rating.
17–8–4 38 81 63 13.7% 86.3%

7 MONTREAL CANADIENS (8): A wrist injury to Sheldon Souray (24 points in 29 games) means that Andrei Markov becomes the primary point weapon on the Habs’ power play.
17–8–5 39 87 80 19.6% 92.9%

8 DALLAS STARS (6): Mike Ribeiro has been a very pleasant surprise for the Stars. Acquired from the Habs during the preseason in exchange for Janne Niinimaa, Ribeiro is Dallas’ leading scorer.
20–11–0 40 81 66 14.1% 89.1%

9 NEW JERSEY DEVILS (9): He’s a bit off the torrid he set last season but Brian Gionta is once again the go-to man on the Devils’ power play. He leads the team with eight man-advantage markers.
17–10–2 36 69 69 12.9% 89.4%

10 NEW YORK RANGERS (16): The big four — Jaromir Jagr, Michael Nylander, Martin Straka, and Brendan Shanahan — have combined for 155 points thus far, while the rest of the Rangers’ lineup has only tallied a combined 111 points.
17–10–4 38 95 91 18.7% 85.6%

11 CALGARY FLAMES (13): With 28 points in 28 games, Alex Tanguay has rebounded nicely after getting off to an atrocious start in his first season with Calgary.
15–10–3 33 81 63 13.2% 81.5%

12 NEW YORK ISLANDERS (11): Defenseman Tom Poti scored nine points in his first 11 games with the Isles, but has cooled off dramatically over the past six weeks (only four points in his last 18 games).
15–11–3 33 85 81 13.6% 79.9%

13 MINNESOTA WILD (15): The Wild had a three-game winning streak ended on Tuesday night against the Flames. They’ll look to get back on track tonight against Edmonton, but will probably still be without star forward Marian Gaborik (groin strain).
16–12–2 34 80 81 17.6% 91.1%

14 EDMONTON OILERS (10): Currently on an eight-game goalless drought, and with only three goals in his last 16 games, it’s probably safe to say that Petr Sykora’s red-hot start was an aberration rather than a re-emergence.
16–12–2 34 82 77 13.6% 91.0%

15 WASHINGTON CAPITALS (18): Young forward Alexander Semin has been averaging three shots a game for the Caps; his booming shot from the point is a key weapon on Washington’s fast-improving power play.
13–10–7 33 95 100 14.5% 84.6%

16 BOSTON BRUINS (14): Rookie forward Phil Kessel was treated for cancer Monday. The Bruins’ top prospect is expected to make a full recovery, but it is unknown at this time when he’ll be ready to return to the lineup.
14–12–2 30 78 96 16.3% 80.8%

17 PITTSBURGH PENGUINS (21): Marc-Andre Fleury’s month-bymonth save percentage has dipped from .925 (October) to .905 (November) to .851 (December), a key reason why the Pens have sunk to fourth place in the Atlantic Division.
13–11–5 31 87 91 14.1% 83.7%

18 CAROLINA HURRICANES (12): A “lower body injury” has pulled iron man Rod Brind’Amour out of the ‘Canes lineup. If the captain misses considerable time, look for Carolina to struggle mightily.
15–13–4 34 99 101 11.6% 86.4%

19 OTTAWA SENATORS (17): Last season, Andrej Meszaros was one of the NHL’s plus/minus leaders playing on the Sens’ second defense pair. Now on the top pair, his rating has fallen dramatically (to minus-6 from plus-34).
16–15–1 33 107 92 12.2% 84.6%

20 TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (19): Captain Mats Sundin hasn’t been a minus player since 1997–98; currently at minus-6, his struggles mirror those of his underachieving team. When Sundin inevitably turns things around, so too will the Leafs.
14–13–5 33 98 105 16.7% 82.7%

21 VANCOUVER CANUCKS (22): The goal-starved Canucks broke out with a five-goal performance against the Coyotes on Tuesday night. Is it a sign that they’ll finally start giving start netminder Roberto Luongo some much-needed goal support?
15–15–1 31 70 82 13.3% 86.0%

22 COLORADO AVALANCHE (23): Neither José Théodore nor Peter Budaj has distinguished himself between the pipes for the Avs, a key reason why Colorado remains a sub-.500 team currently out of the playoff picture.
14–14–2 30 93 87 16.1% 81.8%

23 CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS (24): 5–0–3 in their last eight games, Chicago is quickly rising into playoff contention, largely due to the offensive contributions of Tuomo Ruutu and Martin Havlat and the steady goaltending of Nikolai Khabibulin.
12–12–5 29 73 82 11.3% 84.9%

24 TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING (20): The Lightning are moving in the opposite direction of the ‘Hawks; 1–5–1 in their last seven, Tampa’s struggles are largely due to the inconsistent play of their goaltenders and their highest-paid player (Brad Richards).
14–15–2 30 99 99 13.0% 77.7%

25 COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS (29): Winners of five straight games, the Blue Jackets are perhaps the NHL’s hottest team. And the key reason has been their improved defensive play under Ken Hitchcock: They’ve given up only four goals during the winning streak.
11–16–2 24 71 77 13.7% 85.6%

26 LOS ANGELES KINGS (25): Only one of the Kings’ starting blueliners has a positive rating; unfortunately, it’s Brent Sopel, and he has been out of the lineup since November 4 with a broken foot.
11–17–4 26 87 108 16.4% 79.7%

27 FLORIDA PANTHERS (27): Power forward Todd Bertuzzi will be out for another four-to-eight weeks recovering from back surgery, leaving Olli Jokinen and Nathan Horton as the Panthers’ only viable scoring threats.
10–17–6 26 84 106 18.9% 82.9%

28 PHOENIX COYOTES (26): Looking up and down the Coyotes’ lineup, it’s no shock that the team is struggling so badly. Literally every player, young or old, has gotten off to a disappointing start.
11–18–1 23 71 111 7.9% 77.8%

29 PHILADELPHIA FLYERS (28): Peter Forsberg may have finally found a skate boot that can hold his reconstructed right foot in place; if Bauer can build a skate around the boot, Forsberg could be back in the Flyers’ lineup as soon as Saturday night.
8–18–4 20 71 110 10.1% 88.0%

30 ST. LOUIS BLUES (30): Rookie goaltender Marek Schwarz’s NHL career got off to a good start; he stopped the first 17 shots he faced. Unfortunately, a third period Blackhawks rally left the Blues on the wrong side of a 3–2 final score.
7–18–4 18 64 102 8.6% 81.3%

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