With the NHL playoff races heating to a boil, the stretch run is shaping up to be one of the most competitive in recent memory. Entering last night’s games, only five points separated fifth place Colorado from 10th place San Jose in the Western Conference race, while sixth place Tampa Bay holds a slim seven-point lead over 10th place Toronto in the Eastern Conference.

Given the closeness of the race and their team’s precipitous fall down in the Western Conference standings, it came as little surprise when the ninth-place Los Angeles Kings made a coaching change with only 12 games left in their season. Out went Andy Murray, who had coached the team since 1999, and in his place for the duration of the season is John Torchetti, who faces the daunting task of getting the talented, underachieving Kings back on track.

The power rankings are measured from left to right in games-played, standings points, goals scored, goals allowed, power play success, and penalty-killing success through Wednesday night’s games). Note that our statistics for special teams effectiveness also take shorthanded goals into account. Each team’s ranking from last week appears in parentheses.

1 OTTAWA SENATORS (1) The league’s finest team both at even strength and when killing penalties, Ottawa’s power play is second only to Detroit’s. And though those stats were padded by an otherworldly start, the Sens remain a bona fide Cup favorite.

REC PTS GF GA PP PK
47-15-6 100 271 162 20.7% 18.5%

2 DETROIT RED WINGS (2) Six players have already tallied at least 20 goals for the Wings, and two more (Robert Lang and Jason Williams) are likely to join them before the regular season concludes. That scoring depth will make the Wings a very dangerous playoff team. 47-15-6 100 254 175 23.6% 21.5%

3 CAROLINA HURRICANES (3) Lost in the excitement surrounding Eric Staal’s breakout season (he’s already tallied 90 points) has been the re-emergence of Rod Brind’Amour, who is quietly putting together his best numbers since 1998-99. 46-17-6 98 259 213 18.2% 16.0%

4 DALLAS STARS (5) Star netminder Marty Turco has struggled at times this season, but he’s gotten back on track in recent weeks, posting a miserly 2.11 goals against average and a .907 save percentage to go along with an 8-2 record in March. 46-20-3 95 229 182 16.9% 15.8%

5 BUFFALO SABRES (4) By keeping Martin Biron in the fold, sensational rook ie Ryan Miller is going to have to battle for the starting job. Over the next three seasons, look for this strategy – not rushing Miller – to pay huge dividends for Buffalo. 44-19-5 93 234 198 21.1% 17.2%

6 NASHVILLE PREDATORS (6) The ever-steady Tomas Vokoun has been the NHL’s finest goaltender this season and is the frontrunner for the Vezina Trophy, though he’ll face hefty competition from Calgary’s Miikka Kiprusoff and the Rangers’ Henrik Lundqvist. 42-19-8 92 219 191 18.6% 16.1%

7 NEW YORK RANGERS (8) Distributing the puck on the power play has worked wonders for the Rangers because opponents can no longer focus their attention squarely on Jaromir Jagr. The change has enabled Jagr to re-emerge as the NHL’s top scorer. 39-20-10 88 222 173 19.0% 16.9%

8 PHILDELPHIA FLYERS (9) Peter Forsberg returned to the lineup and led the Flyers to wins over the Devils and Rangers this week. If the injury-riddled Flyers can get healthy in time for the postseason, they will be extremely dangerous. 39-21-10 88 232 222 18.1% 16.9%

9 CALGARY FLAMES (7) Jarome Iginla is a minus-seven in games played in 2006, and that’s cause for concern in Calgary; if their captain is not at his best, the Flames will struggle to advance in the playoffs. 38-22-8 84 176 173 18.3% 17.0%

10 ANAHEIM MIGHTY DUCKS (11) The Ducks have posted an impressive 8-2-1 record since the Olympic break, and Jean-Sebastien Giguere has returned to his 2003 Conn Smythe Trophy-winning form. 35-21-12 82 203 187 16.9% 14.2%

11 COLORADO AVALANCHE (10) They’ve already lost Marek Svatos to a shoulder injury, and now leading scorer Alex Tanguay will miss 2-4 weeks with a knee sprain. Look for Joe Sakic and Milan Hejduk to pick up the slack in their absence. 38-25-7 83 248 216 19.3% 17.1%

12 SAN JOSE SHARKS (15) Netminder Vesa Toskala is gradually wresting the starting job away from oft-injured Evgeni Nabokov; were the playoffs to start tomorrow, Toskala would probably get the nod. 34-23-10 78 217 200 17.7% 15.4%

13 EDMONTON OILERS (12) The Oilers haven’t yet jelled following the big trade-deadline acquisitions of Sergei Samsonov and Dwayne Roloson, but they should find their way into the playoffs before all is said and done. 34-24-11 79 220 222 17.9% 16.9%

14 VANCOUVER CANUCKS (16) An impressive 4-1 victory over the Oilers in Edmonton on Tuesday night may have marked a turning point for the Canucks. In particular, goaltender Alexander Auld (30 saves on 31 shots) was stellar. 37-27-6 80 222 216 18.0% 16.1%

15 LOS ANGELES KINGS (13) The Kings’ coaching change was a calcu lated maneuver by GM Dave Taylor and should yield positive results. The normal short-term impact of a new coach might well be enough to spur the Kings into the postseason. 37-28-5 79 226 234 14.7% 12.5%

16 NEW JERSEY DEVILS (14) The Devils are reeling, largely due to their severe lack of scoring depth. If they don’t get back on track quickly, look for them to slip out of the Eastern Conference playoff picture. 34-26-8 76 188 195 16.0% 14.7%

17 TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING (18) The Lightning fell behind the Panthers 5-1 on Monday night only to storm back to tie the game in an impressive demonstration of resiliency before falling in overtime. 36-28-5 77 216 219 15.8% 13.3%

18 MONTREAL CANADIENS (17) The biggest factor for the Canadiens down the stretch is the health of defenseman Andrei Markov – they have lost the last four games he’s missed. 32-27-9 73 194 212 19.0% 17.9%

19 ATLANTA THRASHERS (19) With their come-from-behind shootout victory over the Bruins on Tuesday, the Thrashers have battled themselves into playoff position. 34-29-6 74 230 230 19.0% 17.5%

20 TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (21) Mikael Tellqvist, who has outplayed veteran Ed Belfour this season, is guaranteed the starting job now that Belfour is done for the season with a bad back. 32-30-6 70 208 226 20.5% 17.7%

21 MINNESOTA WILD (22) Talented sniper Marian Gaborik has been on fire in recent weeks, reminding everyone why he’s one of the league’s finest players. 32-31-7 71 202 185 17.9% 16.6%

22 FLORIDA PANTHERS (24) It’s highly unlikely that the young Panthers will earn a playoff spot, but they are gaining invaluable experience making the effort. 30-30-9 69 199 214 15.0% 13.0%

23 NEW YORK ISLANDERS (20) It is a classic case of addition by subtraction for the Isles, who are far better following their trade deadline purge and youth influx. 32-32-4 68 199 232 17.2% 14.8%

24 PHOENIX COYOTES (23) Though their playoff hopes have faded in recent weeks, the Coyotes have an excellent core of young players upon whom they can build. 32-33-4 68 208 226 18.1% 15.7%

25 BOSTON BRUINS (25) The Bruins’ maddening propensity to blow two-goal leads has cost them dearly this season, something they must improve on next year. 27-31-12 66 198 223 15.8% 13.1%

26 COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS (26) Since Rick Nash returned to the lineup in midseason, the Blue Jackets – and promising youngster Nikolai Zherdev – have improved immensely. 26-40-3 55 173 243 14.3% 12.3%

27 WASHINGTON CAPITALS (28) Alex Ovechkin suffered his first NHL setback on Tuesday night, as he was benched for taking extended shifts and for poor defensive play. 22-38-8 52 195 266 14.3% 10.7%

28 CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS (29) The hapless ‘Hawks need to make dramatic systemic and organizational changes if they’re to ever re-join the league’s elite teams. 21-37-9 51 171 232 12.1% 9.2%

29 ST. LOUIS BLUES (27) The injury plagued Blues suffered yet another set back on Tuesday night when former Calder Trophy winner Barret Jackman was lost for the season with a broken jaw. 20-36-11 51 174 241 15.4% 14.0%

30 PITTSBURGH PENGUINS (30) He’s faced more than his share of adversity, but rookie phenom Sidney Crosby has met all expectations in his debut season. 17-40-12 46 196 273 17.8% 14.1%

Mr. Greenstein, the editor in chief of InsideHockey.com, ranks the NHL’s best and worst each week in The New York Sun.