With a couple of statement wins, the Dallas Stars
move up the Power Rankings. As always, my rankings are based on this
simple formula: If the playoffs started today, this is how I would rank
my Cup contenders, with some consideration for current form but also
realistic season-long trajectory.
| 2015-2016 Power Rankings: Week 19 | ||||
| RANK | TEAM / RECORD | TRENDING | COMMENTS | |
| 1 | 1 Last Week: 2 | The Caps rallied furiously but just fell short Saturday night against the Stars. It's so rare to see them lose. It's a potential Stanley Cup finals preview Tuesday night when the Kings visit. | ||
| 2 | 1 Last Week: 1 | The Blackhawks went down in OT to the Ducks at home on Saturday night in a potential preview of a Western Conference finals rematch in the spring. | ||
| 3 | 1 Last Week: 4 | Ryan Getzlaf is playing his best hockey of the season and the Ducks are taking on all comers. | ||
| 4 | 2 Last Week: 6 | The waiving of Christian Ehrhoff underlines the Kings' need to bolster the bottom half of that blue line before Feb. 29. | ||
| 5 | 5 Last Week: 10 | The Stars are fully back from their midseason fog. Impressive wins over the Blackhawks and Capitals in the past week give them six victories in their last seven games. | ||
| 6 | 1 Last Week: 7 | The Blues are 6-2-2 in their last 10 games after Sunday's 2-1 win over the Lightning. A measuring stick game comes Tuesday night against the division-rival Stars. | ||
| 7 | 2 Last Week: 5 | The Panthers have dropped four of their last five games, including a 5-0 waxing from the Predators on Saturday night. | ||
| 8 | 4 Last Week: 12 | A wild win Sunday over the Bruins as the Red Wings move to within three points of the first-place Panthers in the Atlantic. Don't sleep on the Wings. | ||
| 9 | 6 Last Week: 3 | The Bolts had surged back up the standings over the past month but have dropped three of four games. | ||
| 10 | 2 Last Week: 8 | The Rangers keep hanging in with the big boys despite the fact that people continue to say they're not quite the same contender. | ||
| 11 | 2 Last Week: 9 | The Bruins rebounded well from that 9-2 loss at home to the Kings with a couple of solid victories, but Sunday's 6-5 loss in Detroit was yet another reminder of their defensive issues. | ||
| 12 | 2 Last Week: 14 | Can the Sharks hold off the Ducks for second place in the Pacific? Home ice in the first round between the two clubs is on the line. | ||
| 13 |
--
Last Week: 13 | Their three-game win streak was snapped in a loss to the Hurricanes. Is their goaltending good enough for the Isles to win a playoff round? | ||
| 14 | 3 Last Week: 11 | A coaching change isn't always the answer, but it certainly had an impact on the Penguins, as Mike Sullivan has righted the ship. | ||
| 15 |
--
Last Week: 15 | Sunday's 1-0 win over the Kings was just another attempt by the Devils to convince the hockey world they're for real. I'm beginning to believe. | ||
| 16 |
--
Last Week: 16 | A lot of frustration was unleashed in that 5-0 win over the Panthers on Saturday night. It's been a really inconsistent season for a Preds team that should be better. | ||
| 17 |
--
Last Week: 17 | Three out of four points from a pair of weekend games were critical for the Hurricanes to continue on their playoff push. | ||
| 18 |
--
Last Week: 18 | The Avs are hanging onto a wild-card spot although losses like Sunday's in Buffalo aren't going to help. | ||
| 19 | 5 Last Week: 24 | Ondrej Pavelec returns from injury and beats the Oilers on Saturday night. The question is: Will he be their goalie next season? | ||
| 20 | 1 Last Week: 19 | The Flyers have dropped five of six games and their playoff dreams are beginning to fade. | ||
| 21 | 1 Last Week: 20 | The Senators promptly lost three straight after their big trade with the Maple Leafs for Dion Phaneuf. | ||
| 22 | 1 Last Week: 21 | The Canadiens' three-game win streak ended Friday night in Buffalo despite the fact that they completely outplayed the Sabres in the third period. | ||
| 23 |
--
Last Week: 23 | It's fairly clear just how much it ate at GM Chuck Fletcher to fire Mike Yeo as head coach. It's the last thing he wanted to do, but the season was slipping away beyond saving. | ||
| 24 | 2 Last Week: 22 | Here's a thought: What if the Coyotes end up with hometown boy Auston Matthews after all? If the losses keep piling up, they'll give themselves a swell chance. | ||
| 25 | 4 Last Week: 29 | Four wins in their last five games for a Blue Jackets team that always seems to turn it on in February and March. | ||
| 26 | 1 Last Week: 25 | That home loss to the Leafs on Saturday night feels like the final playoff dagger, even if they're just five points back of a wild-card spot. | ||
| 27 | 1 Last Week: 28 | Really tough call on pending UFA Kris Russell. He's such a good fit on that second pairing, but at what cost? | ||
| 28 | 2 Last Week: 26 | A four-game losing streak was snapped with weekend wins over the Canadiens and Avalanche. | ||
| 29 | 2 Last Week: 27 | The Oilers have dropped four of five as reality sets in and the selling gets ready to commence ahead of the trade deadline. | ||
| 30 |
--
Last Week: 30 | The Maple Leafs are going all-in for a top-three pick. The only problem is that even with the league's worst active roster, Mike Babcock might still squeeze out too many wins. | ||
Scott Tucker ·
Un-freaking-believable.
Utter, utter horseshit. The Stars are 5 -1 in Februrary and, in the
same week mind you, dispatched both the Hawks and the Caps, and this
genius puts them at "5" and actually elevates the Caps. LeBrun, you are a
bone dumbass.
Adam Letschin ·
Dude
you really need to get control of yourself if Power rankings upset you
this much.. You are a fan of a very good team, cheer up!
Max Noel ·
Administrator at CLW
Supposed
to forget they dropped 8 out of 11 in January? People complain about
these rankings all the time, but first time I've seen a 5-spot jump lead
to a teenage meltdown.
Cj Wolfson ·
Scott
one game on the road. Come on man, the caps are in pace to Crush the
president's trophy record by 29 points. I do agree that your star's
should of gone up, but they are not above the Caps.
Daniel Kramer ·
The
caps should have been number 1 the entire season. They rarely lose in
regulation and even though they lost to Dallas on Saturday they won the
other 3 games they played during the week. They have 7 more points than
Dallas with 2 games in hand. That's why the Caps are at #1. Case closed
Scott Tucker ·
Daniel
Kramer Haven't beaten the Stars since 2008 and, comparitively, the
Eastern Conference sucks. If the Caps were in the West, they'd struggle
to make the playoffs.
Kevin Goetz ·
Daniel Kramer quit trying to speak logically. This isn't the crowd for that
Dan Schardan ·
Scott
Tucker wow the lack of repect for the Caps confuses me. They are solid I
understand you have a good team but so do Caps fans. No body knows more
than us(Blues fans) that the regular season means nothing but home ice.
See you boys Tuesday!!!!!!!!!!!!LETS GO BLUES!!!!!!!!!!
Thomas Brady
The Stars are really good but to say that the Caps wouldn't make the playoffs in the West is dumb.
Joshua McCarron ·
Works at Texas Roadhouse - Chantilly, VA
Um,
Scott. I wouldn't say your team "dispatched" the caps, as the stars
were a goal post away from blowing a 4-0 lead in one period. The Caps
are a better team all around. That's the difference between them. The
Caps can shut down whenever it's necessary. The stars can't do that.
Offense offense offense just doesn't work. Defense wins you
championships in any sport and the stars don't have that. I know the
Caps struggle with the Stars, however, the stars won't get past the
second round with their lackluster defense and goaltending. Washington
has better depth in both areas. Also, don't have to see the likes of
Chicago or LA until the finals, if that. Good luck.
Patrick Graham ·
Scott Tucker Your team went up 5 spots .. RELAX!
Kevin Goetz ·
Patrick Graham he will not rest until his team is #1 and wins the Power Rankings championship
Scott Tucker ·
Joshua
McCarron Okay...let's put this to bed once and for all. Klingberg,
Oduya, Gogligoski, Demers. To say that Dallas is an offensive "Once
Trick Pony" is an utter fallacy. We shut you down DEFENSIVLEY for two
periods. Hell, in the first period it looked like a great full-court
press in college basketball; you could barely get it out of your end.
Now, I'll free admit that in a comparison of the Stars offense to their
defense, the offence wins. But, this crap that indicates they have no
defense at all is wrong. Conbine their good blueline, with the BEST
offence and good netminding...hell, we'll take all comers.
Christopher Lytle ·
Ducks
go 2 and 2 and lose to the Penguins, go up one and they are red hot?
Penguins go 2 and 1, beat the (red hot ducks) and drop three. Those two
teams have legit been almost identical all year. Both had terrible
starts and both turned it around at almost the exact same time. Not
sure where the 11 spot gap is. Their records are practically exactly
the same too. Not sure if the pens should be higher or ducks lower,
(maybe a little bit of both) but they should be way closer in these
rankings.
Patrick Graham ·
My
thoughts exactly. I do not understand dropping the Pens 3 spots. But,
figuring out the movement of the power rankings is like figuring out
what a girl is thinking - sometimes it just makes no sense.
Dean Marriott ·
Pittsburgh
plays in the vastly inferior Eastern Conference. Until Sid the
cherry-picker learns to backcheck the Penguins will be an easy playoff
match-up. My advice to Sid is watch Kopitar and Toews tape to learn the
proper way to play.
Chris Edwards ·
I
hate the Ducks, but they've been winning 7-8 of their "last 10" for a
couple months. They've quietly been playing some really good hockey
after everyone left them for dead in November.
Patrick Graham ·
Dean Marriott My advice to you is to actually watch Sid play
because he DOES backcheck and does it well. He's no Ovi. But go ahead, just believe in whatever myth you want to believe in.
Kevin Goetz ·
Dean
Marriott Sid the cherry picker challenged two shots at the point last
week, blocked both, then took the puck down on a breakaway and
scored...twice...once with a guy on his back. It's fun to knock players
and I'm sure that there is a laundry list of things that you could pick
from to take a shot at Crosby. but...cherry picking? not your best
Patrick Graham ·
Chris
Edwards Right, but the Penguins annhilated the Ducks last week. You
would think annhilating the #3 team and going 1-1 outside of that would
at least keep you even, not drop you 3 spots.
Chris Edwards ·
Patrick
Graham they're still 8-1-1 in their last 10. Even though these power
rankings come out weekly, their body of consistency the past couple
months has been unmatched by anyone outside of Washington. Everyone
thinks the single week alone should cause mass fluctuations, when it's
asinine to do that.
Chris Mauro
Overall,
East has a 170-134-34 record against the West. Not sure where you're
getting the "vastly inferior" term. Math is simple.
Patrick Graham ·
Chris
Edwards Right, I'm not questioning the Ducks' positioning, I'm
questioning why the Penguins dropped after beating a team as good as the
Ducks and splitting games against opponents in their proximity on the
rankings. That's what doesn't make sense. Not that it matters.
Patrick Graham ·
Chris
Mauro Sounds like Dean is your typical LA bandwagoner. Doesn't really
know much about the sport because he just started watching in 2012.
Dean Marriott ·
Kevin
Goetz Just look at the last 3 cup winners. What do they all have in
common? Elite two-way centers, Jonathan Toews, Anze Kopitar and Patrice
Bergeron. Sidney Crosby is the modern day Marcel Dionne, a great regular
season player that gets exposed in the playoffs. Don't even get me
started on Malkin who has yet to backcheck in his entire career.
Dean Marriott ·
Patrick
Graham Actually 1973 so I have seen my share of great offensive hockey
in LA. Marcel Dionne and Sidney Crosby have a lot in common. Great
regular season players that get exposed in the playoffs. I will take
Kopitar all day long over any player in the NHL with the exception of
Toews. So go ahead with I just started watching hockey in 2012 take.
Patrick Graham ·
Dean
Marriott Well, I don't think you have paid much attention because you
clearly have no idea what you are watching. Crosby has a Stanley Cup, so
obviously he doesn't get "exposed" in the playoffs (he has the highest
points per game in the playoffs among all Active players, mind you). He
only has one because the supporting cast in Pittsburgh has not been
nearly as good as in Chicago or LA. If you trade out Kopitar or Toews
for Crosby on either of those teams, they win the same amount of Cups,
if not more. If you really think just one player playing an elite
two-way game makes all the difference for a Cup, you have no idea what
you are talking about. And Crosby's defensive game is fine. It's not as
good as Toews or Kopitar, but it is above average and definitely is not
the reason for losing.
Brett Miller ·
These
rankings are garbage. Ducks are playing well, but are 3rd in the
weakest division in the sport, and 15th in the league overall and are
3rd in the rankings. That's pretty much all you need to know about these
rankings. If they were in the East and the playoffs started today, they
wouldn't even make the playoffs, but somehow are the 3rd best team
right now. But hey they did go 2-1-1 last week including an SO loss to
columbus.
The NHL needs to fix the division/conference issue. It's ridiculous that the East has 16 teams fighting for 8 spots, while the West only has 14 teams. Takes a lot of pressure off of performing well throughout the regular season. The Ducks have had to play well for 2 months to get 6 points clear of the playoffs because they play with garbage teams like Arizona, Vancouver, Calgary, and Edmonton. 
Brett Miller ·
OC
Guy they are playing well I agree with that (best last 10 game record)
but why are they 3rd when they would be a fringe playoff team in any
other division? Kind of like why are the Lightning so high when they are
also a fringe playoff team? Rangers and Washington are tied with the
2nd best last 10 game record, yet the Rangers are 10 behind a team with a
worse record and who has dropped 3 of 4. Just doesn't make sense.
Steve Nicholas ·
Brett
Miller Are you seriously comparing the Ducks and Rangers scheduling?
Over the last 10 or so the Ducks have beaten @Chicago, @LA, @Bos, SJ,
Dal, and @Det. NY has beaten the Penguins. And check your standings man,
the Ducks have 65 points, that's tied with the Penguins for the second
spot. Who have you guys played this year?
Ted Ostoich ·
Works at Currently working on health issues
First
of all Brett do not even compare conferences because it is night and
day, yes there are 16 teams in the West 12 of which can make the
playoffs on a yearly basis! The East plain ole sucks, Washington would
maybe be a third place team in the Western Conference Central at best if
they had to play a Central schedcule day in day out, Outside of the
usual pretenders, Pitgtsburgh, Detroit( As of recent years) Boston ,
Tampa and Philly the East fights it out to see who the Black Hawks or
Kings yearly sacrifice is going to be. Cup will stay in Chicago this
year!!!
Ted Ostoich ·
Works at Currently working on health issues
OOPs I forgot the heavily overrated Rangers !!!
Sam Billard
Ted
Ostoich *14 teams in the west. Best division is the metro. How about
heavily underrated Rangers? 10th on the power rankings. Please. And the
Hawks have played 60 games which is a handful more than most teams
Kurtis Van Dieen ·
Brett
Miller You make a point about the pacific being weak but fail to notice
that the Ducks are also ahead of both central wildcard teams with games
in hand on them to spare.
Jason Todrick
Ted Ostoich uh.... 14 teams in the West... 8 make the playoffs
Sergio Bonilla
Kurtis Van Dieen They weren't for a long time. It's a good thing it's a long season
OC Guy
@
Brett...I am not saying the Ducks are the best team in the NHL....yet,
but the past six weeks they have made a huge push and are getting close
to where they should have always been. Plenty of games left and they are
already in the mix for top spot in the west. They have earned a top
spot in any ranking. Will they keep it? that's up to them but outside of
any significant injuries I don't see why not.
Garrett Joel Backstrom
Brett Miller Now look how much further they've come... they keep on rolling.
Joseph Herman ·
NY
rangers are playing some great hockey, two main players Nash and
captain McDonough have missed injury time,other guys have been stepping
up, jt Miller,mats zuccerello,Hayes, stalberg,guys on defense yandle is
playing some of his best hockey ever.They will keep playing the underdog
card,pick up a few minor peices, and be a contender again,Lundquist has
been awesome, and sleeper Lindberg shows he belongs.
Daniel Sokolow
Only in ESPN's world can a team go 3-0-1 in the previous week, giving up 2 goals in the 3 wins, and drop 2.
 
Kevin Byrne ·
John Hodges Weird because as a Ranger fan Capitals worry me.
Brett Miller ·
John
Hodges and Kevin Byrne, that's because the two teams seem to play every
year in the playoffs recently with one taking the other out.
Kanon Mata
John
Hodges The caps always worry me as a rangers fan. And especially this
season. I hate to admit this, but I think the only way the caps are
going down is if Ovechoing gets hurt. (Of course I hope I'm wrong.)
I
know people will laugh when I say this but watch out for the Sharks.
They started off real slow, but this last month and a half they have
been playing excellent. They shut out the Blackhawks, and beat some
real good teams. They just need to learn not to choke in playoffs. I'm
still hurting they blew 3-0 lead to the Kings in the playoffs, and what
made it 100x worst is the Kings went on to win the whole thing.
Svenskt Blod
I
agree with you, they are dangerous, specially if you bear in mind how
good they are on the road. It is true that they need to improve a bit
the home ice play, but I think they will get to that. By the way, in
nhlstats dot net power rankings they are higher than in espn rankings,
#9, very close to #6:
6. Bolts 62896 pts 7. Kings 62761 pts 8. Bruins 61429 pts 9. Sharks 61246 pts
Svenskt Blod, will see what happens. I can't believe the regular season is over in 11 games. That went fast.
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