Power Rankings: Can one man make a difference? Ask the Wild
Updated March 27
Talk about a key player.
In the Minnesota Wild's case it's Marian Gaborik. He has played only 43 of the 77 games for the team this season because of injury, but far more often than not, his presence has resulted in wins. Gaborik has 28 goals -- including seven game winners -- and 50 points, and the Wild are 30-7-6 when he is in lineup and 18-1-2 when he scores.
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| Marian Gaborik has scored 28 goals in 43 games played this season. (Getty Images) |
Minnesota has been all about defense under coach Jacques Lemaire since its 2000 NHL debut, and was counting on Gaborik to trigger a new offensive direction this season after adding skilled players like Pavol Demitra, Mark Parrish and Kim Johnsson to support him. But they didn't really get to strut their stuff until after New Year's because Gaborik, who has spent significant time on the shelf since Minnesota made him their first-ever draft pick in 1999, was out most of the time with a groin injury.
Gaborik returned Jan. 6 and since then everyone has switched into high gear. Minnesota has gone 24-6-6, keeping pace with an equally hot Vancouver team to turn the Northwest title race into one of the most compelling in the league.
The Wild have been getting some great goaltending from Niklas Backstrom, the 29-year-old rookie they signed from Finland last June, and lately from another freshman, Josh Harding. Their scoring is coming from several places in the lineup -- and they can still play defense, of course.
Minnesota is nearly unbeatable at home and much improved on the road in the last few months, and has flown under the radar most of this season. If the Wild keep playing like they have, they'll be hard to miss in the playoffs. Here are this week's rankings:
| Power Rankings | |||
| Current | Team | Previous | |
 | 1 | Rangers · Trends | 2 |
| One of the most impressive things about the Rangers this season is that they've been able to win so many games while getting almost no offense from Brandon Dubinsky, and Brad Richards not putting up the type of numbers they may have expected. | |||
 | 2 | Canucks · Trends | 3 |
| Since the start of the new year the Canucks have lost just two games in regulation. Defenseman Kevin Bieska helped keep that going Saturday in Colorado when he saved an empty net goal by making a diving save at one end of the ice, then followed it up with the game-tying goal at the other end. | |||
 | 3 | Red Wings · Trends | 1 |
| Even before Jimmy Howard's injury the Red Wings looked like a team that was in need of a backup goalie upgrade, and nothing we've seen since his injury has changed that. | |||
 | 4 | Predators · Trends | 5 |
| If the playoffs started Monday, the Predators and Blues would be a first-round matchup. Based on the game they played Saturday night that might be a pretty exciting series. | |||
 | 5 | Bruins · Trends | 4 |
| The Bruins have really fallen back to the pack in the standings recently and haven't won back-to-back games since Jan. 10-12. They are 5-5-1 over their past 11 games. | |||
 | 6 | Blues · Trends | 6 |
| As of Monday there are only five goalies in the NHL with at least five shutouts this season. Two of them, Brian Elliott and Jaroslav Halak, play for the Blues. That's about Ken Hitchcock, ladies and gentlemen. | |||
 | 7 | Penguins · Trends | 7 |
| The following stat comes via the Penguins Radio Network on Twitter (@PensRadioNet). In his career Evgeni Malkin has played 82 games without Sidney Crosby in the lineup, or what amounts to a full season of games. His numbers: 49 goals, 112 points. | |||
 | 8 | Devils · Trends | 14 |
| The Devils make a big push as they enter the week riding a four-game winning streak and having gained a point in eight of their past 10 games. | |||
 | 9 | Sharks · Trends | 10 |
| The Sharks followed up a three-game losing streak with a three-game winning streak this week, including shutouts from Antti Niemi against Calgary and Columbus. | |||
 | 10 | Flyers · Trends | 8 |
| It's usually a good thing when you outscore your opponent 4-0 and outshoot them 24-1 in the third period, right? Well, not when you entered the period down 6-0, as the Flyers did on Saturday against New Jersey. Too little, too late. | |||
 | 11 | Maple Leafs · Trends | 13 |
| Toronto responded from what could have been a crushing loss in Pittsburgh on Tuesday night with back-to-back wins, both of which were shutouts with James Reimer in the crease. Could have been an ugly week with the way it started. | |||
 | 12 | Blackhawks · Trends | 9 |
| The Blackhawks enter the week on a five-game losing streak, and it's already their second losing streak of at least four games since the start of January. | |||
 | 13 | Capitals · Trends | 12 |
| Even if Nicklas Backstrom wasn't already injured, the loss of Brooks Laich, for however long it will be, would have been a costly one for the Capitals. Fortunately, nobody else in the Southeast seems all that interested in winning the division. | |||
 | 14 | Panthers · Trends | 16 |
| Another game with first place on the line Tuesday night in Washington. | |||
 | 15 | Kings · Trends | 15 |
| New week, same old story. Jonathan Quick is awesome, the offense ... well ... is not. By far the lowest scoring team in the league, well behind Columbus and Minnesota. Not a good sign. | |||
 | 16 | Senators · Trends | 11 |
| The Senators could be in trouble. The losing streak is now at six, and they have still played more games than every team they're competing with for a playoff spot. | |||
 | 17 | Wild · Trends | 17 |
| Like Toronto, another team that overcame a brutal third-period collapse and followed it up with a big win. They picked up a 1-0 victory against Colorado after giving up four goals in the final 10 minutes against Nashville. | |||
 | 18 | Lightning · Trends | 20 |
| Martin St. Louis played his 900th career game over the weekend and celebrated it with a hat trick against the Florida Panthers. The Lightning have been on a roll recently, winning six of seven, with the only loss coming in overtime against Winnipeg, but they're still pretty far out of the playoff race. | |||
 | 19 | Avalanche · Trends | 18 |
| Eventually their shootout luck was going to run out, as it did over the weekend against Vancouver. First time they've lost one going back to last season, and the losing streak is at five starting the week. | |||
 | 20 | Jets · Trends | 21 |
| The Jets should be happy about this whacky divisional alignment, for this year anyway, because the Southeast is the only one they would still have a chance to win right now. | |||
 | 21 | Ducks · Trends | 19 |
| Teemu Selanne never gets old. Watching him play never gets old, and he never seems to show any signs of age when he's on the ice. It's incredible to watch. | |||
 | 22 | Stars · Trends | 23 |
| The Stars picked up the extra point against Minnesota over the weekend, winning in a shootout, but if they're going to jump over the Wild they can't allow them to gain a point in regulation in the head-to-head matchups. | |||
 | 23 | Islanders · Trends | 25 |
| John Tavares continues to be one of the hottest players in the NHL, adding four more goals and two more assists over his past five games. | |||
 | 24 | Flames · Trends | 22 |
| In seven games with the Flames, Mike Cammalleri has two goals and no assists. Not exactly starting off with a bang. | |||
 | 25 | Sabres · Trends | 28 |
| After scoring 31 goals in 62 games last season, Drew Stafford has just eight in his first 50 games this year. | |||
 | 26 | Hurricanes · Trends | 27 |
| And speaking of players having down years, Eric Staal is on pace for just 18 goals this season. The only time he's scored fewer than 29 in a single season was during his rookie year in 2003-04. He scored 11. | |||
 | 27 | Oilers · Trends | 29 |
| Sam Gagner's week was perhaps the best on-ice development for the Oilers since they went to the Stanley Cup Finals back in 2005-06. Seriously. His historic eight-point night on Thursday was followed by a three-point first period in his next game on Saturday. Even more impressive is that two-game stretch came against Detroit and Chicago, two pretty good teams. Oilers have won four of their past five. | |||
 | 28 | Coyotes · Trends | 26 |
| The Coyotes are still in the playoff race, but they're headed in the wrong direction having won just five of their previous 17 games. | |||
 | 29 | Canadiens · Trends | 24 |
| Tough times in Montreal as the Canadiens hit the bottom spot in the Eastern Conference over the weekend. | |||
 | 30 | Blue Jackets · Trends | 30 |
| Friday's overtime win in Anaheim snapped what had been the Jackets latest six-game losing streak. So that's a positive for the week. | |||
