powered by Google  
CBSSports.com Power Rankings: Warming Penguins starting to take off - NHL Sports News   Track your favorite teams and players.
Free membership, Register Now
Already a member, Log In
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  Home   Fantasy     NFL  |  MLB  |  NBA  |  NHL  |  College FB  |  College BK  |  Golf  |  More CBS College | MaxPreps | Mobile | Shop  
NHL Home | Scoreboard | Standings | Schedules | Stats | Teams | Players | Transactions | Injuries | Video | Fantasy News
 

Power Rankings: Warming Penguins starting to take off

 

Updated Nov. 17

The power play has been erratic, they manage to dig themselves into holes too often, and hey, Sidney Crosby isn't even leading the team in points. But chances are no one around the Pittsburgh Penguins is complaining these days.

The Penguins start the new week with the NHL's top scorer in Evgeni Malkin, one of its hottest players in Jordan Staal and for good measure, Crosby starting to catch fire by averaging two points in his last three games. Oh yes, and the Penguins are riding a six-game winning streak too, including a scintillating comeback against the Red Wings on national television in the first meeting between the teams since the Stanley Cup Finals,

Pittsburgh has won six of nine games it has trailed after 40 minutes this season, and put on a big show in Detroit with four third-period goals to send the game into overtime. It highlighted the explosiveness remaining on a team that underwent a major roster turnover and lost key defensemen Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney to serious injuries.

The Penguins offense hasn't always been on display this season, but Pittsburgh has outscored opponents 32-22 during its winning streak. Overall, the Penguins are 11-4-2, putting them on a pace to surpass their 105-point total of last season. More important, Pittsburgh is within four points of the Atlantic Division leading New York Rangers, who have played three more games.

All of which bodes well for the defending Eastern Conference champions, especially in a division that seems there for the taking. The Rangers have been uneven over the last couple of weeks, while the Devils have added Martin Brodeur to their long injury list and Philadelphia continues to redefine the term streaky. Meanwhile the Penguins are hitting stride.

Here are this week's rankings:

Power Rankings
CurrentTeamPrevious
1Bruins · Trends1
Boston hit its stride early and rarely stumbled under the smart coaching of Claude Julien. The Bruins can score and enter the playoffs as the only team with fewer than 200 goals allowed.
2Sharks · Trends2
A first Presidents' Trophy will only mean something to the league's best home team if it turns out to be a stepping stone for a first deep playoff run.
3Red Wings · Trends3
Detroit often looked like the reigning Cup champs this season, but not lately. Maybe they can flip the switch, but both goalies have sub-.900 save percentages.
4Penguins · Trends7
Everything about Pittsburgh's season before the coaching change and the deadline acquisitions is irrelevant. These Penguins are a fine-tuned version of last spring's Stanley Cup finalists.
5Capitals · Trends4
Ovechkin and company will have to provide enough fireworks to overcome a defense that is vulnerable. Can a team run and gun its way to a Stanley Cup in this day and age?
6Canucks · Trends10
No one out West has played better over the past few months than the Canucks, who will ride a very hot Roberto Luongo into the playoffs. Vancouver won the Northwest after being 13 points back in January.
7Blackhawks · Trends8
Nikolai Khabibulin is playing like someone in his contract year should and the kids are alright again after going through a rough stretch last month. Starting the playoffs at home is a bonus.
8Ducks · Trends6
A strong finish got them to the playoffs, and with Francois Beauchemin back, they've got the best blue line in the business. This is the dark-horse team in the West.
9Hurricanes · Trends5
A sloppy finish cost Carolina a shot at the fourth seed, but the Hurricanes' late-season surge wasn't a fluke and Cam Ward is playing like a Conn Smythe winner again.
10Flyers · Trends11
At one point this season, the Flyers had a 13-1-3 stretch, but they've been a .500 team since the trade deadline. So they're an enigma heading to the playoffs, a team that could get to the Finals or get bounced in Round 1.
11Devils · Trends9
The wheels seemed to come off after Martin Brodeur set his wins record in March. A couple of meaningless late wins won't convince anyone the Devils have fixed things.
12Blue Jackets · Trends14
They have the league's worst power play and allowed more goals than they scored, yet the Jackets still found a way into the playoffs because rookie sensation Steve Mason always gives them a chance to win.
13Rangers · Trends18
The Rangers earned their playoff spot by winning the games they had to, mainly because Henrik Lundqvist came up very big. But he'll need help for New York to make any kind of run.
14Blues · Trends15
The Blues officially claimed the feel-good story of the year title last week by grabbing a playoff spot with their roster full of fuzzy-faced kids. St. Louis could be dangerous playing without the pressure of expectations.
15Flames · Trends13
The impact of Calgary's implosion hasn't muted because the Flames are in the playoffs. But the Flames have been borderline awful for the past six weeks and they are pretty banged up heading into the playoffs.
16Canadiens · Trends12
Montreal backed into the playoffs last week, which temporarily saved the organization from another major embarrassment in a season that has already gone down in flames.
17Sabres · Trends19
A second consecutive season without the playoffs. Buffalo was competitive but was done in by Ryan Miller's untimely injury.
18Panthers · Trends17
Much progress this season under rookie coach Peter DeBoer, but not enough to overcome a punchless offense and too many bad goals against Tomas Vokoun.
19Wild · Trends20
Things would have probably been different had Marian Gaborik been there all season. At least Minnesota got an idea about what it will be like next season.
20Predators · Trends16
The Predators stayed in the playoff race longer than they should have and seemed to have set themselves up in goal for the next few seasons with Pekka Rinne.
21Oilers · Trends21
Edmonton placed a lot of hope -- probably too much -- on several young players and it backfired this season. Long-time coach Craig MacTavish could pay the price.
22Senators · Trends23
Here is a microcosm of how Ottawa's season went: Sniper Dany Heatley scored four times in his first three games, stayed healthy and still finished one shy of a fourth straight 40-goal season.
23Thrashers · Trends22
A strong finish and some good young pieces give the Thrashers some hope, although that's getting a bid old for a franchise that has been in only four playoff games.
24Kings · Trends25
Their development process got a lot further than expected this season and the Kings have the cap space to add big pieces over this summer. They could produce a quick turnaround next year.
25Coyotes · Trends26
Can we say Phoenix took a step forward this season? Not really, but the bigger concern surrounds the team's future in the desert.
26Stars · Trends24
Too many key injuries to deal with, especially in a season that had off-ice distractions and Marty Turco far from his best.
27Maple Leafs · Trends27
Now that the season is over the Brian Burke era will really begin.
28Lightning · Trends28
All kinds of questions for the Bolts heading into the summer, but the biggest is whether Vincent Lecavalier will be back.
29Avalanche · Trends29
All signs are pointing to Patrick Roy becoming coach of the Avs after their worst season in Colorado.
30Islanders · Trends30
The prize for an awful season will come at the draft when New York gets either John Tavares or Victor Hedman.
 

 
 
 
 
Wes Goldstein
Recent Columns
 
Headlines
 
 
 
CBS Sports Store
 
 
 
 
 
Fantasy Hockey