Power Rankings: Three-headed monster leads halfway charge

Updated Jan. 12

The NHL has crossed that great divide known as the mid-way point in its schedule, and several things have become clear. Among them: the Boston Bruins are not a fluke; the Red Wings don't understand the concept of Stanley Cup hangover and the San Jose Sharks really are built to win in the playoffs.

Not coincidently these three teams share a few things in common like getting it done at both ends of the ice and standing out from the pack during the first half of the season. In fact, each has taken a turn as the NHL's best at different moments through their first 41 games.

The Sharks were the fastest out of the gate and have run away with the Pacific Division, but what once seemed like an insurmountable lead for them in the overall league standings is almost gone. Boston took a couple of weeks to get cranked up and has been nearly unbeatable since, while Detroit has found a way to expend just enough energy to control the Central Division and fine tune its game for the postseason, and both are now nearly tied with San Jose in points.

But while all three are obviously serious Stanley Cup contenders, they are not the only ones in a league that now has more parity than ever before.

From the East, the Montreal Canadiens, Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers have all demonstrated championship qualities and the ability to get into a winning run at various times through the first half, while in the West, it seems imprudent to overlook the veteran Anaheim Ducks or the Calgary Flames, who have been building momentum with key men Jarome Iginla and Miikka Kiprusoff leading the way.

Any of those teams could be lifting the Cup this spring, but under the right circumstances, so could dark horses like the Rangers, Devils, Blackhawks or Vancouver Canucks, who all have goalies capable of carrying a team through a long playoff run.

Now the fun begins.

This week's rankings:

Power Rankings
Current		Team	Previous
	1	Sharks · Trends	1
	Dominant second periods (the Sharks are a league-best plus-18) have helped San Jose go nearly four weeks without losing in regulation.
	2	Devils · Trends	3
	The Devils' way of doing things is with defense. New Jersey has allowed just 14 goals in the past nine games, eight of them wins.
	3	Sabres · Trends	6
	Derek Roy has picked things up in November with four goals and two assists in his first six games.
	4	Flyers · Trends	5
	Ray Emery is giving the Flyers a chance to win each time out with only four first-period goals allowed in 16 starts.
	5	Blackhawks · Trends	11
	Four wins in Jonathan Toews' first four games back with the Blackhawks, with the captain and linemate Patrick Kane combining for four goals and four assists in the process.
	6	Flames · Trends	7
	Miikka Kiprusoff has allowed just five goals in his past five starts, four of them wins.
	7	Capitals · Trends	2
	Breathing room in the Southeast helped, but so did the scoring depth as the Caps won four of six without Ovechkin in the lineup.
	8	Penguins · Trends	8
	Malkin is back and Gonchar is getting closer to returning, yet the snake is still biting the Penguins with Alex Goligoski going on the shelf.
	9	Red Wings · Trends	12
	Henrik Zetterberg wins the player of the week nod with nine points in three games.
	10	Kings · Trends	9
	Randy Jones has been a good pickup for the Kings with four points in his four games.
	11	Thrashers · Trends	20
	Ilya Kovalchuk came back with a vengeance for the Thrashers, who are unbeaten in the seven games they've scored first.
	12	Canucks · Trends	10
	They're a .500 team, mainly because they're catching teams that are struggling. Henrik Sedin is doing his bit with nine goals in the past 11 games.
	13	Avalanche · Trends	4
	The good thing for Colorado is that Craig Anderson is used to being on a team that gets outshot almost every game from his days in Florida.
	14	Blue Jackets · Trends	14
	These days, Mathieu Garon is giving the Jackets the kind of goaltending they expected from Steve Mason.
	15	Predators · Trends	23
	Nashville is playing its best hockey of the season and gets a measuring stick with the Sharks and Devils on tap this week.
	16	Lightning · Trends	19
	Vincent Lecavalier is starting to come alive and the Bolts have only one regulation loss in 11 games.
	17	Rangers · Trends	17
	Defenseman Marc Staal leads the Rangers in ice-time with 22:29 per game, but he's minus-6 in the past 11 games and pointless on the power play this season.
	18	Coyotes · Trends	13
	Reality seems to be setting in for the Coyotes, who are only 2-5 in November after a great start.
	19	Islanders · Trends	26
	Might be time to pay more attention to the upstart Isles, who are getting solid goaltending from Dwayne Roloson and have gone 7-2-2 in the past 11 games.
	20	Bruins · Trends	18
	One big difference this season in Boston has been special teams. Last year the B's were top five in both, now they are in the bottom five.
	21	Stars · Trends	15
	The Stars just can't get any momentum going because they've won two in a row only once.
	22	Panthers · Trends	27
	The Panthers are struggling to close things out. Florida has lost four of the six games it has led after two periods.
	23	Senators · Trends	16
	Still struggling with shootouts. The Senators are a league-worst 12-25 lifetime since the skills competition was instituted after the lockout.
	24	Canadiens · Trends	21
	Offense is still a problem for the Habs, who have been shut out twice and have only seven goals in their past five games.
	25	Oilers · Trends	22
	Dustin Penner is still putting up points, it just isn't helping the Oilers, who have won only twice in 11 games.
	26	Ducks · Trends	24
	Coach Randy Carlyle on his plucked Ducks: "We're regressing right now instead of progressing."
	27	Blues · Trends	28
	Has anyone in St. Louis seen Keith Tkachuk lately?
	28	Wild · Trends	29
	Things are looking a little better for the Wild, who have picked up four wins and 10 points in their past 10 games.
	29	Maple Leafs · Trends	25
	Phil Kessel has lived up to the hype so far, just not enough to help the Leafs offense do much without the man advantage. Toronto has scored nearly half of its 45 goals on the PP.
	30	Hurricanes · Trends	30
	Brandon Sutter has been one of the few bright spots, and maybe the only one for Carolina so far. He has four goals and seven points in 10 games since being called up from the minors.