Power Rankings: Parity rains on contenders' parades

Updated March 16

Among other things, this season has produced exactly the kind of parity the NHL wanted coming out of the lockout.

Elite teams still do exist; Detroit and San Jose both clinched playoff spots Sunday and with Martin Brodeur back, the deceptively talented Devils are probably in that category these days as well. But with the salary cap spreading quality players throughout the league and an extra point now guaranteed to winners of overtimes or shootouts, things are generally balanced for everyone else.

So with less than a month remaining, there are great multi-team playoff races in both conferences and no such thing as a gimme game anymore, even for contenders against teams playing out the string.

It's a lesson that came across the hard way for a few teams still wondering how much of a lost weekend they just went through.

The Florida Panthers, Chicago Blackhawks, Buffalo Sabres and even the Pittsburgh Penguins all squandered what could be potentially critical extra points against teams the standings say they should have beaten, particularly at this point in the schedule.

Florida came home after losing two road games and blew a two-goal lead against Tampa Bay with less than seven minutes left in the third period before losing a shootout and dropping below the cutoff line. Chicago lost in regulation at home to the New York Islanders, the league's last-place team, leaving the fourth-place Blackhawks only two points ahead of Vancouver in the West. And Pittsburgh lost in a shootout to Ottawa after taking a two-goal lead into the third period.

The Penguins get a partial pass because they stole a point in Columbus earlier in the week, overcoming a three-goal deficit against Steve Mason in the third period. But the Sabres might not be so lucky because they dropped to 10th place after blowing a win with four seconds left in a home game. Atlanta sent the game into overtime with the late goal and won the shootout.

That's the kind of lost point that often comes back to haunt teams. The others might too.

Here are 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.