Power Rankings: B's come out of the gate with Z's

Updated Oct. 13

It's probably a good thing the Boston Bruins are getting away for a few days right now.

Only two weeks into the season, the defending regular season conference champions already look like they need a change of scenery to regroup and the first road trip of the season offers a chance to do that. The timing is good too since the local spotlight of disappointment is more focused on the Red Sox and Patriots these days. That's really a break for the Bruins who have been just as disappointing.

Tuukka Rask and the Bruins are not off to a particularly good start this season. (AP)

It wasn't supposed to be this way, of course, for a team many believe can win the Stanley Cup. Boston even got a chance to shoot out of the gate by starting the season with a five-game home stand, but failed to take advantage, posting a 2-3 record. Truth is the Bruins played well in only one of the games, getting a second win thanks to a late comeback against the bottom-feeding New York Islanders.

Coach Claude Julien has talked about mental mistakes and bad decisions overshadowing some good efforts, which in coach speak is one way of saying players are believing too much of their own hype. Boston certainly has one of the more-talented lineups in the league and worked hard enough to become a powerhouse last season, but so far the Bruins have been reluctant to really compete in most games. And the tepid effort level has been most apparent in special-team play. Boston's power play has connected only four times in 29 chances so far and the penalty killers have given up eight goals in 26 tries.

Normally a team looks to its leaders to change the dynamics, but so far Vezina Trophy winner Tim Thomas is sporting an ugly .868 save percentage, while Norris Trophy winner Zdeno Chara has only two assists so far and a minus-1 rating. Of course, there have been encouraging performances from forwards Marc Savard, Michael Ryder and Steve Begin, but for the most part the Bruins have played like they are entitled to something.

They're not and maybe being away will help change that. The Bruins have too good a team not to turn things around, but they may end up digging themselves a big hole that will be tough to climb out of.

Here are this week's rankings:

Power Rankings
Current		Team	Previous
	1	Devils · Trends	4
	New Jersey's best D-man Paul Martin is closer to returning, and the Devils are having the best start in franchise history.
	2	Kings · Trends	11
	A Hollywood fantasy? Maybe, but the Kings are on fire of late and start the new week leading, yes leading, the Western Conference.
	3	Penguins · Trends	3
	Marc-Andre Fleury is 7-1-1 in his past nine starts, with a 1.98 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage.
	4	Bruins · Trends	7
	Looking more like the defending Eastern regular-season champs with each passing game. Boston is getting great special teams play of late.
	5	Sabres · Trends	8
	Big week including back-to-back statement wins against the high-powered Caps and Blackhawks, who scored one goal between them in the two games.
	6	Blackhawks · Trends	1
	Chicago is having a tough time scoring goals, with only 15 in the past eight games none on the past 19 power plays.
	7	Capitals · Trends	6
	In the past two months, Mike Green has been on the scoresheet almost every night, getting points in 21 of 27 games.
	8	Avalanche · Trends	13
	Avs have won only five games within their division, but three have come against chief rival Calgary.
	9	Sharks · Trends	2
	Only three wins in nine games within their own division for the suddenly toothless Sharks.
	10	Coyotes · Trends	9
	Seems like the Coyotes players are dead set against moving. Phoenix has won six in a row at home and 12 of 17 in its building overall.
	11	Flames · Trends	5
	Kiprusoff has allowed more than two regulation goals only once since mid-November.
	12	Red Wings · Trends	14
	As injuries continue to hit, Todd Bertuzzi is picking up some offensive slack with four goals, including two OT winners, on eight shots in his past two games.
	13	Canucks · Trends	15
	More than 60 forwards have more ice time than Henrik Sedin, yet he's the NHL leader in even-strength points and is tied for second in the overall scoring race.
	14	Oilers · Trends	26
	A franchise-record road trip with five straight wins is impressive, so is coming back in three of them.
	15	Wild · Trends	16
	Martin Havlat started showing signs of life on the weekend for the Wild, who improved to 12-5-3 in their past 20 games.
	16	Thrashers · Trends	10
	Strong finishers. Atlanta hasn't lost a game it has led after two periods and has scored more goals in the third than anyone.
	17	Predators · Trends	12
	Nashville gets good production from the back end but still has scored fewer goals than it has allowed.
	18	Stars · Trends	17
	Same old story for a team that gets points by avoiding regulation losses. Dallas got four of a possible six with a 1-0-2 swing through California.
	19	Senators · Trends	18
	Alex Kovalev is back in everyone's good graces, at least temporarily, thanks to a hat trick that included his 400th career goal.
	20	Maple Leafs · Trends	27
	Don't look now but the Leafs are in striking distance of a playoff spot and starting to make life tough for teams visiting the ACC.
	21	Canadiens · Trends	24
	The Habs are getting very good work from Carey Price lately, they're just not helping him much by allowing so many shots.
	22	Islanders · Trends	22
	Key stretch coming up for the Isles, who are much better at home than on the road. Seven of their next 10 are on Long Island.
	23	Blues · Trends	19
	Few teams enjoy getting away as much as the Blues. They have only four of their 13 wins in their own building.
	24	Rangers · Trends	21
	Coach John Tortorella on his team's current situation: "Let's call it what it is; it's a mess."
	25	Flyers · Trends	20
	Changing coaches hasn't made much difference for the Flyers. Philadelphia is now 1-4 under Peter Laviolette and has won only twice in 11 starts.
	26	Lightning · Trends	23
	The Lightning have only one point in their past four games and only 13 goals in a 1-6-2 slide.
	27	Panthers · Trends	25
	Goalie Tomas Vokoun has looked sharp, but he has gone eight starts in a row without a win for fast-fading Florida.
	28	Ducks · Trends	28
	Undrafted free agent Dan Sexton has been a pleasant surprise since being called up with four goals and a plus-5 rating in five games.
	29	Blue Jackets · Trends	29
	The unraveling continues with Ken Hitchcock calling out his top players including Rick Nash, who has only two goals in 12 games.
	30	Hurricanes · Trends	30
	Are Eric Staal and his $8.2 million cap hit on the block? The 'Canes need to do something and Staal has only five goals in 22 games this season.