Power Rankings: Post-drama Coyotes still in pack
Updated Nov. 30
Not very long ago, it was unclear where the Coyotes would be after the first two months of the season.
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| Ilya Bryzgalov often earns the spotlight with his play in Phoenix. (US Presswire) |
Phoenix came into this new season having gone the past six without sniffing the playoffs, and the boardroom drama resulted in Wayne Gretzky being officially pushed out as coach only a week before the season. So even with a lineup that deemphasized last year's youth movement by inserting more serviceable veterans, things really didn't bode well for the Coyotes as opening night approached.
No doubt when former Dallas coach Dave Tippett took over he needed to see the backs of jerseys instead of faces to identify his players at the outset. But Tippett got them on the same page in a hurry, enough to have the Coyotes head into December in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race and as one of the league's surprise teams.
Maybe even the biggest. The Colorado Avalanche and Los Angeles Kings had equal claim to the surprise title for a while, but the Avs have faded precipitously in recent weeks while the Kings are slipping and look very lost without Ryan Smyth in the lineup. Phoenix, meanwhile, certainly isn't wowing anyone, but the Coyotes are making the most of their talents with strong defense, sharp goaltending from Ilya Bryzgalov and the leadership of captain Shane Doan.
Before anyone gets too excited, remember the future in the desert is still up in the air and Phoenix won consecutive games only once in November, needing an overtime win Sunday in Anaheim to do even that. But with only five teams in the league having more wins, that has been enough to keep the Coyotes in the playoff race.
"We think we have room to improve and that we can be better than we have been, but at the same time we're in the hunt," Doan said. "We know we've got a good run in us so we just have to keep going until we get it."
This week's rankings through Sunday night's games:
| Power Rankings | |||
| Current | Team | Previous | |
 | 1 | Red Wings · Trends | 3 |
| Whether they're winning in shootouts or regulation, it doesn't matter, the Red Wings look unbeatable at home, and are in the middle of a stretch that has them playing in the friendly confines of Joe Louis Arena often. | |||
 | 2 | Rangers · Trends | 1 |
| The Rangers had a bit of a scare on Sunday when it appeared Ryan McDonagh was shaken up in their win over the Capitals. He was eventually able to return to the game. After Henrik Lundqvist, there aren't many players who have been more valuable to the blue shirts this season. | |||
 | 3 | Canucks · Trends | 2 |
| The Canucks enter the week having earned a point in nine consecutive games going back to Jan. 17 | |||
 | 4 | Blues · Trends | 6 |
| There are only two teams in the NHL allowing fewer than two goals per game this season -- the Rangers and the Blues, and nobody is allowing fewer goals per game than the Blues. | |||
 | 5 | Penguins · Trends | 7 |
| Sidney Crosby or no Sidney Crosby, these guys look like a major contender now that Jordan Staal is back. He looks like he never missed a game. | |||
 | 6 | Bruins · Trends | 5 |
| At the end of the day, the Bruins are still my pick to win the Stanley Cup, and they still own -- by far -- the best goal-differential in the NHL at plus-64. But they haven't looked like the same team over the past couple of weeks. | |||
 | 7 | Predators · Trends | 4 |
| After leading the league in shooting percentage last season, Sergei Kostitsyn enters the week second in the NHL this season at 23.7 percent. That's nice but I think the Predators would rather see him take a few more chances in the hope of scoring a few more goals in exchange for a slightly lower percentage. | |||
 | 8 | Sharks · Trends | 9 |
| It doesn't seem to be getting much attention, but Joe Thornton is putting together another fine season for the Sharks. | |||
 | 9 | Devils · Trends | 8 |
| Fact: Going to the New Jersey Devils two years ago has made Ilya Kovalchuk a better all-around hockey player. | |||
 | 10 | Panthers · Trends | 14 |
| Thanks to three straight wins the Panthers enter Monday with a bit of a cushion in the three-way race in the Southeast Division, leading the Capitals by four points and the Jets by seven. | |||
 | 11 | Flyers · Trends | 10 |
| The Flyers have allowed 10 power play goals over their past six games, including two Sunday night in a 4-3 loss to Detroit. That needs to be corrected. Soon. | |||
 | 12 | Maple Leafs · Trends | 11 |
| Mats Sundin night was supposed to be a celebration capped off with a big game in the playoff race against their oldest, most fierce rival, and instead the Maple Leafs made a mess. | |||
 | 13 | Kings · Trends | 15 |
| Usually, just about every team in the NHL posts a shooting percentage somewhere between eight and 10 percent, and so far this season that's what we're seeing across the league, with one exception: the Los Angeles Kings, entering the week with a team shooting percentage of only 6.8 percent, which is pretty unheard of. | |||
 | 14 | Capitals · Trends | 13 |
| His absence is still showing us just how important and valuable Nicklas Backstrom is to the Capitals. | |||
 | 15 | Blackhawks · Trends | 12 |
| OK, eight losses in a row has to be rock bottom for the Blackhawks, doesn't it? This team is too good for this. | |||
 | 16 | Senators · Trends | 16 |
| Defenseman Erik Karlsson became the first blue liner to reach the 50-point mark this season. As of Monday, no other defenseman has more than 39 points. | |||
 | 17 | Coyotes · Trends | 28 |
| The lesson this week: Never count out a Dave Tippett team. | |||
 | 18 | Canadiens · Trends | 29 |
| Scott Gomez finally scored a goal and the Canadiens close out the week riding a four-game winning streak to move to within seven points of the No. 8 playoff spot. Unfortunately, teams rarely make up a deficit that large at this point in the season. | |||
 | 19 | Lightning · Trends | 18 |
| Guy Boucher on the teams the Lightning are chasing following a loss to the Penguins on Sunday night: "As much as I'd like to call their coaches and ask them to lose for us, it ain't going to work" | |||
 | 20 | Flames · Trends | 24 |
| When the Flames brought Olli Jokinen back last season everybody had a pretty good laugh about it, but he's been a really productive player for them in his latest go with the club. | |||
 | 21 | Stars · Trends | 22 |
| Just 54 games into the season and Michael Ryder has already reached the 20-goal mark for the first time since the 2008-09 season. | |||
 | 22 | Ducks · Trends | 21 |
| The Ducks are still playing much better, but it's still probably too late for them to get back into the playoff picture. | |||
 | 23 | Avalanche · Trends | 19 |
| The Avalanche haven't won a game with Semyon Varlamov in net since Jan. 6. | |||
 | 24 | Wild · Trends | 17 |
| Minnesota went from being the best team in the league to the No. 12 seed in the Western Conference in less than two months. | |||
 | 25 | Jets · Trends | 20 |
| Say this for the Jets: they still seem to play some entertaining games, even in defeat. | |||
 | 26 | Islanders · Trends | 23 |
| Great move to lock up Frans Nielsen, an underrated and extremely valuable part of their young core. | |||
 | 27 | Sabres · Trends | 25 |
| At one point this season the Sabres were actually 11-6-0. Since then they've gone 13-19-6. | |||
 | 28 | Hurricanes · Trends | 26 |
| If the Hurricanes pull Tuomo Ruutu off the trade market and re-sign him, well, that's certainly going to put a rather large dent in the trade deadline hype. Then again, if Ruutu was the most sought-after player, it probably wasn't that exciting to begin with. | |||
 | 29 | Oilers · Trends | 27 |
| It's all Sam Gager, all the time in Edmonton. If it seems like he's had a hand in nearly every Oilers goal over the past two weeks, that's because he has. | |||
 | 30 | Blue Jackets · Trends | 30 |
| So re-signing Vinny Prospal was kind of random, right? | |||
