Power Rankings: Strong two-way play keying red-hot Devils' run
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| Ilya Kovalchuk (center) has been in the middle of almost everything in Jersey. (US Presswire) |
When discussing the favorites in the Eastern Conference, the teams most commonly mentioned are, of course, the defending Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins, the current No. 1 seed New York Rangers, and even perhaps the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The New Jersey Devils, on the other hand, don't seem to get much love. But thanks to a stretch that's seen them go 13-4-2 over their past 19 games, the Devils have skyrocketed up to the No. 4 seed in the East, and as of Monday are tied for the second most points in the conference (72 -- tied with Boston).
The 2010-11 Devils were one of the worst offensive teams the NHL has seen in the past decade (losing Zach Parise for most of the season certainly didn't help), but this year they're getting big-time production and two-way play from Parise, Patrik Elias, and Ilya Kovalchuk. Perhaps the impressive thing about Pete DeBoer's squad is that they have a pretty balanced attack offensively. Seven players have already scored at least 13 goals this season, a list that includes Petr Sykora, a veteran who came into training camp on a tryout contract, and rookie Adam Henrique, one of the favorites for the Calder Trophy.
And let's not overlook the fact that New Jersey's top defenseman this season in terms of overall production and minutes played per game is a 19-year-old rookie, 2011 first-round pick Adam Larsson.
The Devils missed the playoffs last season, in large part because of the aforementioned struggles on offense, ending what had been a run of 13 consecutive postseason trips. They look to be a lock to return this year, and as of right now, look like they could be one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference when the regular season ends.
The next step: finding a way to advance past the first round for the first time since 2006-07.
| Power Rankings | |||
| Current | Team | Previous | |
 | 1 | Canucks · Trends | 7 |
| Thanks to a six-game winning streak, the longest current one in the NHL entering the week, the Canucks have taken over the top spot in the Western Conference and are suddenly right back in the race for the President's Trophy. But as we've seen over the years, that doesn't guarantee anything. | |||
 | 2 | Flyers · Trends | 2 |
| Big win in Pittsburgh on Sunday, and you better get used to that matchup because it's probably going to be taking place quite a bit over the next couple of weeks. The Flyers are 12-3-2 over their past 17 games. | |||
 | 3 | Bruins · Trends | 8 |
| After getting a bit of a scare from the Ottawa Senators in the Northeast Division race, the Bruins seem to be getting themselves back on track | |||
 | 4 | Rangers · Trends | 5 |
| The No. 1 seed in the East is all but locked up at this point for the Rangers. | |||
 | 5 | Blues · Trends | 3 |
| I think we've mentioned this before, but the most overlooked performance on the Blues this season has to be that of defenseman Alex Pietrangelo. | |||
 | 6 | Blackhawks · Trends | 6 |
| It wasn't the prettiest week for Chicago, only beating Nashville on Saturday night after blowing a four-goal lead, and then losing in a shootout to Minnesota on Sunday. | |||
 | 7 | Predators · Trends | 4 |
| Alexander Radulov looks like he never left the NHL. He's a point-per-game player so far in his return to the Predators lineup. | |||
 | 8 | Penguins · Trends | 1 |
| Suddenly, the team that looked unbeatable for a while looks ... very beatable. It's easy to overlook mistakes or sloppy play when you're beating teams 8-4 and 5-1 but there seems to be a few bad habits that developed out there that need to be broken before the playoffs start. | |||
 | 9 | Kings · Trends | 12 |
| There's just something about this team that makes me think it could do some damage come playoff time. If it gets in. | |||
 | 10 | Devils · Trends | 10 |
| It's official: David Clarkson is a 30-goal scorer. Bet you didn't see that coming at the start of the season. | |||
 | 11 | Red Wings · Trends | 11 |
| Since the start of March, the Red Wings have won only five games, and only two of them were against playoff teams. And one of those playoff teams was arguably the worst playoff team, Florida, and that came in a shootout Sunday. | |||
 | 12 | Senators · Trends | 14 |
| The Senators were supposed to be one of the worst teams in the NHL when the season began, and now they're officially in the playoffs. Heck of a job by first-year coach Paul MacLean, and some big seasons from players like Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza and, of course, Erik Karlsson. | |||
 | 13 | Capitals · Trends | 16 |
| The most exciting player in the shootout right now is ... Matt Hendricks?! And not only is he embarrassing goalies across the league, he's also helping the Capitals pick up some important extra points in the tiebreaking skills competition during the stretch run. | |||
 | 14 | Sharks · Trends | 17 |
| The amazing thing is the Sharks still have complete control of their own destiny. Their remaining three games this week aren't going to be easy, of course, but they still hold all the cards. | |||
 | 15 | Coyotes · Trends | 19 |
| Mike Smith is on yet another shutout streak entering the week, stopping 82 shots in back-to-back shutouts against San Jose and Anaheim. | |||
 | 16 | Stars · Trends | 9 |
| They're still very much in the playoff race, but the remaining schedule is not going to be kind to the Stars with games against San Jose, St. Louis and Nashville remaining. | |||
 | 17 | Sabres · Trends | 15 |
| Two straight losses in regulation over the weekend aren't going to help, especially a 4-3 loss in Toronto on Saturday. That could be a costly one. A very costly one. | |||
 | 18 | Panthers · Trends | 13 |
| The Panthers have lost six of their past seven. Those losses were against Carolina, Edmonton, the Islanders, Minnesota, Columbus and Detroit. Other than the Red Wings, that's a rough stretch of games. The only win over that stretch was a shootout win at Montreal. And they've still been outscored by more than 20 goals this season. | |||
 | 19 | Avalanche · Trends | 18 |
| In terms of points, the Avalanche enter the week in relatively good shape, only two points behind the Sharks for the eighth seed. The problem is the Avalanche have already played 80 games and every team they're competing with still has at least one game in hand. | |||
 | 20 | Lightning · Trends | 21 |
| Steven Stamkos has four more games to get four goals to reach the 60-goal mark for the season. With Tampa Bay mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, you have to think they're going to get him the puck. A lot. | |||
 | 21 | Jets · Trends | 20 |
| Winnipeg's return to the NHL has offered a lot of excitement and some good times, but the season is going to end without a trip to the playoffs. | |||
 | 22 | Hurricanes · Trends | 22 |
| Jeff Skinner saw a slight decline in his production during his second NHL season, but still a solid performance for the young winter. | |||
 | 23 | Islanders · Trends | 25 |
| Two impressive performances to beat the Penguins in back-to-back games, both by scores of 5-3. | |||
 | 24 | Wild · Trends | 29 |
| At least they didn't pack it in down the stretch, winning three consecutive games against playoff teams by knocking off Florida, Los Angeles and Chicago. Sure, all three wins came in a shootout or overtime, but that's still three more wins than I expected them to get during that stretch. | |||
 | 25 | Ducks · Trends | 24 |
| We hope that Teemu Selanne is back for yet another season. Forty-one years old and the leading scorer on the team. | |||
 | 26 | Flames · Trends | 23 |
| Winning only two of their past 10 games and losing three in a row has officially pushed the Flames playoff drought to three years. | |||
 | 27 | Maple Leafs · Trends | 26 |
| When they beat Buffalo on Saturday night, the Maple Leafs won on their home ice for the first time since Feb. 6. | |||
 | 28 | Blue Jackets · Trends | 30 |
| Their second three-game winning streak of the month included wins over Detroit, Florida and St. Louis. And all three wins came with Allen York in net. | |||
 | 29 | Oilers · Trends | 28 |
| The lowlight of the week was trying to call up Magnus Paajarvi from the American Hockey League only to realize they had already used their four post-trade deadline callups and had to send him back down. It's not a huge deal, but it is kind of embarrassing. | |||
 | 30 | Canadiens · Trends | 27 |
| A pretty forgettable season in Montreal has resulted in a complete house cleaning throughout the year. | |||
