casper
01-12-2010, 09:27 AM
STREAKING CANUCKS GAIN GROUND IN TSN.CA NHL POWER RANKINGS
TSN.CA STAFF
Despite suffering back-to-back losses to finish the week, the Chicago Blackhawks maintain their hold on top spot in the TSN.ca NHL Power Rankings.
The Blackhawks collapsed in the third period against Minnesota on Saturday night, giving up a four-goal lead before ultimately losing in a shootout, then following it up the next day with a 3-1 loss to Anaheim, despite outshooting the Ducks 43-12.
Chicago has one more game at home, before eight straight on the road to finish the month, so they will have enough challenges in their attempts to keep the top spot ranking that they've held for five weeks now.
Though the Blackhawks opened the door to be overtaken, the San Jose Sharks actually lost ground in the rankings after a 1-2 week, getting passed by the sizzling Vancouver Canucks, who have compiled a 7-0-2 record in the last nine games to land in second spot.
The Canucks were 12-10 when Daniel Sedin returned to action after missing nearly six weeks with a broken foot and have since rolled to a 15-6-2 record, led by the dominant Sedin Twins, but also getting strong work from the supporting cast, with Alex Burrows, Ryan Kesler, Mason Raymond and Mikael Samuelsson all doing their part to keep the goals flowing.
In fact, the Canucks have scored three or more goals in 16 of 22 games, and now rank third in the NHL (behind Washington and Chicago) with 3.18 goals per game.
After slipping out the top 10 last week, the Pittsburgh Penguins are back, thanks to the return of Sergei Gonchar, but the Pens have not been performing like Cup champs in the last few weeks, to be sure.
The Penguins' Pennsylvania rivals from Philadelphia appear to be moving in the right direction once again, and jumped to 14th after a big week, lifting their record to 7-1-1 in the last nine games.
Like Philadelphia, the Anaheim Ducks got a nice boost from a four-game winning streak, though getting Ryan Getzlaf and Teemu Selanne back from injuries played just as big a role in the move from 24 to 18.
Injuries caught up to some of the squads heading south in the rankings.
Boston lost their top two centres and fell from ninth to 13th spot, while the Predators and Stars both lost scoring pivots to fall into the low teens.
The Atlanta Thrashers haven't won a game in regulation since November, which, combined with Nik Antropov's injury, saw them fall to 26th.
Ottawa's miserable run of injuries, combined with last week's four-game losing streak, also saw them slide to 25th in the rankings.
Once again, Edmonton props up the rest of the teams on the chart, winning once in the last dozen games and missing their most talented forward, defenceman and goaltender due to injuries.
TSN.CA STAFF
Despite suffering back-to-back losses to finish the week, the Chicago Blackhawks maintain their hold on top spot in the TSN.ca NHL Power Rankings.
The Blackhawks collapsed in the third period against Minnesota on Saturday night, giving up a four-goal lead before ultimately losing in a shootout, then following it up the next day with a 3-1 loss to Anaheim, despite outshooting the Ducks 43-12.
Chicago has one more game at home, before eight straight on the road to finish the month, so they will have enough challenges in their attempts to keep the top spot ranking that they've held for five weeks now.
Though the Blackhawks opened the door to be overtaken, the San Jose Sharks actually lost ground in the rankings after a 1-2 week, getting passed by the sizzling Vancouver Canucks, who have compiled a 7-0-2 record in the last nine games to land in second spot.
The Canucks were 12-10 when Daniel Sedin returned to action after missing nearly six weeks with a broken foot and have since rolled to a 15-6-2 record, led by the dominant Sedin Twins, but also getting strong work from the supporting cast, with Alex Burrows, Ryan Kesler, Mason Raymond and Mikael Samuelsson all doing their part to keep the goals flowing.
In fact, the Canucks have scored three or more goals in 16 of 22 games, and now rank third in the NHL (behind Washington and Chicago) with 3.18 goals per game.
After slipping out the top 10 last week, the Pittsburgh Penguins are back, thanks to the return of Sergei Gonchar, but the Pens have not been performing like Cup champs in the last few weeks, to be sure.
The Penguins' Pennsylvania rivals from Philadelphia appear to be moving in the right direction once again, and jumped to 14th after a big week, lifting their record to 7-1-1 in the last nine games.
Like Philadelphia, the Anaheim Ducks got a nice boost from a four-game winning streak, though getting Ryan Getzlaf and Teemu Selanne back from injuries played just as big a role in the move from 24 to 18.
Injuries caught up to some of the squads heading south in the rankings.
Boston lost their top two centres and fell from ninth to 13th spot, while the Predators and Stars both lost scoring pivots to fall into the low teens.
The Atlanta Thrashers haven't won a game in regulation since November, which, combined with Nik Antropov's injury, saw them fall to 26th.
Ottawa's miserable run of injuries, combined with last week's four-game losing streak, also saw them slide to 25th in the rankings.
Once again, Edmonton props up the rest of the teams on the chart, winning once in the last dozen games and missing their most talented forward, defenceman and goaltender due to injuries.