You know what I think everyone has been saying? "This season would be way better if games always went into overtime and shootouts!" They haven’t? Well they better get used to it, because so far this season, teams have already gone into 114 overtime/shootout games. In fact, the last game Tuesday night was decided 1-0 by a shootout; Vancouver Canucks over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
*Rankings based upon statistics through Tuesday night
1. Chicago Blackhawks (-)
While still sitting questionably in my calculated rankings again this week, it’s just not possible to demote the Blackhawks yet. They’ve only had four regulation losses! The Blackhawks are not playing as consistent as they have been in the past, but they continue to win most of their games and maintain their strong lead.
2. Pittsburgh Penguins (-)
The Penguins have had a major comeback these past few weeks; they’ve won the last 13 games straight! Sidney Crosby now leads the league in points and the Penguins recently acquired Brenden Morrow, so it doesn’t look like they’ll be slowing down anytime soon.
3. Anaheim Ducks (-)
Anaheim continues to impress as well with their hard work, although they had a rough week. They came out with a big win over the Blackhawks, only to lose two in a row to the Red Wings. The Ducks play the Blackhawks again this Friday in Chicago though, so that will be a great game to watch.
4. Toronto Maple Leafs (+11)
The Maple Leafs had one heck of a week playing the Bruins and winning on Saturday, but then losing to them in overtime on Monday. Either way, should still be a big ego booster. While anything could still happen, it does seem like the Maple Leafs are a shoe in for the post-season.
5. Montreal Canadiens (-1)
It has not been a pretty week for the Canadiens. They lost twice in the same week to Buffalo, of all teams, followed by a loss to the Penguins. Wednesday they will play the Bruins for the first place divisional spot, so everyone is hoping for an end to the losing streak. The Canadiens have a well-balanced team with at least 13 players who’ve earned double-digit points so far this season. Even with their recent off-week, they’re still a high-caliber team.
6. Boston Bruins (-1)
The Bruins have been playing pretty shaky the past few weeks and have had a lot of ups and downs, as seen by their drop in the rankings. They’re currently tied for first in their division but will play the Canadiens Wednesday night to decide. Unless Milan Lucic starts scoring again, I’m thinking things will continue to look bleak for the Bruins.
7. Ottawa Senators (-1)
I honestly feel like I’m starting to become a broken record when it comes to the Senators. No matter what befalls them, they still continue to win. Besides their 2-1 loss against the Bruins, they’ve had another perfect week. The Senators will definitely be in the playoffs and other teams should be worried. If they can play this well with half their team injured, how are they going to play when the whole team is back?
8. Vancouver Canucks (-3)
It appears the Canucks have finally found their rhythm again. Cory Schneider has been dominating in net lately and the Canucks are on a five-game win streak. Their upcoming games should be on the easy side, so for a little while at least they should keep up their winning. The question still is can the Canucks keep it up into the playoffs.
9. Winnipeg Jets (-1)
For only dropping one place in the rankings, the Jets may have had one of the worst weeks this week. They lost not once, but twice in a row, at home, to the Capitals for a combined score of 10-1. Talk about embarrassing. They did turn their week around with back-to-back wins over the Lightning and Hurricanes though, so hopefully they’ll have their heads straight for this weeks game against the Penguins.
10. Detroit Red Wings (-)
The Red Wings had a couple big name wins this past week, sweeping the nearly undefeated at home Anaheim Ducks. The team has won five of their last six games and don’t seem to be backing down. They’ve got some tough teams to play the rest of the week though.
11. Los Angeles Kings (-4)
The Kings have played almost strictly at home the past two weeks and accomplished what they should have; winning those games. The offense let them down a little over the weekend posting up a few losses but they made a big comeback Monday with a neck-in-neck win over the Blackhawks. The Kings still have a hard road trip ahead of them however, with games against the Blues, the Wild, and the Stars.
12. Minnesota Wild (+4)
Having probably the best month in the league, the Wild have lost just three games in March and all to top-notch teams. Better yet, for a team that started the season at barely .500, half those wins this month were away games. The Wild only have three more games to finish up the month and two are at home.
13. New Jersey Devils (-6)
The Devils have a couple rough weeks ahead of them with Ilya Kovalchuk out due to a shoulder injury. Even when he was playing, the team was at the bottom in terms of scoring so without him they don’t have much hope. Though the Devils have playoff positioning right now, there are some teams below them who are playing a lot better and eyeing up their spot.
14. Nashville Predators (+5)
The Predators offense seems to have come out of nowhere this season! Suddenly they’re scoring an average of four goals a game and moving their way up in the rankings. However their defense still doesn’t seem to have the sport figured out because they’re giving up almost as many goals as their colleagues are scoring.
15. St. Louis Blues (-6)
Although they’re still remaining comfortable and quietly in a playoff position, this wasn’t the best week for the Blues. They went on a losing road-trip through Canada, including a game against Calgary, where they outshot the Flames 38-17 but still lost 3-2. They did manage to redeem themselves against the Oilers at home this week with a win, but play the Kings on Thursday. If they don’t pull it together they’ll be tallying up another loss.
16. New York Islanders (-4)
Easy wins over Florida and Washington to snap the losing streak raised the spirits of Islanders fans everywhere this past week. They still have to face the Penguins, Devils, and Jets this upcoming week though, which may be the make it or break it chunk of time for their playoff hopes.
17. New York Rangers (+1)
Their conference that was looking so weak is starting to tighten up. The Rangers suffered two losses this week to the Panthers and the Capitals, and have a large amount of road games ahead of them. Definitely going to need to step up if they’re looking at the post-season.
18. Columbus Blue Jackers (-1)
The Blue Jackets' month long point streak came skidding to a halt this past Saturday with a 5-2 loss to the Predators. Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky has been helping the team out majorly and is a great part of the team for the franchise’s future. Although in the playoff race finally, there’s still a lot of skepticism about the teams longevity as most of those games were all at home. This next week the Blue Jackets will have to prove themselves worthy with their slew of road games.
19. Washington Capitals (+9)
Whoa! Not sure where this team came from, but the Capitals look like they’re finally ready to play some real hockey! They’re 5-5 on their last ten games but Alexander Ovechkin has scored in just about every one of them now. The Capitals have found themselves just outside of playoff positioning.
20. Tampa Bay Lightning (+2)
With head coach Guy Boucher out and the teams' former AHL coach Jon Cooper in things might start to look up again for the Lightning; unfortunately probably too little, too late. The Lightning started out the season hot, but once other teams caught on to their playing style and started adapting; things went downhill. Although there will be an adjustment period I’m sure, the fact that Cooper has already coached part of the Lightning roster on the AHL team, it shouldn’t be a long one.
21. Dallas Stars (+4)
Not only did the Stars trade their team captain Brenden Morrow, but there are also still rumors circulating about trading both Jaromir Jagr and Derek Roy yet. Interesting choice in my opinion for a team just barely gripping the 8th playoff spot. The team took a pretty heavy beating by the Wild Monday night and still have to play them once more as well as the Kings to finish out this month. Hopefully that game wasn’t a sign of what’s to come.
22. San Jose Sharks (+1)
The Sharks continue to be a spotty team as the season progresses. The team is just barely hanging in there for a playoff chance, which is quite the turnaround after their blowout start. Another team with a lot of trade talk right now, it seems to be a decision of who not if they plan to trade. I think the team should focus on next year and restructure (i.e. start over). Put everyone up on the trading block but Joe Thornton and Logan Couture and rebuild the roster from scratch.
23. Buffalo Sabres (+1)
Despite not looking like a playoff team, the Sabres have been on a bit of a win-streak and taken out some top-level teams. They play the Panthers this week so that should add a few more points to their total. Although not likely, the Sabres could potentially still pull off a playoff spot.
24. Phoenix Coyotes (-13)
The Coyotes are fading fast having lost their last-six games. Also not promising is their upcoming schedule, with games against teams like the Wild and Canucks. They better start hoping for a miracle.
25. Carolina Hurricanes (-11)
The loss of Cam Ward has finally caught up. The Hurricanes have lost their last-six games and have managed to only score one goal each. Luckily for them, their GM has already been making roster changes to plan for the future.
26. Edmonton Oilers (+2)
The Oilers looked like they were trying to go somewhere but this last week was pretty rough for the guys. They dropped the last couple games, even get booed off their own ice Saturday, before coming back to beat the Blues Tuesday night. They still have to face the Canucks before the month is over and the Canucks have been playing a much-more solid game. The Oilers may only be a couple points out of the playoffs right now, but they’ve got quite a few teams to jump over if they want a spot.
27. Florida Panthers (-)
The Panthers continue to remain one of the most consistent teams in my rankings; bad, but consistent. They had a few miraculous wins last week over the Hurricanes and Rangers but the team continues to remain firmly in last place for just about everything.
28. Philadelphia Flyers (-7)
The Flyers played a pretty serious game against the Penguins on Saturday and fought it out into overtime. Unfortunately they couldn’t keep up and lost 2-1. Still up there among one of the better games the Flyers have played as of late. They managed to gain a point from it, but it still won’t put them into the playoffs.
29. Calgary Flames (+1)
It continues to be a waiting game with Jarome Iginla and the Flames. Every game has the potential to be his last with the team but no one seems to know. Just in case he’s running low on time, he came up with a nice game-winning goal against the Blues on Sunday. The Flames did however lose to Chicago Tuesday and still have to play the Blue Jackets yet this week.
30. Colorado Avalanche (-1)
Though there seem to be rays of hope every once in awhile, I’d say it’s safe to say this season is over for the Avalanche. You know it’s been rough, when a local writer even suggests tanking the rest of the season just to get better draft picks for next year. The Avalanche still have a tough schedule this week to finish out the month as well. Although you can’t entirely blame the coach, if I were Joe Sacco, I’d start preparing for a move.