NHL Power Rankings: Week 3

October 28, 2008

Week: | 1-2 | 3

Total Pro Sports - As will be the case for the next few weeks, there's been a lot of movement in the power rankings for Week 3 with the two big moves coming out of Alberta. We also saw some of the teams who were expected to do well improve.

The biggest loser in our NHL Power Rankings this week were the Edmonton Oilers. To put it lightly they pooped the bed this past week. They gave up 13 goals while only scoring 4 in their 3 games. They'll have to get more scoring from players not named Ales Hemsky to turn this streak around.

The biggest gainer in our NHL Power Rankings this week were the Calgary Flames. After struggling against Northwest opponents the Flames really turned things around lead by their captain Jarome Iginla. Iggy lead the team in their win over Nashville scoring a hat-trick and then collected 3 points (1 goal 2 assists) in their next victory against Phoenix. Kiprusoff seems to have settled down as they only gave up 5 goals in their 3 games.

Lets take a look at the rest of the league: NHL POWER RANKINGS for Week 3

Rank	Record	PRV	Comment
1	8-2-1	-	They just keep winning with victories over the Blue Jackets and Penguins this past week. Zherdev had a good week with 4 points (2 goals 2 assists), 3 of which came against his former team.
2	6-0-2	4	They've been able to get at least one point in all of their 8 games so far and are still getting great goaltending from Ryan Miller.
3	7-2-0	1	Struggled to keep the puck out of their net against the Flyers and Panthers, but shutout the Lightning on Saturday. Patrick Marleau really stepped up his game this week collecting 5 points, 4 of which came in their game against Philly.
4	6-1-1	6	After winning all 3 of their games this week the Wings are starting to look like a Cup winning team. Both Marian Hossa and Pavel Datsyuk found their games this week and that's good news for Detroit but bad news for the rest of the league.
5	5-0-1	1	Tough loss to the Sabres but beat the Blue Jackets in a close one. Mikko Koivu is still continuing to surprise people as he has 10 points in 6 games.
6	5-2-2	5	Collected 5 out of a possible 6 points and only gave up a total of 4 goals in their 3 games this week. Oh yeah, Malkin & Crosby have a combined 26 points in just 9 games.
7	5-1-1	4	Beat the Panthers on Monday but weren't able to take advantage of the long layoff and lost 6-4 to the Ducks on Saturday. Koivu & Tanguay have a combined 18 points in their first 7 games.
8	5-2-1	1	Hammered the Stars 5-0 but lost back-to-back games to the Flyers. As will likely be the case at the end of the season, Zach Parise leads the team in points with 11.
9	5-3-0	1	Played the Wings tough and beat the Panthers but lost to the Kings 4-0. Kariya continues to lead this team but their top 4 scorers are all in the minus column for +/-.
10	5-3-0	9	They're playing better as a team and it showed winning all 3 of their games this week. Ryan Smyth looks good scoring a highlight reel goal and Paul Stastny leads the team with 11 points.
11	4-3-1	2	Lost two tough ones in a row to the Flames and Coyotes but managed to squeeze out a win against the Stars. Alexander Semin has been on fire and leads the team with 14 points.
12	4-3-1	15	Won all 3 of their games this week and Iginla finally woke up scoring a hat-trick in their game against Nashville.
13	4-2-1	-	Lost to the Penguins and beat the Islanders. They'll need Staal, Whitney and Brind'Amour to put up more points and get better goaltending from Ward if they want to improve this coming week.
14	3-2-3	-	Lost two close games to the Sabres and Leafs but won their game against the Thrashers.
15	3-2-3	5	A good 3-0 shutout win over the Oilers and put up a good fight against the Wings on Saturday. Kane and Havlat are going at a good pace but they'll need more production from Toews to compete against the tougher teams in the West.
16	3-2-3	9	Played inspired in their 3 games this past week, twice coming back from 2-0 in their games against the Ducks (lost in the shootout) and Bruins (won in regulation). Antropov had a good week and leads the team in points with 7.
17	4-4-0	2	Lost to the Flames but rebounded with a win over the Kings. Shea Weber is establishing himself as a top defenceman in the league with 9 points and a +/- of plus-3.
18	4-4-0	6	Lost to the Blue Jackets and Ryan Kesler surprisingly leads the team with 9 points. 9 points isn't horrible, but Kesler shouldn't be the one leading the team in that category.
19	4-3-0	14	Rough week losing all 3 of their games while only scoring 4 goals and allowing 13.
20	4-5-0	10	A lot better week for the '06 champs winning all 3 of their games. Perry and Getzlaf have seemed to of woken up.
21	3-4-2	5	Wasn't a terrific week but was a lot better than their first two beating the Rangers and Islanders. Ribeiro had a monster game against NYI getting 5 points (1 goal 4 assists).
22	4-4-0	1	Had a decent week beating the Senators and Sharks but lost to the Canadiens and Blues. Cory Stillman leads the team with 9 points.
23	2-3-3	6	Had a lot better week beating the Devils in back-to-back games and earning a point in their shootout loss to the Sharks. Richards and Carter are picking up their play lately scoring a combined 10 points in the team's 3 games this past week.
24	3-4-0	6	Rough week losing to the Avalanche and Predators. Their biggest problem is trying to get Kopitar and Frolov going consistantly.
25	3-5-0	2	Got off to a good start beating the Canucks, but lost their next two to the Rangers and Wild. Nash must maintain a point per game pace for this team to be competitive.
26	3-4-0	2	Beat the Capitals but lost to the Flames. They'll need more from Jokinen as they play the Penguins and Wild this week.
27	2-4-2	10	They lost all 3 of their games this past week and Todd White leads the team in points. Need I say anymore?
28	2-5-1	12	Lost all 3 of their games and like usual Heatley, Spezza and Alfredsson seem like the only players who can score on the team.
29	2-5-0	7	What can be said about this team? They lost both of their games last week and DiPietro seems to be battling injury issues already.
30	1-3-3	2	There must be something wrong with the water in Tampa. They barely beat the Thrashers and lost 3-0 to the Sharks. After 7 games St.Louis and Lecavalier only have 9 points combined.