Week: | 1-2 | 3 | 4

Total Pro Sports – Well after three weeks the New York Rangers have finally been knocked off as the #1 team in our weekly NHL Power Rankings.

After winning four games in a row including last Saturday the San Jose Sharks have moved into the #1 spot and the way they’re playing now it’s hard to tell if anyone will be able to knock them off in the near future.

NHL Power Rankings Movers And Shakers

The biggest Shakers in our NHL Power Rankings this week were the Colorado Avalanche and the St.Louis Blues, both dropping 12 spots.

The Avalanche lost all three of their games against the Flames, Blue Jackets and Sharks while only scoring a combined 5 goals and giving up 12.

The Blues lost both of their games to the Hurricanes and Penguins while getting shutout against Carolina and giving up 6 goals against Pittsburgh.

The biggest Movers in our NHL Power Rankings this week were the Tampa Bay Lightning moving up 11 spots. The Lightning took the Northeast by storm, yes it’s supposed to be a joke, by beating the Leafs, Sabres and Senators. Both Vincent Lecavalier, more importantly, Steven Stamkos woke up with Steven getting his first NHL point against Toronto and scoring his first NHL goal against Buffalo.

Lets take a look at the rest of the league: NHL POWER RANKINGS for Week 4.

Rank	Team	Record	PRV	Comment
1		10-2-0	2	What else can be said other than this team is on a roll. Their key players are contributing and both Nabokov and Boucher are giving them solid goaltending.
2		10-3-1	1	Overall they had a good week but that 3rd period collapse vs Toronto really stung. They’ll need more from Drury as he only has 5 points in 14 games.
3		8-1-1	4	Won all three of their games including coming back from 4-1 to beat the Islanders Saturday. Andrei Markov surprisingly leads the team in points with 13.
4		8-2-2	-	Went 2-1-1 beating the Kings and Canucks. Hossa has caught fire and leads the team with 15 points.
5		7-2-2	3	Have cooled off after their hot start going 1-2-0 losing to the Senators and Lightning last week. Despite the scores, Ryan Miller is still giving the Sabres solid goaltending and Vanek leads the league in goals with 11.
6		7-2-1	1	Had a so-so week going 2-2-0. They’re still playing a good team game but will need to get some secondary scoring from guys not named Koivu or Miettinen.
7		7-4-1	5	Continued their hot streak beating the Avalanche, Bruins and Kings but lost a close one to the Ducks. Iginla, Bertuzzi and Cammalleri have scored a combined 35 points in Calgary’s first 12 games.
8		6-2-2	-	Lost a wild one to the Leafs and hammered the Thrashers. They’ll have to hope that Brodeur’s injury isn’t too serious.
9		6-3-3	5	Had a good week going 3-1-0 beating the Oilers, Canucks and Stars. Tim Thomas had a great week posting back-to-back shutouts in their wins over Edmonton and Vancouver.
10		6-4-2	4	Went 1-2-0 losing to the Sharks and Coyotes. On the plus side Crosby, Malkin and Satan have scored a combined 43 points in Pittsburgh’s first 12 games.
11		7-5-1	9	Had the second biggest gain of the week by collecting 7 out of a possible 8 points. Getzlaf and Perry have finally woken up as they now have a combined 29 points in 12 games.
12		6-3-2	1	Had a good week going 2-1-1. They’re getting good goaltending from Cam Ward but will need to put more pucks in the net to keep winning.
13		5-3-3	2	Beat the Stars and Blue Jackets but lost to the Wild. Toews has been money in the shootout but still only has 6 points in 11 games.
14		6-4-1	3	Collected 5 out of a possible 6 points. Weber has played great so far and Dumont leads the team with 14 points.
15		5-4-3	1	Had an emotional comeback win over the Rangers but then blew their own 2 goal lead against the Hurricanes the next day. They’re in tough this week facing the Hurricanes, Bruins and Canadiens.
16		6-4-1	3	Went 2-1-1 last week beating the Hurricanes and Flyers. Just like Carolina they’ll need to get more scoring to stay in the top 8 in the West.
17		5-4-1	6	Sneaked out a win against Nashville then got hammered by Buffalo. Semin is now 2nd in the league in points with 16, two behind fellow countryman Malkin.
18		6-6-0	-	So-so week going 2-2. Henrik Sedin is now tied with Ryan Kesler for the team lead in points with 10.
19		4-3-3	11	Won all three of their games and Stamkos finally scored his first career NHL goal. They’re still getting solid goaltending from Smith and Kolzig which has been a big problem for them ever since Khabibulin left back in 2005.
20		4-4-3	3	Managed to get to .500 going 2-1-0 last week. Gagne had a solid week and is tied with Richards for the team lead in points with 14.
21		5-5-0	12	Were shutout against the Hurricanes and lost 6-3 to the Penguins. It doesn’t get any easier for them as they face the Ducks, Sharks and Kings this week.
22		5-6-0	12	Lost all three of their games and goaltending looks like it will be a concern for them after all.
23		4-5-2	5	Picked up their socks a bit and beat the Sabres and Panthers. It’ll be interesting to see how Alfredsson responds after signing his big contract extension.
24		4-6-2	3	Beat the Wild but were beaten handly by both the Blackhawks and Bruins. They’ve surprisingly allowed the most goals against so far, a big change from last year.
25		4-6-1	-	Went 1-1-1 and face a tough test this week playing four games against the Islanders, Oilers, Canadiens and Flames. Derick Brassard leads the team with 11 points.
26		4-5-0	-	Went 1-1 in a light week but face a tougher test this week with four games against the Flames, Canucks, Panthers and Sharks. Doan has turned it on lately and is tied with Jokinen for the team lead in points with 10.
27		4-6-1	5	Rough week losing all three of their games while only scoring 6 goals. Keith Ballard leads the team with 10 points…not a good sign.
28		3-6-1	4	Like the Panthers, the Kings lost all three of their games. On the plus side Kopitar and Frolov are starting to heat up.
29		3-7-2	2	Lost their first three games of the week but managed to beat Florida thanks to a great game by Kovalchuk. Question is how much longer will he be a Thrasher?
30		2-7-1	1	In a continuing trend for the bottom 4 teams, the Islanders lost all three of their games last week, including blowing a 4-1 lead to the Canadiens. Hedman or Tavares anyone?

Be sure to check back next week with our NHL Power Rankings for Week 5.

4.  Buffalo Sabres Season Preview

Just like they have for the past couple seasons the Sabres are a young, fast and skilled team. Only question is how big of a factor will injuries be.

Thomas Vanek headlines this forward group and has developed some chemistry with Derek Roy over the past two seasons. Jason Pominville will look to continue his sold play from last season and the young Drew Stafford will look to crack the top 6. Maxim Afinogenov will look to rebound from last year and the skilled Tim Connolly will try his best to stay healthy.

Like Boston, Buffalo’s defence doesn’t jump out at you but it is fairly solid. Teppo Numminen will look to have a good season but wont be leaned on as much due to health reasons. Toni Lydman, Jaroslav Spacek, Henrik Tallinder and Nathan Paetsch are all good defencemen and the new captain Craig Rivet will look to be the steady veteran in their own end.

In net the Sabres are set with Ryan Miller as the #1 and Patrick Lalime as the backup.

As long as they can stay healthy they should be fighting with Boston for 3rd in the division and a playoff spot in the East.

Once considered the hardest division in the NHL, the Northeast isn’t as competitive now due to the drop off of both the Toronto Maple Leafs and teh Buffalo Sabres.

Lets take a look at where these teams will finish this year in my 2008-09 NHL Northeast Divison Standings Preview

2008-09 NHL Northeast Divison Standings Preview

Rank	Team	Rec	PRV	Name/Previews
1		47-25-10	-	Montreal Canadiens
2		43-31-8	-	Ottawa Senators
3		42-29-12	-	Boston Bruins
4		39-31-12	-	Buffalo Sabres
5		36-35-11	-	Toronto Maple Leafs