What a very polarizing week for the top teams in the NHL. The Philadelphia Flyers are dealing with bad goaltending and the flu, which came to a head yesterday at Madison Square Garden as the Rangers embarrassed them on national television 7-0. Things aren’t so peachy for the Detroit Red Wings either. They lost to Anaheim on a questionable penalty shot in overtime. Two days later they led Phoenix 4-1 after 40 minutes only to allow the Coyotes to come back and win in a shootout. This goes to show you that even the best teams in the league can struggle and have their fan bases ask questions.
| Rank | Team | Last Week | Team Notes |
| 1 | SJ | 4 | Not many teams deserved to be atop of the rankings this week. But the Sharks did win eight consecutive games before losing to Dallas Saturday night. They could be a dangerous opponent in the playoffs. |
| 2 | VAN | 2 | This week, they are making a similar west coast trip the Red Wings made last week. Let’s hope they can put an end to the win-loss alternating streak. It’s been over a month since they have won consecutive games. |
| 3 | BOS | 11 | The Bruins had their seven-game winning streak snapped against the Penguins but did manage to earn a point. With 17 games left, they still have a lot to play for: Division title, top seed in the East, and if they falter they can slip as far down as sixth. |
| 4 | NJ | 5 | Earned a huge extra point yesterday against the Islanders. They need every point they can get if they want to challenge for a playoff spot. Eight points with 17 games left is a huge task for New Jersey to overcome. |
| 5 | DET | 3 | Blowing a three-goal lead against the Coyotes isn’t what they hopes for to end the west coast trip. Henrik Zetterberg has 18 assists in last 23 games, but he needs to score more than twice in that same stretch. |
| 6 | PHI | 1 | A couple months ago they had too many good goalies. Now, they don’t know which one to start in the playoffs because Bobrovsky and Boucher have struggled as of late. They also have to overcome the flu bug that has hit that locker room harder than a baseball hit by Albert Pujols. |
| 25 | TB | 6 | Losing three straight is an easy way to drop from sixth to 25th in the span of a week. Allowing two goals in the opening 10 minutes to Montreal didn’t look goof for them. First place is on the line tonight as they host Washington. |
| 26 | OTT | 28 | The Sens could drop further down the standings if they lose games on their road trip this week. Who are they playing? Devils, Panthers, Lightning, and Sabres. |
| 27 | ATL | 29 | They are only seven points out of a playoff spot but they are fading quickly. Their next six games are against Carolina, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Buffalo. They have to win most of those games if they want to leap over Carolina and New Jersey. |
| 28 | STL | 17 | One win in their last eight games isn’t what Blues fans want to hear. They have three home games this week against tough opponents: Columbus, Montreal and Detroit. |
| 29 | FLA | 27 | The Panthers are 2-7-2 in their last 11 games. The only thing that kept them from taking the last spot was they managed to squeeze out overtime losses on consecutive nights at Atlanta and home against Washington. |
| 30 | COL | 30 | The Avs have earned only four points since the All-Star break. They earned 10 in the month of January. What has gone wrong in Denver? Having the worse penalty killing percentage at home, and also having a 0-26-4 record this season when it has scored fewer than three goals in a game. Colorado has a 0-35-5 record since a 2-1 win against Phoenix on Feb. 12 2010 when it scores fewer than three goals |
