NHL Power Rankings: Caps stay on top

TW	LW	Team	Our Take
1	1	(46-14-9)	Alexander Ovechkin causes quite a stir with his dangerous and unnecessary hit on Chicago’s Brian Campbell.
2	2	(44-18-6)	Losses to Washington and Detroit on back-to-back weekends could be revealing for the young Hawks.
3	3	(43-15-10)	This team, with its high expectations, seems to be in something of a late-season funk.
4	4	(41-23-5)	Ray Shero’s life may not have passed before his eyes when Steve Downie took Sidney Crosby down, but the betting is he got up to the eighth grade.
5	5	(42-22-5)	Suddenly Lee Stempniak looks like a bona fide sniper playing in the desert.
6	8	(43-23-3)	The Canucks flexed their muscles early in a statement victory over Calgary Sunday night.
7	6	(40-23-5)	Jonathan Bernier comes up and gets a win proving the Kings have amazing depth and assets in goal.
8	7	(39-23-6)	Sophomore Chris Stewart is emerging as a star with five goals and eight points in his past four games.
9	11	(40-24-3)	Don’t look now, but Ilya Kovalchuk has been spotted in his team’s zone making good defensive plays. Imagine that!
10	15	(38-26-5)	With the Red Wings and Flames breathing down their necks, the Predators won’t let up.
11	10	(36-21-10)	The Sabres are searching for the consistency that had them among the top teams in the league for so long, but has somehow abandoned them late in the year.
12	12	(33-23-12)	It took four years, but Jimmy Howard seems to have arrived as an NHL goalie and leads all rookies with 26 wins.
13	9	(37-27-5)	The Senators managed just 14 shots on goal in being lambasted 5-1 in Vancouver Saturday night.
14	13	(34-25-9)	The Flames top line of Jarome Iginla, Matt Stajan and Rene Bourque were flying high until laying an egg in Vancouver Sunday.
15	14	(36-28-4)	Hard to figure out the Flyers; they beat Chicago, but lose to the Rangers and Bruins.
16	19	(35-29-6)	Five straight wins has everybody in Montreal doing cartwheels down St. Catherine Street.
17	16	(32-27-9)	The Blues may be a long shot to make the playoffs, but with seven wins in 10 games, they are not giving up hope.
18	20	(30-25-12)	Even without Marc Savard the Bruins are clinging to the eighth and final playoff spot in the East.
19	24	(31-29-9)	Coach John Tortorella took the drastic step of making Sean Avery a healthy scratch in trying to wake up his club.
20	25	(33-29-6)	With goals in back-to-back games Guillaume Latendresse now has 25 on the season.
21	18	(29-26-13)	Three wins in 10 games has the playoffs seeming less and less like a possibility for the South Stars.
22	17	(31-29-8)	the Ducks beat the Sharks Sunday, but lost Teemu Selanne and Ryan Getzlaf in the process.
23	22	(28-28-12)	Even a rare strong defensive effort wasn’t enough to help the Lightning beat the Penguins Sunday.
24	23	(28-29-11)	The dream is all but over…looks like another year without the playoffs. Will anyone in Atlanta notice?
25	21	(28-32-8)	Despite seven wins in 10 games, the Hurricanes remain in a lottery draft spot.
26	26	(28-29-10)	Bryan Allen scores the OT winner in a huge victory over the Sharks.
27	28	(28-32-9)	Captain Doug Weight’s season ends with a surgery and we are left wondering, is the career over, too?
28	27	(27-31-11)	Rick Nash is pointless in three games for the sinking Blue Jackets.
29	29	(23-34-12)	Just when you start to feel good about the young Leafs, they get bombed on Long Island.
30	30	(21-40-7)	Sam Gagner has really stepped up his game in an effort to be a big part of the mix next season.