No wedding hangover here!
As many pointed out to me via Twitter, the Isles top several sports outlets' opinion polls after their sweep of the Penguins. Apparently, if you beat the best team in your conference twice in a row, you automatically become the best team in the conference. It's a lovely sentiment, even if a tad premature.
Weekly Round-Up of Opinion Polls
Site | Updated | New Ranking | Prior Ranking | Comments |
CBS | 11/25/2014 | 3 | 12 | A four-game winning streak highlighted by a sweep of the Pens has the Islanders back in the conversation among the best in the East. The vast improvement from a season ago remains remarkable. |
ESPN | 11/24/2014 | 1 | 13 | A home-and-home sweep of the Penguins sends a statement to the rest of the league: the Isles are for real. They've won eight of their last 10 games. And man, they're fun to watch. |
TSN | 11/24/2014 | 12 | --- | While the Islanders' 8-1 record in the past nine games includes three shootout wins, there is a lot to like about how they are getting their points, with a strong (and typically sustainable) possession game at the foundation. |
Fox | 11/20/2014 | 9 | 21 | We're trying to remember the last time the Islanders had three players (Brock Nelson, John Tavares, Kyle Okposo) among the NHL's leaders in points. We think their names were Trottier, Bossy and Potvin. |
USA Today | 11/17/2014 | 8 | --- | Jaroslav Halak has settled down after a rough start to his Islanders career, and Brock Nelson is thriving. |
THN | 11/24/2014 | 1 | 9 | "This is a new hockey club with a new attitude," said coach Jack Capuano after a home-and-home sweep of Pittsburgh. Coming up: Four Metro division games. |
Average | 6 | 14 | To be the best, you have to beat the best. And that's it. You don't have to do anything else. |
Fox Sports and USA Today still lag behind date-wise. The Washington Post doesn't seem to update their rankings anymore, so they've been sent to the minors. THN, which as far as I remember didn't have power rankings, have them now, so I threw them in. They, along with ESPN, are all aboard the band wagon. It's nice our club finally has some nice press, but these two media sources appear to rely heavily on "what have you done for me lately." The Lighthouse Hockey power rankings remove the "lately" part.
Meanwhile, TSN and the more tardy outlets have the Isles far lower. Very Jeckyl-and-Hyde this week.
LHH Power Rankings
For all games through 11/24/14 (which includes the win over Philly):
GP | Reg W | OT W | SO | OT L | Reg L | LHH Pts | LHH Rating | ||
1 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 20 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 81 | 136 |
2 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 22 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 83 | 122 |
3 | Montreal Canadiens | 23 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 84 | 120 |
4 | Nashville Predators | 20 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 77 | 117 |
5 | St. Louis Blues | 21 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 79 | 116 |
6 | Detroit Red Wings | 21 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 75 | 116 |
7 | New York Islanders | 21 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 73 | 114 |
8 | Vancouver Canucks | 21 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 77 | 111 |
9 | Anaheim Ducks | 22 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 80 | 111 |
10 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 21 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 69 | 108 |
11 | Calgary Flames | 22 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 70 | 107 |
12 | New York Rangers | 20 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 59 | 107 |
13 | Minnesota Wild | 20 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 67 | 103 |
14 | Chicago Blackhawks | 21 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 63 | 102 |
15 | Los Angeles Kings | 21 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 71 | 101 |
16 | San Jose Sharks | 23 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 9 | 66 | 101 |
17 | Ottawa Senators | 20 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 59 | 97 |
18 | Winnipeg Jets | 22 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 60 | 94 |
19 | Boston Bruins | 23 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 70 | 93 |
20 | New Jersey Devils | 21 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 57 | 93 |
21 | Philadelphia Flyers | 20 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 53 | 93 |
22 | Dallas Stars | 21 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 54 | 92 |
23 | Florida Panthers | 19 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 52 | 91 |
24 | Washington Capitals | 20 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 55 | 90 |
25 | Colorado Avalanche | 21 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 48 | 87 |
26 | Arizona Coyotes | 22 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 49 | 85 |
27 | Edmonton Oilers | 21 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 41 | 75 |
28 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 20 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 41 | 73 |
29 | Carolina Hurricanes | 20 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 42 | 73 |
30 | Buffalo Sabres | 21 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 35 | 72 |
The Isles got up to fifth after their wins against the Pens, and then dropped a bit by not getting full credit against the Flyers. That being said, their index number jumped and they are now solidly above average. Five of the six teams above them have 11 regulation wins, compared to the Isles' 9, so it shouldn't be too surprising that the Isles aren't higher. The Isles' 5-0 record in shootouts go as full credit in Bettman's reward system, but not here.
So the Isles probably shouldn't be thought of as the top team in the league, but they are certainly a very good team, and that's something we haven't been able to say in a long, long time.
The rankings will take a bye week next week (otherwise known as a honeymoon). See you all on the second Wednesday in December.