NHL Power Rankings Change Little, but John Tavares is 1st Star of January

Our weekly media and real NHL power rankings surveys are tabulated below, but first we recognize some feel-good news that isn't that surprising unless you've only been reading Evgeni Malkin's press: John Tavares was named the NHL's First Star for the month of January:

In 13 games this past month, Tavares registered 9 goals and 13 assists while displaying remarkable consistency in being held off the score sheet just once. His 4-point night against the Hurricanes marked the sixth time in January he had a multi-point game -- Tavares also had a pair of 3-point games and three 2-point efforts.

Here is the initial FanShot thread for that announcement. Power rankings and commentary is below.

Media NHL Power Rankings Survey

Since the league took so long for an All-Star break, there isn't a lot of meaningful movement, but you can see the effect of the Islanders' loss and OT loss in that pre-break home-and-home with the Leafs:

For reference, here is last week's power rankings post.

Real Power Rankings

And now on to our weekly "real" power rankings courtesy of Mike, or ICanSeeForIslesAndIsles (who is the one you'll find tirelessly compiling FIG picks in the game thread), who conceived and delivers these week after week. They are calculated in true "power ranking" fashion -- i.e. how well teams fare based on their opponents' records.

Those losses to the Leafs also bumped the Isles back down a notch, to 26th, with suddenly surging (and healthy) Tampa Bay taking their place: