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After a month of consistently rating the Islanders higher than what our cold, hard calculations produced, the aggregate power rankings have finally come down to the same level. Unfortunately for us, that level isn't what we expected at the beginning of the year.
Weekly Round-Up of Opinion Polls
| Date | Prior | |||
| Site | Published | Ranking | Ranking | Comments |
| CBS | 11/4/2013 | 16 | 17 | Without looking, who is the Isles' points leader? Not Tavares, not Vanek. It's Kyle Okposo with 17 in 14 games. He's making a case for a spot on the US Olympic team and helping the Isles to second in the Metro. |
| ESPN | 11/4/2013 | 17 | 18 | Thomas Vanek got his first goal as an Islander in a big win over Boston on Saturday. Now, about that defense and goaltending. |
| TSN | 11/5/2013 | 19 | 16 | Of course, RW Kyle Okposo and C Frans Nielsen are the Islanders' top two scorers, why do you ask? |
| Fox Sports | 11/6/2013 | 23 | 20 | GOOD NEWS: They finally won back-to-back games for the first time all season, beating Ottawa and Boston. BAD NEWS: The Islanders entered the week 23rd in team GAA. Hence the Ryan Miller rumors that will not cease. |
| Sports Illustrated | 11/5/2013 | 19 | 20 | The new-look Isles finally won two in a row for the first time this season, knocking off the Senators and Bruins. With their next four on the road, they'll need to play with the same defensive intensity they showed against the B's. Netminder Kevin Poulin deserves another start (or two) after a sharp, aggressive effort in that one. |
| SB Nation | 11/5/2013 | 15 | 16 | Almost a perfect week for the Islanders except for a home loss against the Rangers. However, consecutive wins acting as redemption for New York's other squad. |
| Average | 18.2 | 17.8 | Secondary scoring and a bit of a streak. Now they just have to continue the defensive... oh wait. |
I almost feel like sports writers are hedging their bets with this team, aka I know they should be good enough, but I don't want to sound stupid if they don't make the playoffs. But if that's true, what excuse does our own table have?...
LHH Power Rankings
Tabulated by adding the winning percentages of the opponents each team has beaten. It's a bit more complicated, but you get the idea.
| W | L | OTL | Pts | PWR | ||
| 1 | Colorado | 12 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 2510 |
| 2 | San Jose | 10 | 1 | 4 | 24 | 2309 |
| 3 | St. Louis | 9 | 2 | 2 | 20 | 2094 |
| 4 | Phoenix | 11 | 3 | 2 | 24 | 2028 |
| 5 | Tampa Bay | 10 | 4 | 0 | 20 | 1895 |
| 6 | Chicago | 9 | 2 | 4 | 22 | 1874 |
| 7 | Anaheim | 12 | 3 | 1 | 25 | 1842 |
| 8 | Boston | 8 | 5 | 1 | 17 | 1766 |
| 9 | Los Angeles | 9 | 6 | 0 | 18 | 1706 |
| 10 | Minnesota | 9 | 4 | 3 | 21 | 1674 |
| 11 | Toronto | 10 | 5 | 0 | 20 | 1639 |
| 12 | Pittsburgh | 11 | 4 | 0 | 22 | 1589 |
| 13 | Detroit | 9 | 5 | 2 | 20 | 1574 |
| 14 | Nashville | 7 | 5 | 2 | 16 | 1571 |
| 15 | Vancouver | 10 | 5 | 2 | 22 | 1531 |
| 16 | Dallas | 7 | 6 | 2 | 16 | 1466 |
| 17 | NY Islanders | 6 | 6 | 3 | 15 | 1290 |
| 18 | Montreal | 8 | 7 | 1 | 17 | 1275 |
| 19 | Ottawa | 5 | 6 | 4 | 14 | 1198 |
| 20 | Winnipeg | 6 | 8 | 2 | 14 | 1191 |
| 21 | Calgary | 6 | 7 | 2 | 14 | 1190 |
| 22 | Carolina | 5 | 7 | 3 | 13 | 1043 |
| 23 | Washington | 8 | 7 | 0 | 16 | 1022 |
| 24 | NY Rangers | 6 | 8 | 0 | 12 | 1019 |
| 25 | New Jersey | 3 | 7 | 4 | 10 | 1011 |
| 26 | Florida | 3 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 970 |
| 27 | Columbus | 5 | 9 | 0 | 10 | 874 |
| 28 | Edmonton | 4 | 10 | 2 | 10 | 769 |
| 29 | Philadelphia | 4 | 9 | 1 | 9 | 699 |
| 30 | Buffalo | 3 | 13 | 1 | 7 | 644 |
Only two of the top 10 teams are from the Eastern Conference.
For the Isles, the victory against the Penguins really helped to offset the poor performances against the Rangers and Capitals. Copper and Blue, meanwhile, has the Isles 21st based on their own calculations.
Standings from an Alternate Universe
Where a regulation victory earns you three points. You know, in the same way that overtime games are worth three points. Imagine that!
| Atlantic | W | OTW | OTL | L | PTS |
| Toronto | 8 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 28 |
| Detroit | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 28 |
| Tampa Bay | 6 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 26 |
| Montreal | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 25 |
| Boston | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 24 |
| Ottawa | 4 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 18 |
| Florida | 2 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 12 |
| Buffalo | 1 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 8 |
| Metropolitan | W | OTW | OTL | L | PTS |
| Pittsburgh | 10 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 32 |
| Washington | 5 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
| NY Islanders | 4 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 19 |
| NY Rangers | 5 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 17 |
| Carolina | 4 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 17 |
| Columbus | 4 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 14 |
| Philadelphia | 4 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 13 |
| New Jersey | 3 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 13 |
| Central | W | OTW | OTL | L | PTS |
| Colorado | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 35 |
| Minnesota | 9 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 30 |
| Chicago | 7 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 29 |
| St. Louis | 7 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 27 |
| Nashville | 6 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 22 |
| Dallas | 4 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 20 |
| Winnipeg | 4 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 18 |
| Western | W | OTW | OTL | L | PTS |
| Anaheim | 10 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 35 |
| San Jose | 9 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 33 |
| Phoenix | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 32 |
| Vancouver | 5 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 27 |
| Los Angeles | 3 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 21 |
| Calgary | 5 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 19 |
| Edmonton | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 12 |
The Isles in this case make out a little better, showing up third in the division (same as in Bettman's world). Which is fortunate, since the Atlantic would own both wild card spots. The three remaining games on this road trip are all against teams around NHL-.500. Let's see what the boys can do.