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As we slowly get back into our normal routines, the Islanders are giving us some late Christmas presents. Are the sports publications willing to give a little love back?
Weekly Roundup of Opinion Polls
| Date | Prior | |||
| Site | Published | Ranking | Ranking | Comments |
| CBS | 1/6/2014 | 26 | 28 | In the past four games the Isles have beaten the Wild, Bruins and Blackhawks (all playoff teams) and lost to the Canes (not in playoff position). That seems off. |
| ESPN | 1/6/2014 | 27 | 29 | The Isles saw their best stretch of the season come to an end in Saturday's loss to Carolina. Does this signal the start of another slide or can Jack Capuano's boys get back quickly into the win column? |
| TSN | 1/6/2014 | 29 | 29 | 6-4-2 in the past dozen games, the Islanders are making progress, yet the worst record and goal differential in the worst division leaves them fighting uphill. |
| Fox Sports | 1/2/2014 | 30 | 30 | GOOD NEWS: Cornerstone center John Tavares returned after missing one game with a minor injury. BAD NEWS: They were 0-17-5 in the first 22 games they scored fewer than three goals. BOTTOM LINE: By winning just five of their first 20 games, the Islanders fell rapidly from playoff contention. And yet there has been no coaching or management changes. |
| Sports Illustrated | 12/31/2013 | 29 | 30 | The Isles showed a lot of grit on Sunday, rebounding from a 3-0 deficit 23 minutes into the game for a 5-4 win. Okay, so it was against the staggering Wild, but give 'em credit for finding ways to wins games they would have lost earlier in the season. |
| SB Nation | None | --- | 28 | [Coming tomorrow] |
| Average | 28.2 | 29.0 | Good things, bad things. What will happen next? We'll find out when you do. |
Nope. Still coal. And that's OK. If I was bad all year and then helped an old lady across the street on Dec. 24, I'm pretty sure I'd still get the same lump in my stocking.
LHH Power Rankings
Through 1/6/14 (and therefore do not include the victory over the Leafs).
| W | L | OTL | Pts | PWR | ||
| 1 | St. Louis | 29 | 7 | 5 | 63 | 2309 |
| 2 | San Jose | 27 | 10 | 6 | 60 | 2224 |
| 3 | Anaheim | 31 | 8 | 5 | 67 | 2223 |
| 4 | Chicago | 29 | 7 | 9 | 67 | 2204 |
| 5 | Pittsburgh | 31 | 12 | 1 | 63 | 2041 |
| 6 | Colorado | 26 | 12 | 4 | 56 | 2027 |
| 7 | Boston | 28 | 12 | 2 | 58 | 1992 |
| 8 | Los Angeles | 26 | 13 | 4 | 56 | 1986 |
| 9 | Tampa Bay | 25 | 13 | 4 | 54 | 1891 |
| 10 | Vancouver | 23 | 13 | 8 | 54 | 1817 |
| 11 | Phoenix | 20 | 12 | 9 | 49 | 1801 |
| 12 | Montreal | 25 | 14 | 5 | 55 | 1799 |
| 13 | Dallas | 20 | 15 | 7 | 47 | 1731 |
| 14 | Minnesota | 22 | 17 | 5 | 49 | 1656 |
| 15 | Carolina | 18 | 16 | 9 | 45 | 1582 |
| 16 | Detroit | 19 | 14 | 10 | 48 | 1571 |
| 17 | Toronto | 21 | 17 | 5 | 47 | 1548 |
| 18 | Nashville | 18 | 19 | 6 | 42 | 1520 |
| 19 | Ottawa | 19 | 18 | 7 | 45 | 1500 |
| 20 | Washington | 20 | 16 | 6 | 46 | 1497 |
| 21 | New Jersey | 17 | 18 | 8 | 42 | 1489 |
| 22 | Philadelphia | 21 | 17 | 4 | 46 | 1484 |
| 23 | NY Rangers | 21 | 20 | 3 | 45 | 1455 |
| 24 | Winnipeg | 19 | 21 | 5 | 43 | 1410 |
| 25 | Columbus | 19 | 20 | 4 | 42 | 1373 |
| 26 | Florida | 16 | 21 | 6 | 38 | 1364 |
| 27 | NY Islanders | 15 | 22 | 7 | 37 | 1316 |
| 28 | Calgary | 15 | 21 | 6 | 36 | 1303 |
| 29 | Edmonton | 14 | 26 | 5 | 33 | 1055 |
| 30 | Buffalo | 12 | 26 | 4 | 28 | 1002 |
Well, at least there's a little more hope here. Victories over Western teams (who occupy 10 of the top 15 spots in the league) do lots for a team's power rankings average.
Standings from an Alternate Universe
In which you'd get three points for a regulation victory, so that all games are - you know - EQUAL.
| Atlantic | W | OTW | OTL | L | PTS |
| Boston | 23 | 5 | 2 | 12 | 81 |
| Montreal | 20 | 5 | 5 | 14 | 75 |
| Tampa Bay | 16 | 9 | 4 | 13 | 70 |
| Detroit | 16 | 3 | 10 | 14 | 64 |
| Ottawa | 15 | 4 | 7 | 18 | 60 |
| Toronto | 12 | 9 | 5 | 17 | 59 |
| Florida | 11 | 5 | 6 | 21 | 49 |
| Buffalo | 5 | 7 | 4 | 26 | 33 |
| Metropolitan | W | OTW | OTL | L | PTS |
| Pittsburgh | 26 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 89 |
| Philadelphia | 18 | 3 | 4 | 17 | 64 |
| NY Rangers | 17 | 4 | 3 | 20 | 62 |
| Carolina | 14 | 4 | 9 | 16 | 59 |
| Columbus | 15 | 4 | 4 | 20 | 57 |
| Washington | 10 | 10 | 6 | 16 | 56 |
| New Jersey | 12 | 5 | 8 | 18 | 54 |
| NY Islanders | 10 | 5 | 7 | 22 | 47 |
| Central | W | OTW | OTL | L | PTS |
| Chicago | 25 | 4 | 9 | 7 | 92 |
| St. Louis | 23 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 86 |
| Colorado | 21 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 77 |
| Minnesota | 17 | 5 | 5 | 17 | 66 |
| Dallas | 16 | 4 | 7 | 15 | 63 |
| Nashville | 17 | 1 | 6 | 19 | 59 |
| Winnipeg | 12 | 7 | 5 | 21 | 55 |
| Western | W | OTW | OTL | L | PTS |
| Anaheim | 24 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 91 |
| San Jose | 18 | 9 | 6 | 10 | 78 |
| Los Angeles | 17 | 9 | 4 | 13 | 73 |
| Vancouver | 16 | 7 | 8 | 13 | 70 |
| Phoenix | 13 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 62 |
| Calgary | 8 | 7 | 6 | 21 | 44 |
| Edmonton | 10 | 4 | 5 | 26 | 43 |
Regulation for the Win
In another small sign of hope, the Isles have the same number of regulation wins as Washington. Actually, one more regulation win than Washington, given last night's victory over the Leafs.
Earlier in the year, the Isles were nowhere near their division rivals in this stat. Maybe, just maybe they're finally starting to turn this thing around.
