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NHL Power Rankings: New York Islanders take first place

At long last, the Islanders finally take the top spot in the rankings we started millennia ago. OK, maybe four or five years ago.

By ICanSeeForIslesAndIsles

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Start spreadin' the news.
Start spreadin' the news.
Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

"I want to wake up
in a city that never sleeps
And find I'm a number one, top of the list
King of the hill
A number one"

- Anonymous Islander Fan

This article is a day late, partially due to me actually going to work yesterday and getting back late, partly because there wouldn't have been much change from the prior rankings unless we added some more games to the data.

Well, as it turns out, that Tuesday's win over the Rangers catapulted the Islanders into first place in our power rankings. That glorious sight will have to wait a minute, though, while we take care of the usual business...

Weekly Roundup of Opinion Polls

Site Updated New Ranking Prior Ranking Comments
CBS 1/27/2015 3 3 The Islanders are about to experience some serious adversity without top winger Kyle Okposo for the next two months. We'll get a pretty good idea of just how ready the Islanders are for this long grind pretty quick here.
ESPN 1/26/2015 4 2 Bring on the Rangers, baby, bring on the Rangers. Perfect way to open the post-All-Star break part of the season.
TSN --- --- 6 None this week.
Fox 1/22/2015 5 4 Linemates John Tavares and Kyle Okposo have combined for 35 goals and 99 points. We can't wait to see what this duo does in the playoffs.
USA Today 1/26/2015 5 6 First-line winger Kyle Okposo will miss six to eight weeks with an upper-body injury.
SI --- --- --- None this week, and many other weeks before this.
Average 4 4 That Okposo guy is really goo… oh nevermind.

I guess ESPN ("Yay, Okposo!") posted their rankings a few hours earlier than USA Today ("No Okposo!"). Anyway, the Isles are pretty consistently ranked here.

In full disclosure: If our rankings came out on the usual day (and thus before the latest win over the Rangers), the Isles would've been third behind the Predators (1st) and those other guys (2nd). Well, you can put the pitchforks away now, people!

LHH Power Rankings

Through 1/27/15

GP Reg W OT W SO OT L Reg L LHH Pts LHH Pct LHH Rating
1 New York Islanders 47 21 5 7 0 14 167 0.592 119
2 Nashville Predators 46 22 5 7 2 10 177 0.641 118
3 Montreal Canadiens 46 23 2 6 2 13 168 0.609 117
4 New York Rangers 45 21 4 6 0 14 160 0.593 116
5 Chicago Blackhawks 47 22 2 7 1 15 163 0.578 114
6 Anaheim Ducks 48 21 4 11 2 10 179 0.622 114
7 Pittsburgh Penguins 47 21 4 6 4 12 168 0.596 114
8 Tampa Bay Lightning 49 26 2 6 0 15 182 0.619 112
9 St. Louis Blues 46 22 3 6 2 13 166 0.601 112
10 Detroit Red Wings 48 22 4 9 2 11 179 0.622 110
11 Vancouver Canucks 46 21 3 3 2 17 151 0.547 108
12 San Jose Sharks 48 21 2 6 2 17 156 0.542 107
13 Washington Capitals 47 20 3 5 5 14 157 0.557 107
14 Winnipeg Jets 49 19 3 8 4 15 158 0.537 102
15 Toronto Maple Leafs 48 18 1 4 2 23 128 0.444 100
16 Boston Bruins 48 17 6 7 2 16 151 0.524 99
17 Los Angeles Kings 47 18 1 8 5 15 146 0.518 98
18 Calgary Flames 48 16 7 4 2 19 140 0.486 98
19 Dallas Stars 47 19 0 3 6 19 135 0.479 96
20 Minnesota Wild 47 17 2 4 4 20 130 0.461 92
21 Ottawa Senators 46 13 3 7 5 18 121 0.438 92
22 Columbus Blue Jackets 46 15 2 5 2 22 117 0.424 91
23 Florida Panthers 45 14 1 11 4 15 129 0.478 91
24 Philadelphia Flyers 49 13 5 7 2 22 123 0.418 90
25 Colorado Avalanche 49 12 2 10 7 18 124 0.422 90
26 New Jersey Devils 47 14 1 8 2 22 116 0.411 89
27 Carolina Hurricanes 47 13 1 7 1 25 105 0.372 82
28 Arizona Coyotes 47 10 3 7 2 25 97 0.344 75
29 Edmonton Oilers 48 9 0 6 6 27 84 0.292 74
30 Buffalo Sabres 48 7 1 7 2 31 71 0.247 69

The Islanders started near the very bottom when I started the power rankings years ago, and now they've finally climbed all the way to the top. And it was no small feat this time... There are eight teams who have a higher winning percentage, meaning that the Isles have had to cobble together many more quality wins than the others.

To be honest, I'm still surprised that they got by the Preds. The lead is quite thin, though, and had Nashville beaten the Avalanche in regulation, then the two teams would have flipped places based on our formula.

But at least for one week, we can enjoy a rather beautiful sight. Your Islanders are tops in a 100% subjective ranking system.

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