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NHL Power Rankings & Media Polls: First Sign of the Apocalypse Edition

The planets have aligned just right to create a once-in-a-lifetime event: The opinion polls and our own rankings agree on the Islanders' position.

By ICanSeeForIslesAndIsles

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How YOU doin'?
How YOU doin'?
Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

Gaze just a little bit longer than you typically would at this post, my friend. It's the Halley's Comet of power ranking articles. The opinion polls' ranking of the Islanders average out to a 5th place position, which just so happens to be the spot they land on our own mathy rankings.

That's the first sign of the hockey apocalypse, people. Second sign is a Buffalo win over a first place team.... oh wait. I think the seventh is Frans missing a penalty shot.

Weekly Roundup of Opinion Polls

Site Updated New Ranking Prior Ranking Comments
1 CBS 2/24/2015 6 7 The Isles have gone 7-4-1 in the month of February and could be getting forward Kyle Okposo back sooner than later. Recent injuries could challenge them further, but this club continues to impress.
2 ESPN 2/23/2015 4 4 The Isles dropped a pair over the weekend to keep things interesting in the Metropolitan Division. Still the division leaders, but the Penguins, Rangers and Caps are all within four points.
3 TSN 2/18/2015 6 --- The fun-and-gun Islanders have won five of six, with their only loss coming in a massively entertaining, yet frustrating 6-5 loss to the Rangers. Would feel better about the Isles going forward if they could get more consistent goaltending. A .910 save percentage for Jaroslav Halak just isn't good enough.
4 Fox 2/19/2015 5 7 Is goalie Jaroslav Halak ready to carry the Islanders' playoff hopes? In nine of his past 13 starts, he's posted a save percentage below .898.
5 USA Today 2/23/2015 6 8 John Tavares needs two goals to tie his career high of 31, while rookie Anders Lee has benefited on his wing.
Average 5 7 Victory over the Preds? What victory over the Preds?

OK, so it seems TSN has decided to release their rankings on Wednesdays now, which would make their rankings even older than Fox's. I waited until this morning to see if TSN would post their article before I left for work, but to no avail.

It's weird that not a single publication mentioned the Isles beat the top team in the league, unless TSN does so later today. All other factoids are what you'd expect them to be.

LHH Power Rankings

For games through 2/23/15 (so not counting the win vs. the Coyotes)

GP Reg W OT W SO OT L Reg L LHH Pts LHH Pct LHH Rating
1 Nashville Predators 60 28 6 11 2 13 229 0.636 118
2 New York Rangers 58 29 4 8 1 16 216 0.621 117
3 Montreal Canadiens 59 28 4 8 3 16 214 0.605 116
4 Tampa Bay Lightning 62 33 2 6 2 19 228 0.613 115
5 New York Islanders 61 27 5 9 0 20 209 0.571 113
6 Pittsburgh Penguins 60 26 5 8 4 17 208 0.578 113
7 St. Louis Blues 59 27 4 9 2 17 209 0.590 111
8 Washington Capitals 61 26 4 7 6 18 205 0.560 111
9 Chicago Blackhawks 60 25 3 10 2 20 196 0.544 111
10 Anaheim Ducks 61 25 5 13 2 16 213 0.582 110
11 Detroit Red Wings 58 25 5 12 2 14 210 0.603 110
12 Vancouver Canucks 59 26 5 4 2 22 192 0.542 108
13 San Jose Sharks 61 26 2 7 3 23 191 0.522 105
14 Los Angeles Kings 58 26 1 8 5 18 194 0.557 105
15 Minnesota Wild 59 26 3 4 5 21 190 0.537 101
16 Boston Bruins 59 21 6 8 3 21 180 0.508 100
17 Dallas Stars 60 24 1 4 7 24 174 0.483 99
18 Calgary Flames 59 21 8 4 3 23 176 0.497 98
19 Winnipeg Jets 61 20 4 10 7 20 180 0.492 95
20 Columbus Blue Jackets 58 19 3 6 2 28 148 0.425 94
21 Philadelphia Flyers 60 18 5 10 4 23 166 0.461 94
22 Florida Panthers 59 19 1 14 4 21 168 0.475 93
23 Colorado Avalanche 60 17 2 11 7 23 157 0.436 93
24 Toronto Maple Leafs 60 19 2 6 2 31 144 0.400 91
25 New Jersey Devils 60 20 1 10 3 26 160 0.444 90
26 Ottawa Senators 57 18 3 8 5 23 154 0.450 90
27 Carolina Hurricanes 58 16 1 9 2 30 131 0.376 83
28 Arizona Coyotes 60 13 3 9 2 33 121 0.336 75
29 Edmonton Oilers 61 11 1 9 6 34 109 0.298 74
30 Buffalo Sabres 60 9 1 10 2 38 92 0.256 69

The win over the Preds alone kept the Islanders buoyant and even lifted them a bit. The loss to the Caps still counts for half credit (all shootout results do, no matter the winner, because there really is no winner when it comes to shootouts), and the game vs. the Canucks was forgettable.

Anyways, the Preds stay on top, thus denying that other New York team from bragging rights. Eastern Conference teams take up the 2nd through 6th spots, as well as the 8th.

On the other hand, other than Detroit (at 11th), there isn't another Eastern Conference team in the upper half of the table. Also... 4 of the top 10 teams are from the Metro, as well as 4 of the bottom 11. Talk about top-heavy. (Yes, I'm aware that might open the comment threads up to some rather interesting photos. Not my intention at all. You know what? Forget I even said it.) I gotta head out now.

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