clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

NHL Power Rankings: Isles slump, Sens surge

Down, down, down.

By ICanSeeForIslesAndIsles

If you buy something from an SB Nation link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

Is that kryptonite?
Is that kryptonite?
Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Islanders had a pretty abysmal week. Oddly enough, the opinion makers didn't drop them far down in their rankings. Is this that "respect" thing I keep hearing about?

Weekly Roundup of Opinion Polls

A new entry is RDS, as kindly translated by reader Dave (lategr8bon), who's much better at French than Google.

Site Updated New Ranking Prior Ranking Comments
CBS 3/17/2015 7 6 The Islanders have lost their grip on the Metropolitan Division lead and could have a tough time getting it back from the Rangers. They've lost six of their last eight and face a tough schedule down the stretch.
ESPN 3/16/2015 9 6 The Isles have lost six of their past eight games, including three straight, and were limited to just three goals in their past three.
TSN 3/18/2015 7 5 In four straight losses, the Islanders have managed a total of four goals, on 120 shots. Is it just a case of hitting hot goaltenders (Cam Talbot, Andrew Hammond, Carey Price and Corey Crawford), a random blip, or the start of bigger offensive concerns? That the Islanders are still generating a lot of shots is a positive.
Fox 3/12/2015 5 7 With the Rangers surging and the Penguins hot on their heels, the Islanders are trying to hold onto home-ice advantage for the first round of the playoffs in the hotly contested Metropolitan Division.
USA Today --- --- 7 None this week
RDS 3/16/2015 11 9 Record of 1-3 for the Islanders.  Three goals scored in their last three matches.  We all saw against the Canadiens that they're still playing well, but if you stop John Tavares, you stop the Isles' offense.
Average 8 7 Did you notice the Isles are on a losing streak? Well they are.

I guess with all four playoff spots a virtual lock, you have to make up some drama somehow.

LHH Power Rankings

Since sites like TSN are getting a little tardier lately in their rankings releases, we figured we'd add all Tuesday games from now on. So the power table below is for all games through 3/17/15 (so yes, the debacle against the Hawks counts).

Anyways, the Isles drop to 10th, and there are an equal number of East and West teams in the top 10 now, albeit with the East teams taking up the top four.

GP Reg W OT W SO OT L Reg L LHH Pts LHH Pct LHH Rating
1 New York Rangers 68 36 5 8 2 17 264 0.647 119
2 Tampa Bay Lightning 71 38 3 7 2 21 265 0.622 116
3 Montreal Canadiens 71 34 4 9 4 20 255 0.599 115
4 Pittsburgh Penguins 70 30 6 9 4 21 239 0.569 112
5 Chicago Blackhawks 69 30 3 12 3 21 234 0.565 112
6 St. Louis Blues 70 32 4 12 2 20 248 0.590 111
7 Anaheim Ducks 71 31 5 13 2 20 249 0.585 111
8 Nashville Predators 72 30 7 11 3 21 247 0.572 110
9 Detroit Red Wings 68 29 6 12 2 19 238 0.583 110
10 New York Islanders 72 30 6 10 1 25 236 0.546 109
11 Vancouver Canucks 69 31 5 6 2 25 228 0.551 108
12 Washington Capitals 71 30 4 8 6 23 232 0.545 106
13 Minnesota Wild 70 32 4 5 5 24 233 0.555 105
14 Los Angeles Kings 69 31 1 9 6 22 229 0.553 104
15 San Jose Sharks 70 29 2 8 3 28 212 0.505 103
16 Boston Bruins 70 25 8 11 3 23 221 0.526 102
17 Dallas Stars 70 27 2 6 7 28 202 0.481 100
18 Calgary Flames 70 25 9 6 3 27 210 0.500 100
19 Winnipeg Jets 70 25 4 11 7 23 213 0.507 100
20 Ottawa Senators 69 25 4 11 5 24 209 0.505 99
21 Colorado Avalanche 69 21 2 13 7 26 187 0.452 95
22 Philadelphia Flyers 72 21 5 12 6 28 194 0.449 93
23 Florida Panthers 70 23 1 17 4 25 201 0.479 92
24 New Jersey Devils 70 25 1 11 4 29 195 0.464 91
25 Columbus Blue Jackets 69 21 3 8 2 35 166 0.401 90
26 Toronto Maple Leafs 71 21 2 7 3 38 161 0.378 87
27 Carolina Hurricanes 69 21 1 10 3 34 166 0.401 85
28 Edmonton Oilers 70 13 1 11 6 39 127 0.302 74
29 Arizona Coyotes 70 13 3 10 3 41 126 0.300 71
30 Buffalo Sabres 70 11 1 13 2 43 113 0.269 71

Magic Numbers

The Senators are still the team with the ninth-best maximum point total, so all magic numbers are based off of finishing one point ahead of them.

W L OTL Pts Max Pts Magic#
1 New York Rangers 44 17 7 95 123 11
2 Montreal Canadiens 44 20 7 95 117 11
3 Tampa Bay Lightning 43 21 7 93 115 13
4 New York Islanders 43 25 4 90 110 16
5 Pittsburgh Penguins 39 21 10 88 112 18
6 Detroit Red Wings 38 19 11 87 115 19
7 Washington Capitals 38 23 10 86 108 20
8 Boston Bruins 36 23 11 83 107 23
9 Ottawa Senators 34 24 11 79 105 (9th)
10 Florida Panthers 31 25 14 76 100
11 Philadelphia Flyers 29 28 15 73 93
12 New Jersey Devils 30 29 11 71 95
13 Columbus Blue Jackets 30 35 4 64 90
14 Carolina Hurricanes 26 34 9 61 87
15 Toronto Maple Leafs 27 38 6 60 82
16 Buffalo Sabres 20 43 7 47 71

The Isles' magic number has been more or less stuck on 16 for a long time now, as the Sens are on a ridiculous run. Adding to the theater, Ottawa hosts the Boston Bruins in a playoff bubble battle tonight.

Next Up In Bits o' Islanders News