Buffalo Sabres Cap Hit

NHL Power Rankings: November 2010

Preseason contenders have started to get their act together while your usual cellar-dwellars have found new ways to re-enter their familiar abodes. Meanwhile, there are 20 teams or so cluttered in the middle whose fates are still up in the air.

Included with the teams record (Win-Loss-OT Loss) and their point total is their Win-Total Loss record, which combines regulation and overtime losses.

01) Washington Capitals (17-6-2 [17-8]; 36 pts | Nov: 10-2-2 [10-4]; 22 pts | Prev: 4) Alexander Semin has 18 goals already thanks in part to three hat tricks. He is becoming the primary scoring Alexander of the Capitals while Alexander Ovechkin has become more assist-oriented at least for now.

02) Detroit Red Wings (16-4-2 [16-6]; 34 pts | Nov: 10-2-1 [10-3]; 21 pts | Prev: 8) Dan Cleary leads the team in goals while Jimmy Howard, healthy again, is 14-2-2 thus far. With only a few tweaks in the offseason, the Wings currently lead the league in goals per game.

03) Pittsburgh Penguins (16-8-2 [16-10]; 34 pts | Nov: 10-3-1 [10-4]; 21 pts | Prev: 12) Sidney Crosby leads the league in scoring and Marc-Andre Fleury has rebounded from his poor early-season performance. The Penguins are in the midst of a seven game winning streak as a result of these and other factors.

04) Philadelphia Flyers (15-6-4 [15-10]; 34 pts | Nov: 9-2-3 [9-5]; 21 pts | Prev: 10) The Flyers lead the league in minor penalties, and third in overall penalty minutes. Their solid penalty kill has been called upon often to keep the Flyers in many a game, that and their offense whose 86 total goals lead the league.

05) Montreal Canadiens (15-8-1 [15-9]; 31 pts | Nov: 8-5-0 [8-5]; 16 pts | Prev: 3) Carey Price has played great, maintaining a sub 2.00 GAA and a .935 save percentage, but Montreal's offense has been known to suffer from power outages from time to time.

06) Tampa Bay Lightning (14-8-3 [14-11]; 31 pts | Nov: 7-6-2 [7-8]; 16 pts | Prev: 2) Steven Stamkos has emerged as a potential MVP candidate with his league leading 21 goals. If the team can get some stability at goaltender, the Lightning could really take off.

07) Chicago Blackhawks (14-11-2 [14-13]; 30 pts | Nov: 7-6-1 [7-7]; 15 pts | Prev: 5) Is yet another goalie controversy brewing in Chicago? Corey Crawford has been playing very well, and Marty Turco not so much, but the job still seems to belong to Turco for now.

08) Dallas Stars (14-8-1 [14-9]; 29 pts | Nov: 8-4-1 [8-5]; 17 pts | Prev: 9) Dallas has a poor power play and an even weaker penalty kill. They've continued their successes in the meantime but their special teams will eventually cost them if its issues are not solved.

09) Columbus Blue Jackets (14-8-0 [14-8]; 28 pts | Nov: 8-4-0 [8-4]; 16 pts | Prev: 13) Columbus' secret to their success is their play on the road. Columbus has gone 8-2; those two losses are the fewest in the league. Back to back losses to Detroit have slowed them down some, but that shouldn't be much of a problem for this Blue Jackets team still looking to improve.

10) New York Rangers (14-11-1 [14-12]; 29 pts | Nov: 9-7-0 [9-7]; 18 pts | Prev: 17) It's been an up and down month for the Rangers, who got Marian Gaborik back in November but he hasn't been much outside of a couple of games. Brandon Dubinsky has emerged as the team's leading goal scorer.

11) Atlanta Thrashers (13-9-3 [13-12]; 29 pts | Nov: 8-5-1 [8-6]; 17 pts | Prev: 20) Chicago's salary cap hell has started to benefit Atlanta greatly. Dustin Byfuglien and Andrew Ladd have made Atlanta's offense and power play very potent and balanced. Ondrej Pavelec has been playing exceptionally well since returning from his scary concussion-induced collapse.

12) Colorado Avalanche (13-9-2 [13-11]; 28 pts | Nov: 7-5-1 [7-6]; 15 pts | Prev: 11) The Avalanche are hopeful an extra couple of weeks of rest will bring Craig Anderson back to full speed after returning for a game and a period only to injure his groin. He was out with a knee injury previously.

13) Vancouver Canucks (12-7-3 [12-10]; 27 pts | Nov: 8-4-1 [8-5]; 17 pts | Prev: 21) The Canucks are recovering from a four game losing streak which included a 7-1 loss at home to those Chicago Blackhawks that have had their number. Henrik Sedin leads the league with 25 assists though his goal scoring has not been up to par.

14) St. Louis Blues (12-8-3 [12-11]; 27 pts | Nov: 6-7-1 [6-8]; 13 pts | Prev: 7) The Blues have been a streaky team, winning seven in a row only to lose five in a row, followed by a three game winning streak and then their current three game losing streak. The Blues lead the league in total penalty minutes, as well as fighting majors, but how much longer can they contend for a playoff spot if their guys keep going to the penalty box?

15) Los Angeles Kings (13-10-0 [13-10]; 26 pts | Nov: 5-7-0 [5-7]; 10 pts | Prev: 1) After starting 12-3, the Kings have since gone 1-7 as they have had offensive struggles as of late. Consider this just a rough patch for now; it's likely the Kings will get it together soon.

16) Boston Bruins (12-8-2 [12-10]; 26 pts | Nov: 6-6-2 [6-8]; 14 pts | Prev: 6) Boston too has been struggling. Their power play has gone just 3-37 in their last ten games, and Tim Thomas is slowly cooling off (while Tuukka Rask hasn't been so great in his spot starts).

17) Phoenix Coyotes (11-7-5 [11-12]; 27 pts | Nov: 8-3-2 [8-5]; 18 pts | Prev: 28) Phoenix caught some of their desert heat in mid-November, getting real hot and winning seven in a row. Nobody has stepped it up on offense for the team, but luckily Ilya Bryzgalov has played well in net.

18) Anaheim Ducks (12-11-3 [12-14]; 27 pts | Nov: 8-4-2 [8-6]; 18 pts | Prev: 26) Taking a look at their strong power play percentage, the team's low +/- and the team being in the bottom of the league in offense, it can be said Anaheim needs to work on its 5 on 5 play if it wants to continue climbing the Western Conference ranks.

19) San Jose Sharks (11-8-4 [11-12]; 26 pts | Nov: 6-5-3 [6-8]; 15 pts | Prev: 15) Antero Niittymaki has gotten the bulk of the starts in November over Antti Niemi, who continues to struggle. Combined, they have a .899 save percentage, which is 26th in the league.

20) Nashville Predators (10-8-5 [10-13]; 25 pts | Nov: 5-6-2 [5-8]; 12 pts | Prev: 16) A pair of long losing streaks have sent Nashville reeling. Pekka Rinne has done all he can but Nashville's offense is one of the worst in the league. Nobody on the team has more than six goals, and only Steve Sullivan has that much.

21) Minnesota Wild (11-10-2 [11-12]; 24 pts | Nov: 7-6-0 [7-6]; 14 pts | Prev: 22) Minnesota's offense has been marginally better than Nashville's, but goalie Niklas Backstrom has been rather cold of late, having lost his last three starts.

22) Ottawa Senators (11-13-1 [11-14]; 23 pts | Nov: 7-7-0 [7-7]; 14 pts | Prev: 25) Ottawa's offense has been pretty bad as well, but their defense and goaltending fell apart in mid-November though it's been somewhat better lately.

23) Carolina Hurricanes (10-11-3 [10-14]; 23 pts | Nov: 5-6-3 [5-9]; 13 pts | Prev: 19) Carolina is yet another team that struggled at the end of November, going 2-7 in their last nine. Eric Staal has played well despite the struggles while Cam Ward has been up and down this month.

24) Calgary Flames (10-12-2 [10-14]; 22 pts | Nov: 4-7-2 [4-9]; 10 pts | Prev: 14) The Flames have struggled to gain any sense of consistency offensively. They can pull off an 11 goal stretch against Chicago and Detroit but then score just 2 goals in the two games that follow. Rene Bourque has been a source of offense for the Flames alongside Jerome Iginla.

25) Buffalo Sabres (9-13-3 [9-16]; 21 pts | Nov: 6-6-1 [6-7]; 13 pts | Prev: 29) Ryan Miller has played much better since returning from a groin injury earlier this month. If he can keep it going the Sabres can get back into the playoff picture.

26) Florida Panthers (10-12-0 [10-12]; 20 pts | Nov: 6-7-0 [6-7]; 12 pts | Prev: 23) At around 6%, Florida's power play is by far the worst in the league. Aside from getting two PP goals against Toronto in one game, the Panthers did not score on the man advantage the entire month. Like Nashville, only one person has scored six goals for the team (Mike Santorelli).

27) Toronto Maple Leafs (8-11-4 [8-15]; 20 pts | Nov: 3-7-3 [3-10]; 9 pts | Prev: 18) Once 4-0, the Leafs have since gone 4-15 since including an 8-game losing streak along the way. Jean-Sebastien Giguere's struggles have opened the way again for Jonas Gustavsson to start, and he's gone 2-4 since Giguere's last start.

28) Edmonton Oilers (7-12-4 [7-16]; 18 pts | Nov: 4-8-2 [4-10]; 10 pts | Prev: 27) With Nikolai Khabibulin hurt, Martin Gerber has gone 2-0 in his two starts in late November. Hopefully he can bring some stability to the team defensively as the Oil are dead last in goals allowed per game (3.74, more than half a goal behind 29th place Tampa Bay) and penalty killing (68.5%, the only team under 70% and 5.1% behind 29th place Toronto).

29) New Jersey Devils (8-14-2 [8-16]; 18 pts | Nov: 5-6-1 [5-7]; 11 pts | Prev: 30) The Devils have won three of their last four (the lone loss a fateful one against the Islanders) while Martin Brodeur continues to recover from injury. Continuing the theme of bad offense at the bottom of these rankings, only one player has more than four goals on New Jersey, and that's Jason Arnott with eight.

30) New York Islanders (5-12-5 [5-17]; 15 pts | Nov: 1-7-3 [1-10]; 5 pts | Prev: 24) Having lost 14 straight games, being outscored 53-21 in those 14 games and getting their coach Scott Gordon fired once the streak hit 10, the Islanders closed out the month with a 2-0 win against New Jersey. The Islanders are bottom-three in goals per game, goals allowed per game, and save percentage.